The Alternative Press

NEWARK, N.J. - Injuries have hurt the Seton Hall Pirates in all possible ways so far in the 2012-13 season. Add one more to list of growing pains, as the Hall lost starting forward Brandon Mobley in Sunday's 67-55 loss to Providence College at Prudential Center.

Mobley, who had off-season surgery on his right shoulder, dislocated the same limb in the first half on Sunday, and will reportedly miss extended time, according to Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard.

"Brandon dislocated the same shoulder he had surgery on last year," Willard said. "We'll get an MRI tomorrow. I can't really comment on how bad it is or good it is. It doesn't look good. Hopefully we don't have to have surgery."

If surgery is necessary, Willard was told by the team doctor it would be repairing what was done during the last surgery, "which would be four or five months [out]."

Mobley would be the second Pirate out for the season, as junior forward Patrik Auda suffered a season-ending foot injury in November.

The Pirates on the floor struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half. Providence opened the game with a 22-5 run. Seton Hall turned the ball over 14 times in the opening 20 minutes, leading to 16 Friar points. Additionally, 12 offensive rebounds for Providence turned into 14 second chance tallies.

"They came out and played aggressively and got us on our heels a little bit and we didn't do it back to them," Willard said. "Its been our achilles heel, if you turn the val over 15 times in a half, your going to build yourself some holes."

For the game, Seton Hall turned the ball over 17 times. Junior Fuquan Edwin said the Pirates need to be more aggressive on 50-50 balls to stay competitive.

"We actually have to be the more physical team, that's what it comes down to," Edwin said. "Getting the 50-50 balls, they were on all of that. They got every 50-50 lose ball, they got every rebound."

Lack of aggressiveness led the Pirates to a 16 point deficit at halftime.

After Providence extended the lead to 18 in the opening minute of the second half, the Hall cut the deficit to single digits at the midway point. Freshman Tom Mayaan hit a 3-pointer and a layup, while graduate student Kyle Smyth converted on a put-back layup, giving the Friars a 50-42 lead.

But Providence  answered quickly, extending their lead back to double-digits on a Bryce Cotton 3-pointer, then later a 16-point lead on a Vincent Council layup.

Cotton led all scorers with 23 points, while Council added 11 points.

"Cotton is really the key to that team," Willard said. "We talked about it for two days; if you kind of let him get off, he makes everyone else that much harder to defend."

Despite the loss, the Pirates need to find a replacement for Mobley on the floor.

Sophomore guard Haralds Karlis stepped up for 11 points, including five in the second half, at the four-spot.

Willard expects Karlis to fill the void until red-shirt-junior Brian Oliver returns from injury, but said they "have a lot of work to do."

"We're now going to have to try and play big," he said. "But the problem with that is when we do that, we get really big and we're slow…We're going to have to figure it out some way."

Karlis said he is ready to step up if given the opportunity, but for a player who averages only 12.4 minutes per game going into Sunday's loss, it will be tougher than it seems.

"I'm ready," Karlis said. "This is my opportunity. I enjoy to be on the court. I try to kill myself in practices to be on the court. Its an awesome feeling."

The Pirates return to the floor on Wednesday, when they travel to Milwaukee, WI to face Marquette before having a full week to rest and prepare for a home game against the University of South Florida on January 23.