Sports

Seton Hall relies on defense to get past Norfolk State

Seton Hall’s offense was sputtering while the Pirates’ defense was smothering. Even after the Pirates pulled away from Norfolk State in the second half of their Naismith Memorial Tip-Off Classic game, muscling their way to a 78-65 win, it was clear two victories against a pair of outmanned and overwhelmed foes haven’t revealed much.

Revelations may come next weekend, when the Pirates face Washington and either Ohio State or Rhode Island at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. For now, the only sureties are they are 2-0 with a defense that’s hard-working and an offense that’s a work in progress.

“Our effort was very good on the defensive end. … Our effort on the offensive end was terrible,’’ said coach Kevin Willard. “We were very lackadaisical, we weren’t physical, we weren’t making extra passes, the passes weren’t crisp. Later …we started attacking. The first half we were a little too cool, and much too lackadaisical.’’

Fuquan Edwin scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, when the Pirates pulled away. Clinging to a 31-29 lead at the break, they opened with a 9-2 run over the first 3:45. Kyle Smyth found Patrik Auda for a layup that gave them a 40-31 lead.

Eugene Teague bulled his way to 16 points and 11 boards and bullied Norfolk State in the second half.

“Coach just said we were hunting shots, and to get it out [of our system]. He harped on me with that,’’ said Edwin. “I was looking to score too fast, and not letting the game come to me.’’

Edwin’s defense was sound all night with 10 rebounds and six steals. The Hall held defending MEAC champ Norfolk State — which upset No. 2 seed Missouri in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament — to 32.1 percent shooting.

But the Pirates settled for jumpers in the first half, and didn’t take a single foul shot until 2:32 into the second half. After an attitude check, they powered their way to 27 the rest of the way, led by the 6-foot-9, 290-pound Teague. They held a 32-12 edge in points in the paint, and Teague might as well have stamped his name on it by game’s end.

“I just tried to set the tone. … It was just jitters. … But we calmed down in the second half,’’ said Teague, a big reason Seton Hall has gone from averaging just three post-ups last year to 20, according to Willard.

Teague’s follow dunk off an Auda miss left the rim shaking and the Hall leading 59-47. The exclamation point was Auda’s last-minute dunk, driving by Malcolm Hawkins and watching Rashid Gaston sidestep as he threw down a one-handed jam.

Pendarvis Williams of the Hun School in South Jersey had a team-high 20 for Norfolk State (1-1), which beat Rhode Island in the opening round.

brian.lewis@nypost.com