Around the Hall: Looking Forward to USF, Sights Set, Quinlan Watch, Top 100, Kadeem Jack
On Sunday, Seton Hall (12-6, 3-4) won back-to-back conference games for the first time this season defeating Pittsburgh, 64-61. Tomorrow night, they'll attempt to win their first conference road game as they take on the USF Bulls (12-7, 2-5) in Tampa, FL. The Pirates must enter tomorrow night's contest with the Bulls with the same mindset that prepared them for victories over Louisville and Pittsburgh: must win. Not only would a loss to USF put the brakes on the recent momentum picked up by a surging Pirates team, but it would also take away from the quality wins Seton Hall posted last week. Remember come March, "bad losses" will carry as much weight, if not more, than "quality wins." No offense to USF, but a loss tomorrow night would surely constitute a bad loss for a team that may find itself sitting on the bubble in six weeks. It would be disastrous for the team's morale as the Pirates begin their longest road stretch of the season (3 games in 9 days) that includes contests at 'Nova and Pitt.
Luckily for the Pirates, the Bulls will be playing without their best player, Augustus Gilchrist, who has missed the last 11 games with an injured ankle. Gilchrist, a 6'10 sophomore, was averaging 19PTS/7REB through the non-conference schedule when he went down with the injury. Gilchrist and Pope would have been a fun match up to watch, however, Pope won't get off easy. Instead, the Bulls with throw 6'11 junior, Jarrid Famous (12PTS/8REB) in his direction in an attempt to take control of the boards. Famous has recorded 5 double-double's this season opposed to Pope's 10 and if the Bulls intend to serve court at home, it would behoove them (Gary Cohen shout-out) to win this battle. Personally, I think Pope is too athletic for Famous and will be the recipient of a long night of hacking. Hopefully, he'll take advantage at the charity stripe.
A star is born? USF's Dominique Jones dropped 46PTS/10REB/8AST/3STL in Saturday's 109-105 overtime win at Providence. He nearly dropped a trip-dub? He nearly dropped a trip-dub while scoring 46! How does that happen!?! Oh yeah, he also played all 45 minutes of regulation AND overtime while shooting 15-of-23, that's borderline unreal. I take that back, it is unreal. I'm excited to see him play tomorrow night. Wait...what? No, I'm not excited, I'm actually rather nervous.
The Pirates hold an advantage in many per-game statistical categories:
REB(41-36), AST(16-13), TO(11-14), BLK(5-3), STL(9-7), 3PT(33%-30%) while both teams shoot 45% FG and are nearly identical from FT with USF leading 67% to SHU's 66%.
The Pirates continue to receive nationally televised attention as ESPN2 will be broadcasting from the USF Sun Dome.
Seton Hall has never lost to South Florida, SHU Athletics has the preview of the contest:
Seton Hall and Pittsburgh will meet for the eighth time in history on Thursday. The Pirates have never lost to the Bulls and are 2-0 at the Sun Dome. Last season, Seton Hall defeated USF twice, including a 68-54 victory in the first round of the 2009 BIG EAST Championship.
USF Athletics has failed to post a game preview the night before the game. If they did, I imagine it would be on this page.
Very strange, this is the first school the Pirates have played this season whose athletics website didn't have a game-preview the night before, not even something basic. Either: It's posted elsewhere and I've missed it, the school doesn't think it's important or the fans don't care enough to read a preview. Who knows, moving on...
Despite a slow start, the Pirates have their sights set on making the NCAA Tournament as SNY's Brendon Desrochers breaks down their chances:
This chart illustrates that Seton Hall has indeed played the most difficult conference schedule of any Big East team to date, and that will turn around. When one balances the quality of the opposition with the record against those opponents -- something the RPI does a decent job at -- Seton Hall has had the eighth-best conference season among Big East teams so far. That sounds about right, and it also puts the Pirates right around the bubble. The thing that this chart doesn't show is that Seton Hall has also played five of its first seven conference games at home, and that will turn around as well.
The schedule is much more manageable than it looked just three weeks ago. That being said, I'd feel much more confident with the second half of the schedule if the Pirates can pick up 2-of-3 on this road trip.
The Quinlan Watch continues with more from Jerry Carino:
Don’t believe the spin coming from Seton Hall’s administrators about Joe Quinlan. It’s true that the athletic director hasn’t been ordered to clean out his desk, but the writing is all over the wall and you don’t need Sherlock Holmes to connect the dots. Here’s when they’ll finally confirm reality: After the dust settles and everyone departs for the summer, a terse statement will be released at about 4:45 on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.
I tend to agree with Jerry, the writing is on the wall and I doubt Quinlan will be retained at season's end. Still, the Pirates are picking up a bit of steam and they're about to begin a 3 game, "road trip" in what is the toughest remaining stretch on their schedule. They've found themselves smack in the middle of the Big East standings, putting forth a consistent (sans GTown) effort night-in and night-out that is sure to provide us with exciting basketball the rest of the way. With all the rumors flying around, I'd rather just focus on basketball right now.
No surprise, a near triple-double highlighted by a 46 point performance will earn you Big East player of the week honors:
University of South Florida junior guard Dominique Jones earned his second BIG EAST Player of the Week honor after scoring 46 points to lead USF to a 109-105 overtime victory over Providence on Jan. 23.
Jones ended his night two points short of tying the BIG EAST single-game record, which is held by Eric Murdock of Providence, who scored 48 points against Pitt exactly 19 years to the day of Jones' performance on Jan. 23, 1991.
Jeremy Hazell is the #41 player in the nation and Herb Pope checks in at #100 according to College Hoops Net. CHN took the following into consideration:
The ranking is based on the following four criteria: A) performance/accomplishments, B) skill/talent, C) pro potential, D) impact/value to team.
I strongly disagree with these rankings. I wouldn't mind if they had Hazell rated higher than Pope, but these two are not 59 spots apart from each other. Unless CHN is weighing Hazell's career performances/accomplishments against Pope's, I don't see how these two could be rated so distant from each other. In fact, a case can be made that Pope has the advantage in three of the four (B, C, D) categories.
Javier Morales of the Tuscon Citizen, writes a piece on Kadeem Jack as he's set to visit Arizona this week. Jack also has interest from Seton Hall:
Jack, a 6-8, 200-pound post player, was a reserve for most of his freshman and sophomore seasons at Rice. He blossomed toward the end of last season. His progression as a player is ongoing with impressive results.
His 24 points and 20 rebounds against Bishop Loughlin’s Jayvaughn Pinkston — rated by some as New York City’s best player this season — earlier this month indicates he’s on track to be one of the best Class of 2010 prospects. He entered the season without recognition from the national recruiting services.
Jack/Pope/Hall/JRob next season? Yes please.
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Around the Hall: Final Big East Bid, Rising to 7th, Sterling Gibbs
At 3-4 in the conference, the Pirates find themselves in the middle of a Big East logjam where six teams are within one game of each other. Brendan Prunty predicts that the Big East's final NCAA bid will come from one of four teams:
...it's becoming more and more clear that the league's final bid will come from this group: Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Cincinnati and Louisville. Their candidacies are all virtually the same when you factor in their positives and negatives.
Seton Hall has the advantage over this bunch as of this moment. Already posting wins over Cincinnati and Louisville, the Pirates will return from their three-game road trip to take on the Irish at the Rock. If the last bid is truly decided among these four teams, Seton Hall received a nice gift in playing all three opponents in Newark. The one team I would consider adding to this mix would be Marquette. I'm not ready to give up on the Golden Eagles, they've played every opponent tough and have had more bad beats than the Pirates. In their next 5 games, they have four winnable games in: Rutgers, Depaul, @Prov and USF, they can even afford a loss @UConn and find themselves right back in the middle of the conference.
Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News, lists Seton Hall as 7th in the Big East ahead of Connecticut. He also lists the Pirates as the 'rising' team in the conference:
Rising: Does Seton Hall belong in this category because of recent wins over Louisville and Pitt? Or do we look ahead and declare the schedule is about to take a great, big bite out of the Hall? The next three are on the road, and five of the next seven, and seven of the final 11.
Not sure I agree with DeCourcy ranking Seton Hall ahead of UConn. If the Huskies had lost to Texas I would be on board, however, they just beat the #1 team in the country whereas the Pirates knocked off the #9 team in the country. Oh yeah, Connecticut also beat Seton Hall this season. Not to mention, the Huskies also have the better record, albeit, by a half game. The two programs are close, but I'd still give UConn the slight edge.
Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette answered questions regarding the Panthers and their loss to Seton Hall. He was asked about Sterling Gibbs, the Seton Hall Prep standout PG:
Homey: I heard about Sterling Gibbs (Ashton's little brother) during the Seton Hall game. What do you know about him, and will he end up at Pitt? It sounded like he's a top recruit.Ray Fittipaldo: I know Pitt looked at him a while back, but I think Pitt was involved with other guards and there was not a need for him. Things could change, but I don't think there is mutual interest at this point.
Excellent news for Pirates fans. I assumed the Panthers were the favorites along with Villanova to land Gibbs, however Fittipaldo doesn't see the two parties as having mutual interest. I can live with less competition for Sterling. Let's go Bobby!
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The Day After: The Best Win of the Bobby Gonzalez Era
A lot to get to today, if you haven't read the post game thoughts, check them out, here:
-There it is.
It only took the Seton Hall Pirates (12-6, 3-4) three weeks to record their first marquee victory of the season, however, a marquee victory it was. Defeating the 9th ranked Pitt Panthers in Newark places The Hall right in the thick of the Big East standings at 3-4 with a 3 game road trip (USF, Nova, Pitt) looming. Seton Hall was able to take care of a Pittsburgh team that was previously unbeaten at their true road games. After falling to GTown at home on Wednesday, the Panthers other two "road" losses took place at neutral sites.
The SB Nation blurb on yesterday's upset:
Herb Pope had 19 points and nine rebounds as Seton Hall shocked ninth-ranked Pittsburgh, 64-61, at Prudential Center. Jeff Robinson had 15 points while Eugene Harvey and Jeremy Hazell each added nine points for the Pirates (12-6, 3-4 Big East), who have won three of their last four. Ashton Gibbs had 23 points and Jermaine Dixon added 11 points and six rebounds for the Panthers (15-4, 5-2), who have dropped two straight on the heels of an eight-game winning streak
Despite shooting 80% of their FTs, the Pirates opened the avenue for a Pittsburgh comeback as they struggled from the stripe late in the game reports SHU Athletics:
The Pirates maintained a comfortable cushion for much of the second half, but Seton Hall left the door open for a Panther (15-4, 5-2) comeback with missed free-throws down the stretch.
Bobby Gonzalez has recorded the first marquee victory of his Seton Hall career, forcing people to take notice, writes Pitt Athletics:
Four years after taking the Seton Hall job, coach Bobby Gonzalez now has a marquee win that is going to make people take notice. Herb Pope had 19 points and nine rebounds and Seton Hall posted its biggest win in Gonzalez's turbulent tenure, 64-61 over No. 9 Pittsburgh on Sunday in a game in which Pirates' leading scorer Jeremy Hazell was limited nine points and 16 minutes by foul problems.
Brendan Prunty of The Star-Ledger reports that the Seton Hall victory was the best of the Bobby Gonzalez era:
The result was a performance to remember against Pittsburgh (15-4, 5-2). In what was arguably Seton Hall’s best victory during the Bobby Gonzalez era, Pope led the Pirates with 19 points and nine rebounds. Forward Jeff Robinson added 15 points for Seton Hall (12-6, 3-4), which picked up its second straight win and seized momentum as it heads on the road for three straight games.
Sound familiar? It should. I posted the same comment just 6 minutes prior to Prunty. It's blatantly obvious that he copied my work. I kid, I kid. What was blatantly obvious was the fact that the victory was the biggest in Bobby's Seton Hall career, job well done.
Pope, Robinson and the combo of JT and Harvey all receive Prunty's Game Balls:
GAME BALLS Herb Pope (19 pts., 9 reb., 3 ast.): Seemed to do it all — scoring, rebounding, defense. Pope played with an energy and aggressiveness that we haven't seen all season. If he keeps it up, the Pirates will be a tough team to knock out.
Jeff Robinson (15 pts., 3 reb., 2 stl.): The new year has clearly meant a different Jeff Robinson. As he continues to be the garbageman cleaning up the loose stuff around the boards, he's found a nice range for his jumper. That's made him more difficult to defend.
Jordan Theodore/Eugene Harvey (14 pts., 10 ast., 9 stl., 5 reb.): Had to group them together because this was a tag-team effort. Both played equally well, helping to generate offense by driving to the basket. But the biggest thing was on defense where they got their hands on nine steals. That was huge.
The Pirates are one of the worst defensive teams in the country and the Panthers? One of the best. Yet, it was Seton Hall handing out a lesson on Sunday afternoon, writes Ray Fittipaldo of the Post-Gazette
The Panthers allow fewer points than any other team in the Big East. But Sunday, it was Seton Hall that taught Pitt a thing or two about how to play defense in a 64-61 victory against the No. 9 Panthers at the Prudential Center.
Although there have been more significant victories in Seton Hall fashion, John Rowe argues few have been as satisfying.
Not only did the Pirates beat ninth-ranked Pittsburgh, 64-61, at its own game Sunday, they did so without a typical Jeremy Hazell contribution. With their top scorer spending more time on the bench than on the court because of foul problems, Seton Hall survived because it forced 20 turnovers with its aggressive defense and because Herb Pope, with 19 points and nine rebounds, played like a man among boys. "We left it all out on the floor," said sophomore point guard Jordan Theodore.
Rex Ryan is set to meet with Bobby Gonzalez and the Seton Hall team, earlier than he would have liked:
"I know that people probably see him as a guy that just shoots his mouth off, but I like the fact that he's a down-to-earth guy and he's just positive," Gonzalez said of Ryan. "He doesn't let anything get him down. He's always positive, always predicting that they're going to win. "I just think that, eventually, when you have that kind of attitude . . . you're going to knock down some walls."
Let's just hope that the Pirates stay humble after meeting with Rex Ryan. The Jets head coach loves to talk, so much so that he has no shame referring to every player on his roster as, "the best player in the league," in their respective position. Can you imagine Gonzalez referring to Herb Pope and Jeremy Hazell as the best players in the country?
Follow the jump for more from: NY Daily News, Slam, NBE, ESPN, CBS, SI, MSG, Rush the Court, Tyahla and Jerry Carino.
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#9 Pittsburgh 61, Seton Hall 64, Post Game Thoughts as Pitt Losses First True Road Game
Initial post game thoughts:
-There it is. It only took the Seton Hall Pirates (12-6, 3-4) three weeks to record their first marquee victory of the season, however, a marquee victory it was. Defeating the 9th ranked Pitt Panthers in Newark places The Hall right in the thick of the Big East standings at 3-4 with a 3 game road trip (USF, Nova, Pitt) looming. Seton Hall was able to take care of a Pittsburgh team that was previously unbeaten at their true road games. After falling to GTown at home on Wednesday, the Panthers other two "road" losses took place at neutral sites.
-Maybe Jeremy Hazell's quick 3 fouls in the first were a blessing in disguise. With Hazell on the bench for the majority of the game (after picking up his 4th just 6 seconds into the 2nd half) the Pirates put together another complete game. Back-to-back wins and back-to-back impressive performances for a Seton Hall team whose back was completely backed into a corner just 5 days ago.
Hazell only played 16 minutes and finished with 9PTS/REB on 4-of-8 shooting. It looks like this team is capable of stringing together victories even if Hazell has an off night. The deciding factor lies in Hazell's hands, literally. If he's having an off-night, will he decide to keep chucking away or get his teammates involved in a more efficient manner? Tonight, there was no option, he was forced to sit and his teammates responded. Against Louisville the Pirates had the best of both worlds, Hazell played efficient and filled up the bucket. If his efficiency stays up and his teammates keep playing like they did today, look out.
-Herb Pope. He's had games with gaudier numbers, however this was by far his most impressive performance of his Seton Hall career. Logging 38 minutes, Pope finished with 19PTS/9REB/3AST/STL/BLK on 8-of-12 shooting. Pope took 3 bad shot attempts tonight, a pair of 18 footers where he attempted to go glass and an airball 3PT attempt. Other than that, Pope was very efficient on offense tonight, looked impressive around the rim, finishing several dunks, but his highlight of the night was a pretty turn around hook that he converted after being fouled in the act. He proceeded to make his throw.
Pope went 3-of-4 from the stripe, but looked like he was competing for an Oscar late in the game to escape a couple of free throws. Fouled with 49 seconds left in the game and the Pirates nursing a 4 point lead, Herb appeared to be on his way to the stripe. After limping away from the foul, Pope hit the deck grabbing his ankle. He worked his way to the sideline and it was up to Jamie Dixon to choose a replacement shooter. Initially choosing JRob, Dixon changed his mind and put JT on the line. Pope, without even receiving a look from a trainer, got up and walked back to the scorers table to check into the game. If it was a creative maneuver to elude the line, it wasn't entirely effective as JT only hit one free throw.
-Theodore played extremely well in the first half, but tapered off a bit in the second, leading to Gonzalez to show trust in his senior Eugene Harvey with many critical possessions late in the game. JT finished with a balanced 5PTS/6AST/3REB/3STL/2TO, while only shooting 1-of-6 from the floor. Theodore missed two critical layups in the final 30 seconds of the game which could have iced the contest for the Pirates. Instead, the Panthers were able to stick around until the very end.
Eugenius, on the other hand finished with an equally balanced 9PTS/6STL/4AST/2REB/BLK/2TO, however, Harvey may be the best finishing guard on the roster. Harvey had a bit of trouble finishing early in his career, however this season, he's been penetrating successfully finding the rim and finishing strong more often than not. Harvey finished on 4-of-7 shooting and two of his misses were 3PT attempts, so despite his turnover problems this season, it's hard to argue that he hasn't been smart within his own shot selection.
The third point guard in the equation, Keon Lawrence, continues to shoot poorly. Lawrence finished with 2PTS/2REB/2BLK/AST/2TO on an awful, 1-of-7 from the field.
-I'd split a game ball between Herb Pope and Jeff Robinson tonight, as JRob continues to put together impressive performances tallying 15PTS/3REB/2AST/BLK on smart shot selection (5-of-8) tonight. He didn't even attempt a 3PT shot! Possessions are too important to waste on such bad attempts and JRob has shown an improvement in his shot selection over the last 4 games, not including the sole lapse against Louisville.
-The Panthers out rebounded the Pirates to the tune of 33-23, however, this game was decided by turnovers. The Pirates frustrated Pittsburgh, stealing the ball 13 times and forcing 20 turnovers. Seton Hall proved to be the smarter and more disciplined team only turning the ball over 10 times throughout the course of the game.
-Bobby Gonzalez tightened up his rotation against Louisville and stayed true to form tonight in a rare showing of consistency as he also wheeled out the same starting 5 that received the nod against the Cardinals. The tightened rotation proved to be effective again as only 5 players received more than 17 minutes of playing time. Pope and Robinson led the pack with 38MP and 32MP respectively, as Garcia only saw 3MP and Ferrakohn Hall received a DNP after logging 1 minute against Louisville.
-The Pirates proved they could win without hitting their 3PT shot attempts as they only converted at a rate of 2-of-13 from long distance, but still out shot the Panthers on the floor, 45% to 35%. The Pirates continue to hold their own at the charity stripe, hitting 12-of-15 tonight.
-All in all, the Pirates put forth their best effort of the season and one of the best in the Bobby Gonzalez era. At 3-4 in the Big East, Seton Hall finds themselves in a log jam, just one game back of 6th place in the conference. Here we go.
... Much more in tomorrow's Day After Post
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Pittsburgh 26, Seton Hall 30, Halftime Notes
-Jeremy Hazell has been limited in the first half thanks to picking up a quick 3 fouls in the first 7 minutes. I'm not sure why Bobby left him on the floor after his 2nd PF, he should have been relegated to the bench for the remainder of the half, instead he picked up his 3rd with 13:00 left on the clock. He managed 5PTS/REB/AST in the first half.
-The guard play has been very good, JT established an early rhythm for the Pirates, finishing with 4PTS/4AST/2AST/2REB. He also picked up his 2nd PF late in the period, forcing Eugene Harvey to finish the half for Seton Hall. Once JT left the game, the Pitt Panthers reeled off a torrid, 7-0 run to pull within 4 at intermission. Eugene has played well himself in the first half despite a couple of turnovers. Harvey added a pair of buckets and forced 5 steals on defense off of the bench for the Pirates.
-Herb Pope is having a strong game with 7PTS/3REB/STL/BLK/AST against a Pittsburgh team that has struggled defending big men all season long.
-Stix and Garcia have both seen limited minutes as Gonzalez has held true to his tightened rotation on display against Louisville Thursday night.
-Despite only shooting 1-of-7 from 3PT distance, The Hall is shooting 42% opposed to the Panther's 39%. Pittsburgh is shooting 10-of-11 from the charity stripe, whereas the Pirates are 3-of-3.
-The Panthers have turned the ball over 14 times, opposed to 6 TOs for the Pirates.
-The Pirates have 9STL (5 from Harvey) and 2BLK, the Pirates only have a STL+BLK a piece.
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#9 Pittsburgh Panthers (15-3, 5-1) @ Seton Hall Pirates (11-6, 2-4) 2:00PM Pre-Game Notes
Pittsburgh @ Seton Hall, 2:00PM
Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Television: MSG+, ESPN360. Note: MSG is airing Mavs/Knicks, only MSG+ will have SHU/PITT
Radio: 770 WABC
Online: Panthers vs. Pirates coverage
Projected Starting Five: G-Theodore, G-Lawrence, G-Hazell, F-Pope, F/C-Robinson
On Sunday, the Pirates will look to put together their first multi-game winning streak since December 12th, when they beat VMI at the Rock, good for their 8th consecutive victory at the time. Fresh off an 80-77 thriller at home against the Louisville Cardinals, Seton Hall, hasn't won back-to-back contests in nearly a month and a half. More importantly, we're 1/3 through Big East play and the Pirates have yet to knock off an upper-echelon team in the conference. They haven't been without their chances, playing some of the best team's in the country very tough this Big East season despite failing to record any marquee victories.
Sunday afternoon will present another such opportunity as the #9 ranked Pitt Panthers come to the Rock, looking to rebound after their loss Wednesday to the Georgetown Hoyas. The Pirate guards have their hands full attempting to defend the Panthers backcourt combo of Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker, averaging 35MPG/17PTS and 32MPG/13PTS, respectively. Gibbs, who has emerged into the Panthers leading scorer, played locally at Seton Hall prep and Sunday will mark his first collegiate start in his home state. Gibbs in an immense talent, however, it'll be imperative that the Pirates can stop Wanamaker. At 13PTS/6.6REB/4.1AST/1.2STL, Wanamaker is the most complete player on the Panthers roster; a rotating defense of Jordan Theodore and Keon Lawrence will attempt to slow him down. I'd imagine Gonzo will first roll out Keon, who is taller, more athletic and physical than JT, giving him the advantage in keeping the pesky 6'4 Wanamaker at bay.
Just as the Pirates will need to slow Wanamaker, I'm sure Jamie Dixon and the Panthers have a game plan dedicated to Herb Pope. The Panthers have had trouble this season slowing their oppositions bigs:
- Greg Monroe, 13PTS/11REB
- Samardo Samuels, 25PTS/6REB
- Alex Oriakhi 9REB, Gavin Edwards 10REB
- Yancy Gates, 16PTS/14REB
- Wesley Johnson 19PTS/6REB
If the Pirates can limit the damage incurred by the Pittsburgh guards while keeping Herb Pope out of foul trouble, they'll have a shot at upsetting the Panthers in Newark this afternoon. Of course, another extremely efficient performance out of Jeremy Hazell would go a long way as well.
The Panthers hold the all-time edge in the Seton Hall/Pitt series, as SHU Athletics provides their preview:
SETON HALL - PITTSBURGH SERIES Seton Hall and Pittsburgh will meet for the 49th time in history on Sunday. This is the first of two games between the Pirates and Panthers this season. Seton Hall will visit Pittsburgh on Feb. 6. The Panthers own a 29-19 all-time series lead and have won three straight. Last season, the Pirates faced a #1-ranked Pittsburgh team and lost 89-78 at Prudential Center. Seton Hall's last victory over the Panthers came on March 3, 2006.
Today's top story lines, courtesy of Pitt Athletics:
•Pitt has currently won five straight road games including four consecutive this year. Pitt has won 10 of its last 13 road contests.
•In games played after losing a contest, National Coach of the Year candidate Jamie Dixon's all-time record is 32-9.
•Pitt is 6-1 since veterans Jermaine Dixon (right foot injury) and Gilbert Brown (academic suspension) both returned to the floor. Pitt played its first 10 games with a starting five that combined for one career start prior to the season opener.
•Three Panthers make local "homecoming" appearances on Sunday including Ashton Gibbs (Scotch Plains/Seton Hall Prep), Travon Woodall (St. Anthony) and Brandin Knight (East Orange/Seton Hall Prep).
CBS Sports previews the contest Sunday afternoon:
The ninth-ranked Panthers get a chance to bounce back from that defeat Sunday when they visit a Seton Hall team coming off one of its biggest victories of the season. Pittsburgh (15-3, 5-1) is one of the Big East's surprise teams after losing four starters from last season's club that fell one game short of the Final Four. The Panthers are 3-0 in conference road games, with wins over then-No. 5 Syracuse on Jan. 2 and then-No. 15 Connecticut on Jan. 13. Pittsburgh's perfect start in conference play ended with a 74-66 home loss to No. 12 Georgetown on Wednesday. The Panthers shot a season-low 22.2 percent (4 of 18) on 3-pointers.
'Piratz' of PirateCrew.com with his take on today's action:
An area where Pitt's susceptible is actually The Hall’s strength: Turnovers. Pittsburgh has a -1.67 turnover margin in conference play compared to Seton Hall’s league-leading +5.67. The Panthers average about 12 turnovers per game and only force 10. The Pirates get about 15 per game, which is a very good number, but not off the charts high. Where we’ve been able to make the big difference is in protecting the ball on our side. SHU averages around 9 TO per game, best in the league, more impressive when considering the number of possessions in our games. Pitt is not the type of ball-hawking defenders that we saw against Louisville or Georgetown. They register just 5.2 steals per game, 14th of 16 teams.
Predictions?
Seth Davis is taking the Panthers:
Unfortunately, the Pirates are facing a far superior defensive team in Pitt, not to mention a team coming off a tough loss to Georgetown. Pitt leads the Big East in scoring defense (59.9 ppg) and three-point defense (29.1 percent), and they are not going to try to press Seton Hall full court like Louisville did, which only made it easier for Hazell to get open looks.
While, some guy (Al McMordie), from some betting website, will take the Pirates:
Finally, Pitt's vaunted defense is starting to show some cracks; its last three foes have each shot 46% or better from the field. Take Seton Hall.
C'mon, you knew I had to find someone taking the Pirates today.
Pittsburgh's Tribune-Reivew's John Grupp, with an article on Seton Hall's Herb Pope:
"I'm very happy for him," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "We've known him for a long time, recruited him a long time. I wasn't sure if he was going to play again (after the shooting). I'm thankful that he is and I'm glad for him." Pope, who originally committed to Pitt as a sophomore, has become an inside force for a Seton Hall team that finished last in the Big East in rebounding margin last season.
Adam Zagoria, on the Pope/Pittsburgh angle:
Pope initially committed to Pittsburgh and then changed his mind and opted for New Mexico State because he said he felt more comfortable with then-head coach Reggie Theus‘ style of play. "New Mexico State played the up and down tempo," he said. "With him being a guy from Louisville, Reggie Theus, it was basically like a Louisville offense." After opting to leave New Mexico State, Pope said he considered Pitt the second time around, but chose Seton Hall because he didn’t want to be too close to home.
Herb Pope is definitely the most publicized player in recent Seton Hall history as there have been countless stories written about him this season from both local and national media alike. He's a tremendous talent that I hope will keep improving his craft by returning to don the Pirate Blue next year, however, that's a debate for another day. Pope has been nothing short of the ultimate team player since his arriving at The Hall. You can tell how badly he wants to win through his willingness to battle for every rebound, his body language on the court and his frustration when he fouls out of games. He's simply a sensational story that you can't help getting behind. We hope he has a great game against Pitt tonight; a game that he's had circled on his calender for quite some time.
As always, Let's go Hall.
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Around the Hall: Reactions to Seton Hall / Louisville and the "Inbounds incident"
In a game that the Seton Hall Pirates (11-6, 2-4) absolutely needed, Bobby Gonzalez tightened his rotation, Jordan Theodore emerged as the floor general and Jeremy Hazell put forth his most efficient game of the season. The result? An 80-77 victory over the Louisville Cardinals (12-7, 3-3) keeping slim hope of postseason play alive for the Pirates. There's hope for at least another day, rather, another two days, until Seton Hall takes on Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon when the Pirates welcome the Panthers in another must-win. You might be asking, why is it a must-win? Aren't they coming off a nice win over Louisville? Indeed they are, but the team needs to build off of the victory against the Cardinals, riding the momentum to reel off a few wins in a row. Do that and they'll find themselves back in the middle of the Big East standings and legitimately alive for postseason play.
In my initial post game thoughts, I discussed what played out during the near epic-collapse, leading up to the controversial Keon Lawrence in-bounds attempt:
Leading by 7 with 1:35 left in the game, the Pirates allowed an easy Preston Knowles offensive rebound and subsequent tip-in to fall, which pulled the Cardinals within 5. Madness ensued. Eugene Harvey seemed to throw the next possession right into the arms of Edgar Sosa, who converted another open layup. With the lead cut to 3 points and 82 seconds on the clock, Gonzo used another timeout as Pirates fans everywhere muttered, "this isn't happening. Again." Yet, it was
SHU Athletics pretends the controversial in-bounds play never happened, can't blame em' :
Louisville raced down the floor and found Jerry Smith open on the right wing for three, who drilled the shot with two seconds on the clock, but the Pirates were able to inbound the ball successfully to hold on for the victory. Seton Hall shot 52.7 percent from the floor, and 41.7 percent from three-point land (5-of-12). The Cardinals bench outscored the Pirates reserves, 33-8.
It's one thing to pretend it never happened, but to report, "inbound the ball successfully?" That in-bounds pass was anything but successful. The Pirates caught a serious break, but hey, we're allowed one once in a while.
Louisville Athletics didn't report on the controversial in-bounds play either, yet, they didn't stop short of crying for a technical foul on Jeremy Hazell:
Keon Lawrence had the ball in the frontcourt when Sosa intercepted a lazy pass toward the foul line. The guard took off for what appeared would be a fast break that would cut the lead to a point. However, Lawrence hustled back and blocked the shot and Theodore eventually got the loose ball and found Hazell for a dunk all alone, a play on which he was lucky the officials didn't call a technical foul for hanging on the rim with 34.7 seconds to play.
In all reality, it probably should have been a technical. However, if the refs were going to call a T on Hazell, they would have had to also call a technical on Pitino, who ran out of the coaches box by a modest 25 feet following the in-bounds incident. I'm glad they didn't call a technical on either and let the game play out, I didn't like seeing the game end in a controversial fashion, but I'm glad it didn't turn into technical city in the final 10 seconds of the game. With that being said, I'm still rather confident that I wasn't the only one who was yelling at their television for Hazell to release from the rim.
Doris Burke and Dave Pasch, who called the game for ESPN give their take on the bizarre ending:
Chalk up the game as another lesson learned for the Pirates writes Brendan Prunty of The Star-Ledger:
"Guys kind of got a little complacent and started going 1-on-1," forward Herb Pope said of the game’s final minutes. "Coach had to pull us back and talk about what got us our success." Seton Hall made enough free throws, hitting 3-of-6 in the final 20 seconds, to keep Louisville at bay. But on an inbounds play with under two seconds remaining, things got even more interesting.
Prunty also breaks down, "the in-bounds incident" with an explanation from Gonzo:
"Keon said he wanted to get it out of bounds as soon as possible so the clock would run down," Gonzalez said. "They said there was some kind of inadvertent whistle. I think a whistle blew that wasn’t supposed to blow, which kind of hurt us because now we’ve got to get it inbounds again. So I don’t know what happened."
I understand if there was an inadvertent whistle, causing Keon to step over the baseline to walk back to his bench. What isn't clear is Keon's intention when stepping over the baseline. He never lifts up his head or releases control of the ball, instead he takes a a full step over the line as if he's stepping into a standard bounce-pass. After the referee reset the ball, the initial in-bounds pass was swatted away from a Louisville defender. Upon receiving the ball after the deflection, Lawrence appears to shuffle his feet on the baseline, another uncalled violation. I don't want to hear the Pirates don't get calls as we received two big breaks on one controversial play.
How must the Pirates finish to make the tournament? Prior to the Louisville victory, I predicted they'd need to go 11-2 or at least 10-3 in their final 13 games. Adam Zagoria of SNY believes they can get in with an 8-4 mark the rest of the way:
Still, Seton Hall (11-6, 2-4) can now claim quality wins over Cornell, Cincinnati and Louisville (12-7, 3-3), with a terrific opportunity coming on Sunday against No. 9 Pittsburgh when the rest of the New York metropolitan area will be focused on the Jets-Colts AFC Championship game. Assuming Seton Hall needs 20 wins to make the Big Dance, they would have to go 8-4 through the final 12 conference games to finish 19-10 and then add at least one Big East tournament victory. Obviously, if they go 7-5 and finish 9-9 in the league (and 18-11 overall), they would need to make a run at the Garden. For now, the Pirates are happy to have escaped this one.
Follow the jump for more reactions from: NorthJersey.com, Courier-Journal, CHN, Eamonn Brennan, NBE, Paul Tyahla, Prunty on Big Mel and stress in D-1 coaching gigs.
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Seton Hall and Joe Quinlan likely to part ways
Jerry Carino is reporting that Seton Hall is set to part ways with athletic director Joe Quinlan at season's end. Follow the link to read the full article.
"Four sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Quinlan’s contract was not renewed when it expired in September, and that he has been working on an "at-will" basis this year, which is unusual for someone in his position. A potential landing pad is Loyola (Md.), where he began his career as sports information director from 1984-86. Loyola’s longtime AD, Joseph Boylan, is retiring in July. A search is underway."
5 days ago
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