Men's Basketball Opens BIG EAST Schedule With Rutgers Wednesday
1/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE MATCHUP: Seton Hall and Rutgers will open up the BIG EAST Conference schedule and resume their in-state rivalry on Wednesday. The Pirates are coming off the B.Y.U. Classic in Provo, Utah where they went 1-2. Rutgers is coming off a 75-68 victory over South Carolina State.
TV: FSNY will carry the game as part of the ESPN Regional Television package. Dave Sims (play-by-play) and Jim Spanarkel (analyst) will call the game.
RADIO: The game will be broadcast WABC 770 AM, with Gary Cohen on play-by-play and Dave Popkin as the analyst. The game will also be broadcast by WSOU 89.5 FM, Seton Hall’s student radio station.
SHU ON THE WEB: Tune in for a live audio stream of all games on www.shupirates.com
BIG EAST CONFERENCE: www.bigeast.org
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Rutgers started the season with only one win in their first six games, but has rebounded nicely to enter this game at 7-6. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 75-68 victory over So. Carolina St. on Sunday. Senior Marquis Webb scored 28 in the win. J.R. Inman and Anthony Farmer, who were suspended for Rutgers’ game against North Carolina, returned to the lineup and are expected to start for RU vs. Seton Hall. Inman leads the Scarlet Knights in scoring and rebounding with 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Rutgers has struggled to find consistent scoring since Quincy Douby, last year’s BIG EAST leading scorer, left. Rutgers has only one player averaging in double figures in scoring.
SETON HALL-RUTGERS SERIES
Seton Hall and Rutgers will meet for the 50th time, with the Pirates owning a 27-22 series lead. Rutgers won two of three meetings last season and knocked Seton Hall out of the BIG EAST Tournament with a 61-48 victory at Madison Square Garden. Wednesday’s game marks the first conference game for both teams this season.
BYU OUTLASTS HALL
Seton Hall dropped the final game of the B.Y.U. Holiday Classic to the host, Brigham Young, 77-68, to drop to 8-4 overall on the season. The Pirates held a 43-35 half-time lead and maintained a slim lead for much of the second half, but the Cougar’s height and the wear and tear of three games in three days caught up to Seton Hall late in the game. Junior Brian Laing scored a team-high 19 points and made five steals. Freshman Eugene Harvey chipped in 18 points and seven assists, while junior Jamar Nutter was a third Pirate in double-figures in scoring with 15 points.
THE B.Y.U. HOLIDAY CLASSIC
Seton Hall went 1-2 last week at the B.Y.U. Holiday Classic in Provo, Utah.
**ORAL ROBERTS - On Thursday, they lost a close battle with Oral Roberts, 76-74. Brian Laing scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Jamar Nutter scored 16 points.
**LIBERTY - On Friday, Seton Hall defeated Liberty, 85-81. Laing had his second straight double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Eugene Harvey scored 18 points and dished out five assists.
**BYU - On Saturday, the Pirates were outlasted by BYU, 77-68. Laing scored 19 points and made five steals. Harvey added 18 points and seven assists.
BYU won the tournament going 3-0. Oral Roberts finished 2-1, while Liberty finished 0-3.
LAING NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
In Utah, junior Brian Laing led the Pirates in scoring all three games while recording double-doubles in two of them. For his efforts, Laing was named to the B.Y.U. Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team. He have averaged 19.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. BYU’s Keena Young was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
200 WINS AT CAA
With the victory over Penn on Dec. 23, Seton Hall reached the 200-win mark at Continental Airlines Arena. The Pirates are 200-94 all-time at the arena and 6-1 this season. They were 13-4 at home last season, and 48-16 over the last four years. The Pirates’ first full-season in the arena was 1985-86 when the team played seven games there. The first Seton Hall game was December 4, 1981, an 87-85 overtime victory over Houston.
HEAD COACH
BOBBY GONZALEZ
Career Record: 137-81
At Seton Hall: 8-4
BIG EAST Record: 0-0
Bobby Gonzalez became the 18th Seton Hall University head basketball coach in the program’s history earlier this year and comes to the Pirates after a tremendous seven-year run as the head coach at Manhattan College. He led the Jaspers to four 20-win seasons and two NCAA Tournaments in seven years, including finishing .500 or above in the league in each season. His record at Manhattan was 129-77, and his team won the MAAC regular season championship three times and the tournament title twice.
Gonzalez is widely known as one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the NCAA, an intense competitor, outstanding game coach and tireless recruiter.
Manhattan went 20-11 this past year and Gonzalez was named the MAAC Coach of the Year. The Jaspers advanced to the National Invitation Tournament and won two games, defeating Fairleigh Dickinson and winning at Maryland. Gonzalez led the team to a 14-4 record and the MAAC regular season title.
His best season came in 2003-04, when he guided the Jaspers to a 25-6 overall record, 16-2 in the MAAC. Manhattan was a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Championship and defeated No. 5 seed Florida in the first round before losing a close game to No. 4 seed Wake Forest. Gonzalez received numerous accolades following the season, being named NABC District 2, USBWA, and NYBCA Division I Coach of the Year as well as receiving Metropolitan Coach of the Year recognition for the second straight year.
Gonzalez coached Luis Flores, Manhattan’s all-time leading scorer, who was drafted in the second round by the NBA’s Houston Rockets in 2004. Flores played with both Denver and Golden State in 2004-05.
In 2002-03, Gonzalez led Manhattan to the MAAC regular season and league championship with a 23-7 record, 14-4 in the league. Named the MAAC Coach of the Year for his efforts, Gonzalez took Manhattan College to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995. The Jaspers fell to eventual national champion Syracuse in the first round.
Gonzalez is no stranger to the BIG EAST and to big-time college basketball. Prior to becoming a head coach, he was an assistant on Pete Gillen’s staffs at Xavier (1993-94), Providence (1994-98) and Virginia (1998-99).
Known for his strong recruiting classes, Gonzalez possesses outstanding contacts and ties to the metropolitan area. He was assistant high school coach at Rice High School in the Bronx in 1992-93 and assistant at St. Nicholas of Tolentine from 1988-91. He was also an assistant coach at Binghamton University (1987-88) and Broome Community College (1986-87).
LAING LIKES UTAH
Junior Brian Laing has clearly found a second home...Utah. In three games at the B.Y.U. Holiday Classic, he averaged 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game and added career double-doubles #3 and #4. Overall, he.is enjoying his best collegiate season. His 16.0 points per game lead the Pirates and rank him eighth in the BIG EAST, while his 7.3 rebounds per game lead the Pirates and ranks him 12th in the conference. Against Fairleigh Dickinson, Laing recorded career-highs with 25 points and nine rebounds in nearly 40 minutes of action. For his efforts, he was named to the BIG EAST Conference Weekly Honor Roll for the week of 11/13-11/19.
MEN OF STEAL
Through 12 games this season, the Pirates have enjoyed the fruits of their relentless full-court press, picking up 149 steals as a team. They recorded 15 steals a piece in their final two games at the B.Y.U. Holiday Classic. Their average of 12.4 steals per game leads the BIG EAST Conference and ranks among the national leaders. Sophomore Paul Gause has led the Pirate charge in this category. He recorded a career-high five steals at Morgan State and tied his new mark with five more vs. St. Peter’s. Then, against St. Mary’s he re-recorded his career-high and tied the Seton Hall single-game record with eight steals. He chipped in six vs. Penn State and five more vs. Virginia Tech and Liberty. As a result, Gause leads the BIG EAST and ranks among the national leaders with a 3.75 steals per game average. Freshman Eugene Harvey is ninth in the conference with 2.08 steals per game.
DOUBLE YOUR FUN
The Pirates have recorded four double-doubles in the last three games and six total this season. Brian Laing picked up his third and fourth double-doubles of the season against Oral Roberts and Liberty. Two Pirates, freshmen Eugene Harvey and Larry Davis, both recorded their first career double-doublese in a win over Pennsylvania on Dec. 23. Harvey had 14 points and 11 assists. Davis had career-highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds.
FAB FROSH
Freshman Eugene Harvey added another achievement to what has been an impressive freshman season thus far. Against Penn, he recorded his first career double-double, with 14 points and a career-high 11 assists. Currently, he is second on the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game and leads the team with 5.3 assists per game. Harvey has already been named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week twice and scored a career-high 27 points in a come-from-behind victory over Penn State on Dec. 9. A starter in all 11 games this season, he has scored in double-figures in 10 of the team’s 11 games, including nine straight. He scored a team-high 20 points in his first road game as the Pirates soundly defeated Morgan State, 83-63. Against Oral Roberts he scored 13 points and picked up six assists. In the win over Liberty, he chipped in 18 points. He scored 18 more vs. BYU.
NUTTER FINDING RHYTHM
After struggling mightily in early December, junior Jamar Nutter has shown signs of breaking out of his shooting slump lately. He scored 16 points, including four three-pointers vs. Oral Roberts and pumped in 18 points vs. Penn on Dec. 23 while coming off the bench for the first time this season. Against Liberty, he scored 12 points, grabbed five boards recorded four assists and four steals and contributed 15 points, three assists and three steals vs. BYU.
SCORING EASILY
The Pirates again saw an offensive explosion in scoring 94 points against Penn. Despite scoring only 61 points vs. Virginia Tech the game prior, the Pirates have had no difficulty scoring points so far this season. Games at the B.Y.U. Classic have been no different, as they scored 74 against Oral Roberts, 85 vs. Liberty and 68 against BYU. In 12 games, the Pirates are averaging 79.3 points per game which ranks them fourth in the BIG EAST in scoring offense. They have topped 90 points three times and 80 points seven times. Seton Hall has three players averaging in double-figures and Paul Gause (9.5), Stan Gaines (7.6) and Larry Davis (7.4) inching their way towards joining that group. Seton Hall is shooting 43.5 percent from the floor this season.
NO PAUSE IN GAUSE
Sophomore sparkplug Paul Gause has made three starts this season, but has shined in coming off the bench this season. In a tremendous performance against St. Mary’s, Gause scored a career-high 21 points in 33 minutes of action and picked up eight steals, tying the Seton Hall single-game mark for steals held by former Pirate Levell Sanders. Against Liberty, Gause made the defensive play of the game when he stole the ball at the top of the key with the Pirates clinging to a three-point lead with only 27 second remaining. Gause finished that game with 14 points and five steals. Currently, he leads the BIG EAST in steals per game (3.75) and ranks among the national leaders.
TAKING ADVANTAGE AT THE LINE
After a one-game hiatus vs. Oral Roberts, the Pirates returned to taking full advantage of their free throw opportunities vs. Liberty. Seton Hall converted on 26-of-34 attempts for a 76.5 percentage. Seton Hall ranks third in the BIG EAST in free throw percentage, shooting at a 73.9 percent clip. Against Penn, the Pirates made 26-of-30 free throws for a season-high 86.7 percent for the game. Senior Stan Gaines leads Seton Hall in the category, making 31-of-35 free throw attempts for a percentage of 88.6 - good for 8th in the BIG EAST. Freshman Eugene Harvey is 47-for-59 (79.7) and junior Jamar Nutter is 34-for-43 (79.1), which ranks them both amongst the BIG EAST’s best as well.
DON’T CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Freshman Larry Davis had a coming out party vs. Penn on Dec. 23. He scored 27 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field, 3-for-5 from three-point range and 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. The 27 points matches Eugene Harvey’s 27-point performance vs. Penn State on Dec. 9 as the highest individual point total for a Seton Hall player this year and the highest by a freshman since John Allen scored 31 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 31, 2001. Davis also added 10 rebounds for his first career double-double and a game-high three blocks. In the first game of the B.Y.U. Holiday Classic, Davis chipped in 13 points in 20 minutes. He added seven points and five boards vs. Liberty.
MORTON TO ENTER ANOTHER HALL
Former Seton Hall great, John Morton will be inducted into the New Jersey Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Fame on Sunday, January 28 at the Pines Manor in Edison, N.J. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players to ever wear a Pirates jersey, Morton ranks 11th all-time at Seton Hall with 1,621 career points and was instrumental in guiding the team to the national championship game in 1989. He is currently an assistant coach at St. Peters College.
GAINING RECOGNITION
Senior Stan Gaines has stepped up his game in 2006-07 and is making major contributions. An imporant cog of the front court, his reputation as a strong defensive player leads him to often guard the opposing team’s best player. He has started all 12 games and is averaging 7.6 points and a team second-best 4.7 rebounds per game. Cool and calm on the free throw line, Gaines has connected on 31-of-35 shots, an 88.6 percentile that leads the team and ranks him 8th in the BIG EAST. He also leads the Pirates with 1.0 blocks per game.
IN NEW PLACES
Seton Hall lost five players from last season’s roster, including their top two scorers, Donald Copeland and Kelly Whitney. Copeland and Whitney graduated, while Marcus Cousin, David Palmer and Mike Pilgram transferred. Copeland and Whitney combined for 31.3 points per game and were both named Second Team All-BIG EAST last season. Whitney also led the team with 7.9 rebounds per game.
TV SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
Seton Hall will have at least 17 regular-season games televised nationally or regionally in 2006-07, starting Dec. 9 with a game on YES against Penn State. The Pirates will be on MSG seven times, YES and Fox Sports New York three times, ESPN 360 twice and a game a piece on ESPN and ESPNU.
RADIO INFORMATION
The Pirates will once again be on WABC 770 AM, or its affiliates ESPN Radio or Radio Disney. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin return for their fourth season of coverage on the broadcasts. Cohen will handle play-by-play duties with Popkin as the analyst. WABC will carry 15 games this season. WEPN, ESPN Radio 1050 AM will broadcast four, and Radio Disney WQEW 1560 AM will carry 10.
GONZALEZ SIGNS THREE
Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez announced that three marquee recruits, Michael Glover, Jeremy Hazell and Augustine Okosun, have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Seton Hall University beginning in the 2007-08 academic year. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Glover is the gifted brother of former St. John’s standout Anthony Glover and will provide the Pirates with a strong rebounding presence and good finisher around the basket. Last season, he guided his prep school, Boys to Men Academy (Ill.), to a national championship. The 6-foot-5, 185-pound Hazell was ranked in the nation’s Top 20 by Scout.com among post graduate players. A standout for coach Chris Chaney at Patterson School (N.C.), he is widely regarded as an excellent shooter and will provide the Pirates with great depth at the guard position and the top scoring punch in this class. Augustine Okosun is a 6-foot-10, 240-pound junior college transfer who will have junior eligibility when he joins the Pirates next season. The Nigeria native comes from well-respected Harcum College (Pa.) and coach Drew Kelly and will add some much-needed size and experience to the Pirates’ frontcourt.
PIRATES IN THE NBA
Four former Seton Hall players are now playing in the NBA - Andre Barrett and Adrian Griffin (Chicago Bulls), Sam Dalembert (Philadelphia 76ers) and Eddie Griffin (Minnesota Timberwolves). Barrett, Dalembert and Eddie Griffin all played on the same Seton Hall team in 2000.
BENCHMARKED FOR SUCCESS
Joining head coach Bobby Gonzalez on the bench this year are three experienced and talented assistant coaches that will surely prove to be a positive influence on the 2006-07 Pirates. Kevin Murphy followed Gonzalez to Seton Hall after three years as his assistant at Manhattan. There, he helped guide the Jaspers to the 2004 MAAC title and NCAA Tournament berth. Geoff Billet joins the SHU staff after five seasons as an assistant at Monmouth. As a player, Billet scored 1,480 career points for Rutgers and graduated as the school’s all-time leading three-point shooter. Dermon Player brings a standout basketall acumen and remarkable recruiting skills to the Pirates. As a coach and athletics administrator, Player is no stranger to the metropolitan high school and AAU scene.
HOLLOWAY RETURNS
Shaheen Holloway, the school’s all-time assist leader who played from 1996-00 and helped lead the Pirates to the 2000 NCAA Sweet Sixteen, has returned to Seton Hall as the team’s administrative assistant. Holloway scored 1,588 points during his career, which ranks him 12th all-time at SHU. He dished out 681 assists and had 231 steals (2nd all-time), while also hitting 185 three-pointers (5th all-time) in 116 games. In 2000, he was named the BIG EAST’s Most Improved Player, and he earned all-league status three times in his career.
#2 BECOMES #99
With 15 points against St. Peters, junior Jamar Nutter surpassed the 500-point mark for his career. Nutter is the 99th Pirate in the program’s history to surpass the milestone. He currently has 612 points and is averaging 12.8 points per game this season. Junior Brian Laing has the second-most career points among active players with 431.
THREE CAPTAINS FOR 2006-07
Seniors Grant Billmeier and Stan Gaines as well as junior Brian Laing will serve as team captains for Seton Hall during the 2006-07 season. Billmeier was the lone Pirate captain last season and brings his hard work and unselfishness to the leadership position again. Gaines, a former transfer from the University of Minnesota, is playing in only his second season with the Pirates, but his infectious energy and enthusiasm make him an excellent choice as captain. Laing, the lone non-senior of the trifecta, is a real breakout candidate this season and will provide an experienced leader when it is time to look towards next season.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE 2006-07 SCHEDULE
Seton Hall will play at least nine games against teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament last year, but only three of the games will be on the road (Monmouth, Pennsylvania, Georgetown, at Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova, at Connecticut, at West Virginia and Pittsburgh... The Pirates will play 18 night games and 12 day games this season... SHU will face Rutgers, West Virginia and Providence twice, but will not see Syracuse or DePaul as part of the BIG EAST’s unbalanced schedule... Pittsburgh (#4), Georgetown (#8), Marquette (#16) and Connecticut (#18) are Seton Hall opponents ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll.
NEW FACES
The Pirates added three highly talented freshman to the roster for the 2006-07 and all three look to make a difference immediately. Larry Davis, Eugene Harvey and Kashif Pratt are three guards that come from well-respected metropolitan high school programs. Davis led Christ the King to a 24-5 record and the New York City Catholic High School title game while averaging 13.2 points per game his senior year. Harvey joins Seton Hall as one of the nation’s most highly regarded point guard prospects and could be running the Pirates’ offense sooner than later. Pratt averaged 15 points and six rebounds for Rice High School, but is even better known as a defensive specialist. The SHU backcourt is in good shape for years to come.
LOOKING AHEAD
SETON HALL AT PROVIDENCE
Saturday, January 6, 2007 8:00 p.m.
Dunkin’ Donuts Center Providence, R.I.
TV: MSG
Radio: WABC 770 AM / WSOU 89.5 FM
Seton Hall vs. Providence: PC, 43-38
NOTEBOOK: Seton Hall will travel to Providence on January 6 for the second game on the Pirates’ BIG EAST schedule. The Friars own a 43-38 lead in the all-time series, but have lost the last two games that they have hosted Seton Hall. Last season, the Pirates came away victorious in Providence, 77-74, on the strength of a 20 point, nine rebound performance by Kelly Whitney.
This season, Providence has gotten out of the gate early and has raced to a 9-3 record. Four players are averaging in double-digit scoring, including sophomore Sharaud Curry who is fourth in the BIG EAST with 17.3 points per game.
