Men's Basketball Heads to St. John's on Sunday

COMPLETE GAME NOTES

SETON HALL (14-11, 5-8) at
ST. JOHN'S (12-14, 3-10)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Carnesecca Arena - Jamaica, N.Y.
5:00 p.m. ET

SETON HALL STATUS:

The Pirates have lost two straight to Top-10 teams following a five-game win streak.  Most recently, Seton Hall lost at Marquette, 79-67, on Tuesday.  Sophomore Jeremy Hazell scored a team-high 23 points.  The Pirates are now 3-5 on the road this season.  Seton Hall has three remaining road games.

ST. JOHN’S STATUS:

The Red Storm has lost five straight, a streak that started with a 91-81 loss at Seton Hall on Feb. 5.  Most recently, St. John’s lost to Duke at MSG, 76-69, on Thursday.  Sophomore Paris Horne leads the Red Storm with 14.7 points per game.

THE MATCHUP:

Seton Hall and St. John’s will meet for the 85th time with the Red Storm holding a 53-31 all-time series lead.  The Pirates, however, have faired well lately in the series, winning six of their last eight games with St. John’s including a 91-81 victory earlier this season.  Seton Hall lost at Carnesecca Arena last season on a last second buzzer-beater.

TV:

SNY

Dave Sims & Ron Perry

RADIO:

WABC 770 AM

Gary Cohen & Dave Popkin

WSOU 89.5 FM

Tim Dooley & Brian Wisowaty

WEB:

www.shupirates.com

Live Audio Stream

THIS WEEK IN THE FINAL FOUR SEASON OF 1988-89

(February 17, 1989 - February 23, 1989)

On Feb. 18, Seton Hall lost their fifth game of the season and second at the hands of Pittsburgh.  The Pirates fell, 82-76, at Fitzgerald Field House.  Ramon Ramos had 25 points and eight rebounds, while Andrew Gaze had 18 points.  On Feb. 21, the Pirates got back into the win column with a 63-60 victory over St. John’s at the Meadowlands.  John Morton scored all of his team-leading 22 points in the second half.  Gaze scored 20 in the win.

This season Seton Hall is celebrating its 20th Anniversary of the 1988-89 team’s magical run to the Final Four. 

SCOUTING ST. JOHN’S

St. John’s returns four starters from a team that went 11-19 last season.  Only three games into the 2008-09 season, the Red Storm lost top returning scorer, Anthony Mason, Jr., for the season with a torn tendon in his right foot.  Since then, sophomores Justin Burrell, Paris Horne and D.J. Kennedy have picked up the scoring slack.  Two players are currently averaging in double-figures in scoring, and six are averaging at least 6.2 ppg.  A young team, St. John’s has been starting five sophomores. 

SETON HALL - ST. JOHN’S SERIES

Seton Hall and St. John’s will meet for the 85th time with the Red Storm holding a 53-31 all-time series lead.  The Pirates, however, have faired much better of late, winning six of the last eight meetings.  Earlier this season, Seton Hall defeated St. John’s, 91-81, at the Prudential Center.  The Pirates haven’t swept the Red Storm in a season series since the 2004-05 season.  Last year, St. John’s defeated Seton Hall on a last-second, buzzer-beater by Anthony Mason, Jr. at Carnesecca Arena.

#10 MARQUETTE RALLIES TO BEAT PIRATES

Seton Hall held a three-point halftime lead, but Marquette rallied in the second half to defeat the Pirates, 79-67, in Milwaukee.  Seton Hall committed a season-high 23 turnovers, but did pick up 15 steals in a match-up between the top two steals teams in the BIG EAST.  The Pirates out-shot the Golden Eagles, 41.8%-to-40.6%, but were out-rebounded, 41-to-31.

GAUSE, THEODORE SHINE IN LOSS

Despite the loss at Marquette, Seton Hall got strong performances from senior Paul Gause and freshman Jordan Theodore.  Gause had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and six steals in 38 minutes.  His six steals give him a BIG EAST-leading 65 for the season.  Theodore scored a career-high 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out four assists and grabbed four steals in 28 minutes. 

CARNESECCA ARENA

Seton Hall is 2-18 all-time at Carnesecca Arena, including last season’s 65-62 buzzer-beating loss.  Sunday will only be Seton Hall’s second visit to the arena since a 71-65 victory on March 3, 1990.

CAREER GAME FOR GARCIA

Senior John Garcia may have had the best game of his career vs. Connecticut on Feb. 14.  The 6-foot-9 center scored a career-high 22 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and tied his career-high with six blocks.  He was 10-for-13 from the floor and played 34 minutes.  Garcia now ranks fourth in the BIG EAST averaging 1.9 blocks per game.

AGAINST THE RANKED

Seton Hall’s loss to #10 Marquette dropped the Pirates to 2-7 this season against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top-25.  They defeated #19 USC on Nov. 20, lost to #12 Memphis on Nov. 21, fell at #13 Syracuse on Dec. 30, lost to #18 Villanova on Jan. 6, lost to #13 Notre Dame on Jan. 10, lost at #4 Connecticut on Jan. 18 and defeated #12 Georgetown on Jan. 25 and lost to #1 Connecticut on Feb. 14.  All-time, Seton Hall is 64-201 (.242) against teams ranked in the AP Top-25.  Additionally, the Pirates are now 4-13 all-time against teams ranked #10.

A BIG EAST FIRST

With Seton Hall’s victory at DePaul on Feb. 10, the Pirates became the first team in BIG EAST history to begin the conference slate 0-6 and have a five game win streak.

DEPAUL RECAP

With a date with #1-ranked UConn looming on the horizon, the Pirates were fearful that their game with DePaul might be overlooked.  That was not the case as Seton Hall dominated the Blue Demons from the start, eventually defeating them 72-49 for their most lopsided victory in BIG EAST play since they defeated Georgetown, 75-48, during the 2003-04 season.  Seton Hall shot a season-best 53.8% from the floor and got a strong game from junior Eugene Harvey who finished with 19 points, six assists and only one turnover.  Robert Mitchell had 16 points and nine rebounds.

IF THE SEASON WERE TO END TODAY

With a record of 5-8 in the BIG EAST, if the season were to end today, Seton Hall would earn the #11 seed in the BIG EAST Championship and play the #14 seed, USF, in the first round on Tuesday, March 10.  In order to get a first round bye, the Pirates need to reach the eighth seed.  Currently, three teams are tied for the #7 and #8 seeds at 7-6.  However, Seton Hall loses the tie-breaker against two of those teams, West Virginia and Syracuse. 

APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS

Sophomore Jeremy Hazell is honing in on the 1,000 career point mark.  Currently, he has 978 points and based on his scoring average, should hit the mark on Feb. 22 at St. John’s.  When he does, he and Eugene Harvey, who reached the 1,000-pt mark earlier this year, will be only the ninth time in Seton Hall history that teammates have reached the plateau in the same season.  Last year, Brian Laing and Jamar Nutter became the eighth duo to accomplish the feat.

INSIDE THE STATS

Sophomore Jeremy Hazell returned to his old scoring self with 23 points at Marquette on Tuesday to keep his average steady at 22.8 points per game.  Junior Robert Mitchell grabbed seven rebounds despite having a low offensive output.  Junior Eugene Harvey dished out four assists with four turnovers to slightly dip his assists average to 4.7.  Senior Paul Gause had a huge game at Marquette, and most notably recorded six steals to boost his average to a BIG EAST-best 2.6 steals per game.

GAUSE CLIMBING THEFT CHART

Senior Paul Gause is currently in third place all-time on the career steals list with 236.  He trails the leader, Dan Callandrillo, by 24.  Due to two injuries that caused him to miss 16 games last season, Gause was only able to collect 45 steals in 2007-08.  But the prior year, 2006-07, he recorded a conference-leading 90 thefts which set a single-season record.  If Gause duplicates that effort this year, he’ll set the all-time career record.  Gause is also a member of the 500-Point Club.  He currently has 745 career points which ranks him third on the active list (Harvey 1,220, Hazell 978).

HAZELL’S STANDOUT SEASON CONTINUES

After leading Seton Hall to a 2-0 week with victories over St. John’s and Rutgers, sophomore Jeremy Hazell was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on 2/9 for the second straight week and third time this season.  Hazell averaged 26 points per game in the two victories.  In the Pirates’ victory over St. John’s on Thursday, Hazell scored 31 points.  In Seton Hall’s first victory over Rutgers (1/29), Hazell tied his career-high with 35 points.  It is the first time that a Seton Hall player has had back-to-back 30-point games since Mark Bryant accomplished the feat during the 1987-88 season.  

PIRATES FALL TO FRIARS IN OT

Seton Hall dropped an overtime, nail-biter for the second time in four games, falling to Providence, 98-93, on Thursday.  Providence overcame a tremendous performance by Jeremy Hazell, who scored 30 points and Paul Gause, who had a season-high 19 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.  The Friars shot 16 free throws in the overtime session alone and converted on 12 of those attempts to win the game by five.

SETON HALL IS MR. ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD

Seton Hall has announced that Jeff Robinson has transferred to the University.  Robinson played basketball for the last season and a half at the University of Memphis.  Due to NCAA transfer regulations, Robinson will sit out the remainder of the 2008-09 season and the first semester of the 2009-10 season, becoming eligible to play at the conclusion of the first semester next year.  The 6-foot-5, 232-pound Robinson played in five games for the Tigers this season and all 28 games last season as Memphis marched all the way to the NCAA Championship game.  At St. Patrick’s High School, Robinson was a consensus Top-50 recruit, rated #36 by Rivals.com and #38 by ESPN150.

HONORS FOR MITCHELL

Junior transfer Robert Mitchell was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Jan. 26.  Over the week preceding, Mitchell averaged 20.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.  In Seton Hall’s upset of Georgetown, he had 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 40 minutes.

SEEING 20/20

Against Georgetown, Jeremy Hazell had 23 points, while Robert Mitchell had 20.  It is the fifth time this season that both players have scored at least 20 points in the same game.  Seton Hall is 3-2 in games that both score 20 points.  To date, Hazell has reached the 20-point plateau 18 times this season.  Mitchell has reached the mark six times.

RIPPING THE RANKED

Seton Hall’s victory over #12 Georgetown is the second time the Pirates have beaten a ranked opponent this year.  On Nov. 20, Seton Hall defeated #19 USC, 63-61, as a part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off.  It is the first time since the 2005-06 season that Seton Hall has won two games against a ranked opponent in a single season.  All-time, the Pirates are 64-201 (.242) against the AP Top-25.  

CLIMBING 3-POINTER CHARTS

Sophomore Jeremy Hazell is moving up the career three-pointers made list.  In less than two full seasons, he’s already ninth all-time.

HAZELL APPROACHING RARITY

Sophomore Jeremy Hazell needs to average only 6.4 points per game through the remaining seven games of the year to eclipse the 1,000-point mark.  Should he do so, he’ll be only the fifth player in Seton Hall history to record 1,000 career points in only two seasons.  Terry Dehere, Nick Werkman, Ken House and Darius Lane are the other four.  So far, Hazell is averaging a BIG EAST second-best 22.8 points per game.

AGAINST THE NATION’S TOP-5

Seton Hall lost to #4 Connecticut on Jan. 18.  All-time, the Pirates are only 4-48 (.077) against teams from the Associated Press Top-5.  Seton Hall has never beaten a team ranked #1, #2 or #3 and has just two wins over #4 and #5 teams.  The Pirates’ last victory over a #4-ranked team came on Feb. 9, 2004, a 68-67 double-overtime victory against Pittsburgh at Continental Airlines Arena.  Overall, Seton Hall is 64-201 (.242) all-time against teams ranked in the AP Top-25.

HAZELL HONORED AGAIN

For the second time this season, sophomore Jeremy Hazell was honored by the BIG EAST.  The conference named him to their Weekly Honor Roll for his performances last week.  In Seton Hall’s victory over California Baptist, Hazell tied Eugene Harvey with a team-high 25 points.

REBOUNDING MACHINE

Junior transfer Robert Mitchell had eight points and a career-high 15 rebounds vs. Connecticut on Feb. 14.  It was the 11th time this season that he has grabbed at least nine rebounds.  Currently, he leads the Pirates with 8.4 rebounds per game.

SCORING 30

Sophomore Jeremy Hazell hit the 30-point plateau again in Thursday’s victory over St. John’s.  It is the sixth time this season, he has scored at least 30 points and the third time in four games.  The last time a Pirate has had that many 30+ point games in a single-season was during the 1981-82 season when Dan Callandrillo hit the mark seven times.  Hazell has also topped 20 points in 18-of-25 games.

0-FOR-3-POINTERS STREAK SNAPPED

On Jan. 25, a Seton Hall streak was snapped that few thought would ever end.  Most surprisingly, the streak ended in a Seton Hall victory over #12 Georgetown.  For the first time since Dec. 7, 1991, a stretch spanning 504 games, the Pirates did not hit a three-point shot.  In 1991, Seton Hall was 0-for-11 vs. Iona.  Against Georgetown on Jan. 25, the Pirates were 0-for-13.  The Hoyas didn’t shoot much better, going 3-for-22.

NEWEST MEMBER OF 500-POINT CLUB

Seton Hall’s newest member of the 500-Point Club is sophomore Jeremy Hazell.  The 6-foot-5 guard reached the milestone vs. Memphis on Nov. 21.  Currently, Hazell is tied for 38th all-time in scoring with 978 points.

SETON HALL PLACES THIRD IN PUERTO RICO

With the Pirates’ victory over Virginia Tech, Seton Hall placed third amongst the eight teams in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-off.  Facing steep competition, the Pirates went 2-1 with victories over #19 USC and Virginia Tech.  Their only setback was to #12 Memphis.  Xavier won the tournament, defeating runner-up Memphis in the championship game. 

HONORS FOR HAZELL:  BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK/ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Sophomore Jeremy Hazell was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on 11/24, which is the first of the conference awards for the 2008-09 season and takes into consideration all of the teams’ games up to this point.  Hazell was also named to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-off All-Tournament Team.  Hazell averaged 23.3 points per game and hit the game-winning three-pointer in Seton Hall’s dramatic victory over #19 USC.  In the Pirates’ only loss, Hazell fired a career-high 32 points.  He completed his stellar tournament by leading Seton Hall with 23 points vs. Virginia Tech. 

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

Seton Hall was one of eight teams participating in the 2008 O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 20-23.  The Pirates played three games against some of the best competition in the country.  Other teams included Fairfield, Memphis, Missouri, USC, UT-Chattanooga, Virginia Tech and Xavier.  Seton Hall faced #19 USC, #12 Memphis and Virginia Tech and earned two victories.  All three games were televised nationally on ESPNU.

PLAYING IN PUERTO RICO

This is the second time the Seton Hall basketball program has played in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  During the 1984-85 season, the Pirates participated in the Copa Navidad Classic.  In two games, Seton Hall defeated North Carolina A&T, 73-67, and Tennessee State, 97-88.  Seton Hall is now 4-1 all-time in Puerto Rico.

PIRATES DROP OVERTIME HEARTBREAKER

Seton Hall rallied late to take the game into overtime, but Villanova pulled away in the extra session to send the Pirates to an 89-85 loss.  Sophomore Jeremy Hazell had another strong game with 26 points, but Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds scored a game-high 40 points to help the Wildcats to victory.  The Pirates committed a season-low nine turnovers and were an impressive 13-for-14 from the FT line.

PROTECTING THE BALL

Seton Hall has done an excellent job of protecting the ball this season.  To date, the Pirates rank third in the BIG EAST in turnover margin.  They’re averaging only 12.3 per game while forcing 15.2 turnovers per game.

HARVEY JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB

With his first basket of the second half against Cal-Baptist, junior Eugene Harvey became the 36th player in Seton Hall men’s basketball history to record 1,000 career points.  The 6-foot guard finished the game with 25 points.  Last season, Brian Laing and Jamar Nutter both eclipsed the milestone.  Most impressively, Harvey is only the 20th player to accomplish the feat in less than three seasons.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE

Against Connecticut on Feb. 14, Senior John Garcia scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.  He has now tied Robert Mitchell for the team lead with four double-doubles for the season.  Garcia leads the team with nine career double-doubles.  Eugene Harvey and Jeremy Hazell also have one double-double so far in 2008-09.

INSPIRED PIRATES SHOCK #12 GEORGETOWN

On a day when Seton Hall’s 1989 Final Four team was honored, the current Pirates upset #12 Georgetown, 65-60, before a sell-out crowd at Prudential Center.  After trailing by one at the half, Seton Hall shot 46.2% from the floor in the second half and held on for the victory.  Showing stellar defense, the Pirates limited the Hoyas to only 32.7% from the floor for the game and forced 17 turnovers, while committing only nine.  The 60 points allowed are the lowest total for a BIG EAST Seton Hall opponent.

1989 FINAL FOUR REUNION

On Jan. 25, before a sell-out crowd, Seton Hall celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the men’s basketball team that made it to the Final Four in 1989.  The team lost by one point in the NCAA Championship Game to finish as national runners-up.  In a special halftime ceremony, several players and coaches from the 1989 team were paraded onto the court in a nostalgic look back at the magical run.  Team captain John Morton was the last player to be announced and carried the team’s national runner-up trophy.  P.J. Carlesimo spoke to the crowd and the team’s giant Final Four banner was unfurled.

SELL-OUT

The Pirates recorded their second sell-out of the Prudential Center vs. #1 Connecticut on Feb. 14.  Seton Hall’s upset victory over #12 Georgetown was also witnessed by a sell-out crowd.  Seton Hall has now sold-out the Prudential Center seven times since the building opened last year.

STIX FINALLY GETS HIS CHANCE

After sitting out a year due to NCAA transfer regulations, Robert Mitchell has finally suited up for the Pirates.  In Seton Hall’s season-opener, Mitchell scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.  In 2006-07 at Duquesne, Mitchell led the team in scoring with a 16.4 points per game average, which ranked ninth in the nation among Division I freshmen.  He made 18 starts and pulled down 5.4 rebounds per game.  Mitchell was named Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Week five times en route to being ultimately named Rookie of the Year by the conference.

PIRATES WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT; SWEEP RUTGERS

Seton Hall won their fourth straight BIG EAST game with a 65-60 victory over Rutgers on Feb. 8.  The victory marks the first season sweep of Rutgers since the 2003-04 season.  Each season series since had resulted in a split.  Jeremy Hazell scored a game-high 21 points.  Seniors Paul Gause and John Garcia also had strong afternoons scoring 10 and 13 points respectively.  Garcia added eight rebounds and three blocks en route to being named the 2008-09 Joe Calabrese MVP.

KAZIMIR, RHODES JOIN PIRATES’ STAFF

During the summer, head coach Bobby Gonzalez added two to his staff.  Dennis Kazimir was hired as Director of Basketball Operations, while Rodrick Rhodes was named Administrative Assistant.  A former assistant coach at Tiffin and Wright State, Kazimir replaces Stephen Sauers.  A five-year NBA veteran and UMass administrator, Rhodes replaces Elvis Valcarcel.

904 POINTS IN TWO SEASONS

Harvey’s 904 points is the eighth highest total in a players’ first two seasons all-time at Seton Hall.  This season, Harvey became the 36th player overall to record 1,000 career points.

GARY & DAVE RETURN

The broadcast team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will be back for their sixth season covering Seton Hall on the Pirates’ radio flagship station, 77WABC.  For the second straight year, all Seton Hall broadcasts will be heard on 77WABC.  The 2008-09 season marks the 20th season for radio engineer Mike Infantino.

LIVE AUDIO STREAM

Go to www.shupirates.com to listen to all of Seton Hall’s home and away games as a part of the Hall Pass.  Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will bring you all the action.  Get the HALL PASS Today!  

TV EXPOSURE

All 18 of the Pirates’ BIG EAST match-ups will be televised either nationally or regionally this season.  Additionally, all three Seton Hall games at the 2008 O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off will be televised nationally on ESPNU or ESPN2.  Collectively, the Pirates will get the nation’s attention 10 times with at least three broadcasts on either ESPN or ESPN2 (vs. Rutgers on Jan. 29, vs. St. John’s on Feb. 5 and the BIG EAST Championship), six on ESPNU (three in Puerto Rico, vs. Providence on Jan. 22, at Rutgers on Feb. 8 and at DePaul on Feb. 10) and one on ESPN360 (at Cincinnati on March 7).  The remaining 12 conference games will be BIG EAST Network local telecasts with 11 being broadcasted on SNY and one be shown on MSG.  The Pirates’ game vs. Connecticut on February 14 is the BIG EAST Network Game of the Week.

CENTURY MARK

Seton Hall’s 100-76 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson marked the 60th time in school history and the second time this season, the Pirates have scored at least 100 points in a game.  Earlier this year, Seton Hall beat Monmouth, 101-78.  It’s also the fourth time in the Bobby Gonzalez era.  Last season, Seton Hall defeated Robert Morris, 111-107, and James Madison, 112-110.

400/400 FOR BIG JOHN

Kudos to senior John Garcia who became a new member of the 400-point/400-rebound club at Seton Hall.  To date, John has 458 career points and 432 rebounds. 

MARINATTO TO BE NEXT BIG EAST COMMISH

John Marinatto, who has served as senior associate commissioner of The BIG EAST Conference since 2002, has been named Commissioner of the conference.  The appointment was made by a unanimous vote of the league’s Chancellors and Presidents.  Marinatto will succeed Mike Tranghese, who is stepping down as Commissioner in June 2009. Marinatto will assume Commissioner’s duties on July 1, 2009.

TOUGH STRETCH

Seton Hall has finally ended a very difficult stretch at the beginning of their BIG EAST schedule.  Three of their first five games were on the road and all five are currently ranked or receiving votes in the Associated Press Top-25.  The Pirates faced #8 Syracuse in the Dome, West Virginia (RV), #23 Villanova, #12 Notre Dame at the Joyce Center and #4 Connecticut at the XL Center in Hartford.

NATIONAL ATTENTION

On Nov. 24, Seton Hall earned two points in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll.  The Pirates caught the eyes of national writers with their victory over #19 USC on Nov. 20 and a win over ACC contender Virginia Tech on Nov. 23.  The BIG EAST was well-represented in the poll as the conference occupied #2 (Connecticut), #3 (Louisville), #4 (Pittsburgh), #8 Notre Dame, #15 Marquette, #20 Villanova and #21 Georgetown.  Syracuse and West Virginia joined Seton Hall in receiving votes. 

BIG EAST GOES 2-2 IN SEC/BIG EAST INVITATIONAL

Cincinnati and No. 9 Louisville claimed a pair of wins to earn a 2-2 split for the BIG EAST in the four-game SEC/BIG EAST Invitational on Thursday in Cincinnati, Ohio. Vanderbilt beat USF and No. 16 Tennessee beat No. 24 Marquette in Nashville, Tenn.

SNY - HOME OF THE BIG EAST

SNY, the television home of the New York Mets, Jets and BIG EAST Conference, in conjunction with ESPN Regional Television announced the network’s comprehensive, multi-platform coverage of the 2008-09 BIG EAST basketball season. Featuring more than 500 hours of BIG EAST basketball, SNY’s all-access conference pass will showcase more than 110 BIG EAST basketball games, including the BIG EAST “Game of the Week”. With seven of the BIG EAST schools ranked in the 2008 USA Today/ESPN top 25 preseason coaches’ poll, fans can tune to SNY for exclusive, in-depth game coverage as the network will produce inclusive pre-game, halftime and post-game shows surrounding all intra-conference primetime basketball match-ups. In addition to featuring every basketball team from the BIG EAST Conference, key match-ups that will air on SNY throughout the season include Syracuse vs. Louisville, Georgetown vs. Rutgers, Seton Hall vs. UConn, West Virginia vs. Notre Dame and Pittsburgh vs. St. John’s.

BIG EAST WELL-REPRESENTED IN PRESEASON POLL

The preseason excitement that has swirled around The BIG EAST Conference received a stamp of validation when the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 preseason coaches’ poll was released Oct. 30. It shows a record seven BIG EAST teams, including four among the top nine.  Connecticut is No. 2 with Louisville at No. 3. Pittsburgh is sixth and Notre Dame ninth. The BIG EAST has never had four teams in the top 10 in a national preseason poll.  Marquette was tabbed 17th with Georgetown 18th. Villanova placed 25th. Syracuse and West Virginia were among teams also receiving votes.

STEALS LEADER

For the third straight year, Seton Hall is towards the top of the BIG EAST Conference in steals per game average.  Through 25 games, the Pirates are averaging 8.6 steals per game which is second-best in the conference.  Seton Hall finished the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons as the BIG EAST steals leader.

OFF TO A HOT START

With eight wins in their first nine games, Seton Hall is off to their best start of the Bobby Gonzalez era and best overall start since they were 14-1 to begin the 1992-93 season.  That year, Seton Hall won the BIG EAST Tournament.  This season also marks the third consecutive campaign that Seton Hall has begun the year with six wins in their first seven games.  Under Gonzalez, the Pirates are 14-2 in November. 

HARVEY FLIRTS WITH TRIP-DUB

For the second straight game to start the season, a Pirate flirted with a triple-double.  Paul Gause game close on opening night, but against Columbia, Eugene Harvey came even closer to making history.  Harvey recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.  The double-double, as it ended up, was the second of Harvey’s career.  It was the first time Harvey had reached double-figures in rebounds.  There has been only one triple-double all-time.

PIRATES SHOCK #19 USC, 63-61

Seton Hall rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat #19 USC, 63-61, in their quarterfinal game of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-off.  Seton Hall trailed 43-28 at the half, but outscored the Trojans 35-to-18 in the second frame.  USC shot 62.% from the floor in the first half compared to a paltry 24.1% in the second.  Three Pirates scored in double-figures and were led by Eugene Harvey who scored 18 points to go with five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

AIR JORDAN LANDS IN SOUTH ORANGE

Freshman guard Jordan Theodore is a key member of Bobby Gonzalez’s 2008-09 recruiting class.  Theodore averaged 16.9 points, 6.7 assists and 4.6 steals per game as a junior at Paterson Catholic.  He helped lead them to an 18-8 record and scored a career-high 31 points vs. DePaul in the county final.  Additionally, he was the point guard for the #1 rated summer AAU basketball team, the New York Gauchos.  Recently, Theodore was named a Preseason All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention by CollegeHoops.net.

LAWRENCE, POPE TRANSFER IN

Over the summer, head coach Bobby Gonzalez acquired two impact transfers, Keon Lawrence and Herb Pope.  Lawrence played basketball the last two seasons at the University of Missouri.  Last season, he played in all 32 games and averaged a team-high 29.2 minutes per game.  He led the team in field goal attempts and averaged 11.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while making 20 starts.    Pope played basketball last season at New Mexico State University.  Last season, he appeared in 16 games and made 12 starts.  A native of Aliquippa, Pa., he averaged 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.  Named to the 2008 All-WAC Newcomer Team, Pope’s two best performances came in the WAC Tournament.  As of today, both players will sit out the 2008-09 season due to NCAA transfer regulations.

ALL-TIME 1,000-POINT MILESTONES

With Laing and Nutter reaching the 1,000-point plateau last season, it marked the eighth time that two players reached the milestone in the same season.  Most recently, Donnell Williams and Levell Sanders reached it during the 1997-98 season.  In 1988-89, three players reached the mark, John Morton, Ramon Ramos and Darryl Walker.  This season, junior Eugene Harvey (1,220) and sophomore Jeremy Hazell (978) have a chance at joining this exclusive club. 

LOOKING AHEAD

 

USF

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

7:00 p.m.

Prudential Center

Newark, N.J.

 

TV:  SNY

Live Audio Stream:  www.shupirates.com

Radio:  WABC 770 AM / WSOU 89.5 FM

NOTEBOOK:  Seton Hall and USF will meet for only the sixth time in history.  The Pirates have never lost to the Bulls and are 3-0 all-time at home.  Last season, Seton Hall swept the two-game series winning 74-64 at Prudential Center and 79-75 at the Sun Dome.

Predicted to finish last in the BIG EAST this season, USF has faired better than expected.  The Bulls pulled swept basement dweller DePaul and pulled off a shocking victory over Marquette.  Sophomore Dominique Jones continues to impress as one of the conference’s young stars.  He is currently averaging over 18 points, five rebounds and four assists per game.  As a group, USF returns four starters from a team that went 12-19 last season.

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