MBB Looks to Make Noise at BIG EAST Tournament
3/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2014
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - In the BIG EAST Conference, March means Madison Square Garden and the Seton Hall men's basketball team heads to the World's Most Famous Arena intending to embark on a four-day journey to a title at the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament Presented by NEW YORK LIFE.
First up for the eighth-seeded Pirates (15-16, 6-12) is a third matchup with the #9 Butler Bulldogs (14-16, 4-14) as The Hall will look to avenge two regular season losses and pick up its fourth postseason win in as many years. FOX Sports 1 will televise all nine contests at the tournament with the acclaimed team of Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery and Erin Andrews handling broadcast duties for Wednesday's 7 p.m. tip. Seton Hall's radio duo of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the call for 970 AM (WNYM) and the Pirate Sports Network on SHUPirates.com. A national radio broadcast is also scheduled to be available on Sirius channel 93 and XM channel 191.
Over the first two meetings, the Bulldogs stifled the Pirates' typically up-tempo attack, limiting The Hall to less than 60 points in each game. In the regular season finale, seven 3-pointers and 29 points from sophomore standout Kellen Dunham proved to be the difference in a 71-54 Butler victory. Over the two contests, 10 of Dunham's 14 field goals have come from beyond the arc, a fact that will not be lost on newly crowned BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) and company.
Edwin leads Seton Hall into the BIG EAST Tournament for the final time after collecting a host of accolades from the conference this week. In addition to becoming just the second Pirate in history to take home the Defensive Player of the Year Award, he was named a Second Team All-BIG EAST performer after posting averages of 14.7 points per game and a conference-leading 2.8 steals/game. The senior tallied 20 of The Hall's 57 points in the first-ever matchup between the two teams - a seven-point win for the Bulldogs at the Prudential Center (Jan. 29). Edwin finished with just four points on Saturday however and will be keen on reaching double-figures for the fifth-straight time at the BIG EAST Tournament.
Big man Eugene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) tallied 10 points in the most recent installment of the series with the Bulldogs and is averaging 11.5 points and six rebounds against Butler this season. The BIG EAST pacesetter with a .609 shooting percentage for the year, Teague has keyed an interior assault that has seen the Pirates total 30 points in the paint in each contest.
Junior forward Brandon Mobley (Savannah, Ga.) starred in a supporting role at home for Seton Hall, burning the Bulldogs for 10 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in the first meeting. On Saturday, 6-foot-9 Patrik Auda (Brno, Czech Republic) returned from injury and emerged as the primary option, sinking 9-of-15 field goal attempts to finish with 22 points along with a career-high tying three blocks.
Both Mobley's and Auda's efforts came in reserve roles as head coach Kevin Willard's starting five has continually shifted to the tune of 19 different combinations this season - 10 in BIG EAST play. Both forwards also missed last season's conference tournament due to injury but with a full complement of healthy players at their disposal this year, the Pirates will not be restricted in their efforts to continue to assert their superiority inside.
With a wealth of frontcourt options available, improved play on the perimeter will be an area of focus for The Hall and could prove to be the deciding factor in which team advances to play regular season champions Villanova on Thursday.
All-BIG EAST Rookie Team selection Jaren Sina (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) got the call at point guard in the finale, recording two points and two assists in 30 minutes of action. Senior sharpshooter Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.) also managed just two points in a starting role, finishing without a 3-pointer for just the third time in conference play. Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) who has started 21 games this season came off the bench to add 11 points but the quartet of Edwin, Gibbs, Oliver and Sina combined to shoot an uncharacteristic 7-of-27 (.259) from the field and 1-for-11 (.090) from downtown.
Seton Hall has struggled from long range in both matchups with the Bulldogs, but rank third in the conference with 7.5 treys per game. Oliver (.421, 3rd) and Gibbs (.367, 14th) both rank in the top-15 in the league in 3-point shooting percentage, as does Sina who led all BIG EAST freshmen with a .376 (13th) mark from behind the line. Edwin (1.6, 14th) joins Oliver (2.8, 2nd) in the top-15 on the conference's 3FG/game list and if The Hall can limit giveaways and get the ball moving - they committed 12 turnovers with seven assists on Saturday - Butler will be hard pressed to hold the Pirates under 60 for a third consecutive meeting.
Establishing an offensive flow may also aid The Hall's efforts to get to the line. With free-throw shooting often a major factor in the postseason, the Pirates will aim to improve upon their previous two efforts against the Bulldogs which yielded less than 20 attempts from the line combined.
Familiarity with the grandest stage in basketball may also come into play as Seton Hall will be making its 34th appearance at the BIG EAST Tournament and taking the floor at The Garden for the 169th time in program history. As a new member of the league, Butler enters its first-ever conference tournament in the BIG EAST and has played only 10 games in the mecca that looms high above Pennsylvania Plaza.
Though the bright lights are nothing new, Seton Hall is in an unfamiliar position as the #8 seed. The Pirates have entered the tournament seeded eighth just twice before, losing to #1 Villanova (88-73) in the first round in 1982 before topping #9 Notre Dame (79-69) only to be clipped by eventual conference and national champions Connecticut in the 1999 quarterfinals (57-56).
A win would give The Hall its first quarterfinal berth since 2003 and mark the first step towards capturing the program's third BIG EAST Tournament title.
