The Hall Begins NCAA Tournament Thursday vs. NC State

2018 NCAA Tournament First Round [8] Seton Hall Pirates (21-11, 10-8 BIG EAST) vs. [9] NC State Wolfpack (21-11, 11-7 ACC)
Date/Time/Location	Thursday, March 15 \| 4:30 p.m., Eastern \| INTRUST Bank Arena (Wichita, Kan.)
Tickets	NCAA Ticket Exchange
Pregame Reception	Pirate Blue Reception at River City Brewing Company, 12:30-2:30 p.m., Central
Watch Party	Pirate Blue Watch Party at Hudson Station Bar & Grill 4-6:30 p.m., Eastern
Television Broadcast	TBS \| NCAA.com March Madness Live
Radio Broadcast	AM970 The Answer
Game Notes	Seton Hall \| Full Seton Hall Postseason Guide
Links	Live Stats \| Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| Bracket

It's the moment everyone's been waiting for.

After hundreds of practices, hours upon hours of film and 32 hard-fought games, Seton Hall tips off its NCAA Tournament run with a first-round matchup against NC State Thursday in Wichita, Kan. No, it's not the ideal location, and any Pirates fans who are able to make the trip should be commended, but this is The Dance, and the Pirates are equipped to make a run.

Led by the four seniors, The Hall will have to up its press-break against a Wolfpack squad known for creating turnovers. NC State ranked second in the ACC in conference game turnover percentage at 19.4 percent. The two teams have only one common opponent on the season: both defeated Louisville. The Pirates did so on the road, 79-77, back on Dec. 3, 2017, and NC State did in the last game of the regular season, 76-69 at home on March 3. Both teams have six wins against teams that ultimately made the NCAA Tournament:

Seton Hall: Texas Tech, Creighton, Butler x2, Providence x2
NC State: Arizona, Duke, Clemson, North Carolina, Syracuse, Florida State

Thursday's March Madness game will be on TBS with Brad Nessler and Steve Lavin on the call and Evan Washburn on the sidelines. The live stream of the TBS broadcast will be available on NCAA.com and the March Madness mobile app. The dynamic duo of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will anchor the radio broadcast on AM970 The Answer with no internet stream simulcast due to Westwood One's rights.

Time to #UnleashTheChaos cause we are dancing again! #HALLin pic.twitter.com/Grf6bHDg7g
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 11, 2018

See you in Kansas!! #HALLin #DancingAgain #PiratePursuit pic.twitter.com/KGwIcDuD5V
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 11, 2018

There's no time like tournament time to #UnleashChaos. @UABasketball @UnderArmour pic.twitter.com/SsMK0fyUAj
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 13, 2018

THINGS TO KNOW

Seton Hall is dancing for the third consecutive season under the direction of head coach Kevin Willard, and will take on NC State for the first time since 2007 Thursday afternoon.
This is Seton Hall's third all-time NCAA Tournament appearance as the No. 8 seed, and history has been on the Pirates' side. In 1988, Seton Hall's first-ever NCAA appearance, the Pirates topped No. 9 seed UTEP, 80-64, at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on March 18. They then fell to No. 1 seed Arizona two days later, 84-55. Then in 2004, The Hall knocked off No. 9 seed Arizona, 80-76, at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C., on March 18. Two day later, the Pirates fell to No. 1 seed Duke, 90-62.
The Pirates are hoping to taste success this postseason after falling to Butler by one, 75-74, when a last-second bucket fell through for the Bulldogs in the BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden on March 8. Khadeen Carrington scored 17 points and hit a three-point play with 11 seconds remaining in the game to put Seton Hall up one, but Tyler Wideman cleaned up a Kamar Baldwin miss with a put-back layup with 3.6 seconds left to lift the Bulldogs past the Pirates.
This is Seton Hall's 12th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, all of them coming in the last 30 years, and the Pirates have a 15-11 all-time record. This is also Seton Hall's third consecutive NCAA appearance, only the second time in program history that the Pirates have reached three straight. From 1991-94, The Hall advanced to four straight NCAA Tournaments.
The Pirates and Wolfpack meet for just the sixth time in the all-time series, with NC State holding a 3-2 edge.
- 03/13/51 - W, 71-59 (N)
- 12/28/53 - L, 70-72 (N)
- 12/29/89 - L, 62-65 (N)
- 01/25/06 - W, 83-65 (A)
- 12/27/07 - L, 73-79 (H)
In the most recent meeting, Eugene Harvey had 20 points and Brian Laing added 17, but 23 points from NC State's Gavin Grant was too much down the stretch as the Wolfpack avenged an 18-point loss in Raleigh the previous season.
Seton Hall has never played an ACC opponent in the tournament other than Duke.
Desi Rodriguez and Angel Delgado earned spots on the 2018 All-BIG EAST Second Team.

NCAA Tournament History

This is Seton Hall's 12th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, all of them coming in the last 30 years, and the Pirates have a 15-11 all-time record. This is also Seton Hall's third consecutive NCAA appearance, only the second time in program history that the Pirates have reached three straight. From 1991-94, The Hall advanced to four straight NCAA Tournaments. Of the 21 schools associated with the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, Seton Hall is one of four schools to go to three straight tournaments since the Pirates did so from 1991-94:

Seton Hall (2016, 2017, 2018)

Iona (2016, 2017, 2018)

LIU-Brooklyn (2011, 2012, 2013)

St. John's (1998, 1999, 2000)

Run With Anyone

The Pirates have proven the ability to play with the best of them this season, and have delivered 12 victories over nine teams currently in the KenPom Top-100:

Indiana - 78 (W, 84-68)

Vanderbilt - 88 (W, 72-59)

Texas Tech - 12 (W, 89-79)

Louisville - 33 (W, 79-77)

Creighton - 27 (W, 90-84)

St. John's - 80 (W, 75-70 / W, 81-74 OT)

Butler - 25 (W, 90-87 / W, 77-70)

Georgetown - 99 (W, 74-61)

Providence - 63 (W, 73-57 / W, 89-77)

Terrific Twenties

Seton Hall has its third-consecutive 20-win season and the fourth under head coach Kevin Willard. Only twice before in program history has Seton Hall had three consecutive 20-win seasons: 1951-53 under head coach Honey Russell and 1991-93 under head coach P.J. Carlesimo.

Willard's four 20-win seasons are the third-most in Seton Hall history behind P.J. Carlesimo and Honey Russell, who each have five.

Seton Hall has finished with at least a .500 BIG EAST record for the third consecutive year. The program has accomplished this feat only one other time since the start of the conference: 1991-93.

Special Senior Class

This year's senior class of Khadeen Carrington, Angel Delgado, Ismael Sanogo and Desi Rodriguez were honored on March 3 against Butler in the final home game of their career.

The quartet have had a truly special four years that includes three NCAA Tournament berths and the third BIG EAST Tournament Championship in program history.

They have combined to score over 5,400 points and pull down over 3,000 rebounds in over 13,500 minutes of court time throughout the last four seasons.

Jersey Strong

Seton Hall's 12 all-time NCAA Tournament bids places it second among the eight New Jersey Div. I schools, and only The Hall and Princeton have gone three straight years:

Princeton – 25 (Last 2017)

Seton Hall – 12 (Last 2018)

Rutgers – 6 (Last 1991)

Fairleigh Dickinson – 5 (Last 2016)

Monmouth – 4 (Last 2006)

Rider – 3 (Last 1994)

Saint Peter's – 3 (Last 2011)

NJIT – None

Higher Seed The Key

When Seton Hall is the higher seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Pirates are 10-2. They are 5-8 when they are the lower seed, and they are 0-1 when the seeds were equal (1989 National Championship game).

8 Seed History

This is Seton Hall's third all-time NCAA Tournament appearance as the No. 8 seed, and history has been on the Pirates' side. In 1988, Seton Hall's first-ever NCAA appearance, the Pirates topped No. 9 seed UTEP, 80-64, at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on March 18. They then fell to No. 1 seed Arizona two days later, 84-55. Then in 2004, The Hall knocked off No. 9 seed Arizona, 80-76, at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C., on March 18. Two days later, the Pirates fell to No. 1 seed Duke, 90-62.

Seton Hall vs. The ACC

Of Seton Hall's 26 all-time NCAA Tournament games, only three have come against members of the ACC and they all came against the same opponent: Duke. On April 1, 1989, No. 3 seed Seton Hall defeated No. 2 seed Duke, 95-78, in the Final Four at the Kingdome in Seattle. On March 26, 1992, the No. 4 seed Pirates lost to the No. 1 seed Blue Devils in the Sweet Sixteen, 81-69, at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. On March 20, 1994, No. 1 seed Duke defeated the No. 8 seed Pirates, 90-62, in the second round at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

Finish Strong

The Pirates pride themselves on defense, and have proven the ability to hold off late pushes by the opposition.

In fact, Seton Hall is 63-7 in its last 70 games (dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season) when holding a lead of seven or more at any point in the contest.

In the Polls

The Pirates ended the regular season receiving votes in the Associated Press Top-25 and USA Today Coaches Poll.

Earlier this season Seton Hall was No. 13 in the rankings, the highest since Jan. 2, 2001.

Seton Hall has been in the weekly national rankings 111 times in program history, and 11 times this season.

We Go As He Goes

Seton Hall is 37-14 all-time and 10-1 this season when Carrington connects on two or more three-pointers.

He was named the Met Writers Player of the Week and the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the second time in his career on Feb. 26; he also received the honors on Feb. 20, 2017. It is the second time this year that a Pirate has won the league's top weekly award (Desi Rodriguez, Dec. 4, 2017).

Over Carrington's last five games, he is averaging 22.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 48.6 percent from the field, 46.7 percent from long range, and 89.2 percent from the free throw line.

Trio of Veteran Scorers

Between just Rodriguez, Carrington and Delgado, the Pirates have an incredible trio of experienced scorers - the three have a combined 4,979 career points.

All three are Top-20 all-time scorers in the history of the program, with Carrington leading the trio (ninth), followed by Rodriguez (14th) and Delgado (18th).

No other class in program history has more than one player on the Top-20 all-time scoring list.

Sharing is Caring

A total of five different Pirates have recorded five assists or more in a single game this season (Carrington, Delgado, Powell, Rodriguez, Walker).

Seton Hall has finished with an even or positive assist-to-turnover ratio in 26 of 32 games.

Dependable Desi

Desi Rodriguez has been the most consistent offensive contributor and elite all season.

He is averaging a team-best 17.8 points per game, and is shooting 50.3 percent (194-for-386) from the field and 37.9 percent (53-for-140) from long range.

The Pirates are 11-3 this season when Rodriguez is the team's leading scorer, and 35-14 all-time when he scores at least 15 points.

Filling the Box Score

Ismael Sanogo is one of the most well-rounded players in the BIG EAST, and although not all of his skills are reflected in the statistics, he does an outstanding job of checking the boxes.

He has had seven games this season with at least one point, rebound, block, assist and steal.

Getting to the Line is Key

The Pirates are 32-6 over the last 38 games and 17-4 this season with they have more free-throw attempts than their opponent.

Rebounding on Both Ends

Delgado's ability to rebound on both ends of the floor has earned him national attention.

He was named a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, as well as the Senior CLASS Award.

His 3.9 offensive boards per game are good for eighth in the country. Overall, Delgado's 11.6 rebounds per game are also fifth-best in the nation.

Against Vanderbilt earlier this season, Delgado was held without an offensive rebound, snapping a streak of 71 games with one or more offensive boards.

He has grabbed one or more offensive rebounds in 127 of 130 career games and 97 of the last 98.

Delgado leads the BIG EAST in offensive, defensive, and total rebounding.

Better With Age

Myles Powell, AKA "Cheese", has had a tremendous sophomore campaign, and on March 4, was named the 2018 BIG EAST Most Improved Player. His scoring this year has increased by 137 percent, his assists have increased by 300 percent, and he is shooting five percent better from the field. He is the second Pirate ever to receive the award (Shaheen Holloway, 2000).

He scored a career-high 30 points against Xavier on Feb. 14 on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor.

Cheese has scored in double-figures in 28 of 32 games this year.

He is already 12th all-time in school history with 157 career three-point field goals.

His 89 made threes so far are the seventh-most in a single season in program history.

Pirates Can Fill It Up

Seton Hall has shown the ability to score in chunks and put together stretches of efficient and dangerous offense.

So far this season, the Pirates have scored 80 or more points 16 times, the most in a season since the 2009-10 squad had 17.

Seton Hall is 13-3 this season when scoring 80 or more points.

Furthermore, the Pirates have shot 50.0 percent or better in 10 games and 40.0 percent or better in 30 of 32 games.

A New King

Angel Delgado had already cemented his name in the BIG EAST record book entering the season. But at DePaul on Jan. 28, with his second rebound, BIG EAST career rebound No. 702, he broke Syracuse's Derrick Coleman's (1986-90) all-time BIG EAST career rebound record that had stood for 28 years.

The big man is also second on the BIG EAST's all-time rebounding average list (11.50) behind only Michael Smith (Providence, 1991-94, 11.66 rpg).

Delgado has now won the BIG EAST's rebounding championship for the third time, tying him with Michael Smith of Providence (1992-94), for most ever in conference history.

Double-Double Machine

Angel Delgado is 18th on the NCAA all-time leaderboard for career double-doubles (71).

With his 69th career double-dip, against Providence, he passed some big names - Larry Bird (Indiana State), David West (Xavier) and Paul Millsap (Louisiana Tech).

Tom Gola, La Salle - 96

Tim Duncan, Wake Forest - 87

Kenneth Faried, Morehead State - 86

Ralph Sampson, Virginia - 84

Derrick Coleman, Syracuse - 83

Lionel Simmons, La Salle - 83

Malik Rose, Drexel - 80

Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati - 79

Michael Brooks, La Salle - 79

Jerry Lucas, Ohio State - 78

Mel Counts, Oregon State - 78

Lew Alcindor, UCLA - 78

Shawn Long, Louisiana-Lafayette - 75

Keith Lee, Memphis - 74

David Robinson, Navy - 74

Don May, Dayton - 72

Bill Walton, UCLA - 72

Paul Silas, Creighton - 71

Gary Winton, Army - 71

Angel Delgado, Seton Hall - 71

A Place in History

Angel Delgado has made his way into the NCAA Division I record book for career rebounds. Since the NCAA's creation of the Division I, II & III model in 1973, he has the 10th-most career boards (1,414). Only nine others have Amassed 1,400 or more rebounds since 1973.

Kenneth Faried, Morehead State ('11) - 1,673

Tim Duncan, Wake Forest ('97) - 1,570

Derrick Coleman, Syracuse ('90) - 1,537

Malik Rose, Drexel ('96) - 1,514

Ralph Sampson, Virginia ('83) - 1,511

Pete Padgett, Nevada ('76) - 1,464

Shawn Long, UL Lafayette ('16) - 1,447

Lionel Simmons, La Salle ('90) - 1,429

Anthony Bonner, Saint Louis ('90) - 1,424

Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (present) - 1,423