Full Court Press: Seton Hall Pirates Peaking At Right Time, No. 1 Nova Falls, Hofstra Pushing

Seton Hall men’s basketball head coach, Kevin Willard (Photo by Catalina Fragoso – Double G Media)

Coach Kevin Willard and his Seton Hall Pirates are inching closer to a major milestone after a convincing, 70-52, home win over the Providence Friars last evening in an important Big East game for squads. For the Pirates the victory moved them one step closer to their first NCAA tournament berth in a decade.

For Ed Cooley’s Friars the loss was the fifth in six games (19-9, 7-8 Big East) and they are clearly on the proverbial bubble for a spot in the tournament.

Providence is bleeding big time after an early season run that vaulted them into Top Ten status in the national polls.

The Pirates (20-7, 10-5 Big East) were led by dynamic sophomore point guard Isaiah Whitehead (16.9 ppg) who poured in 25 points (8 of 12 shooting) along with nine assists.

“He has a unique ability,” said Willard in his postgame remarks.

“He makes everybody better …. that’s why we have been playing at a high level.”

The Pirates are on a roll, and it couldn’t come at a better time with the tournament just around the corner, having won seven of their last eight games.

For the Pirates, it is the first season since 2003/4 that they have racked-up 20 wins overall along with 10 in the Big East.

Angel Delgado added 14 points and 10 boards while Khadeen Carrington chipped in with 12.

Providence forward Ben Bentil, who has to be the most improved player in the country, had a superlative 31-point performance go for naught.

The Pirates defense limited Providence to just 28.4% from the field. The Friars were ice-cold from long range (4 of 24) and with the exception of Bentil there were no Friars that hit for double figures.

Player of the Year candidate, Kris Dunn, was a non-factor in the game.

Next up for the Pirates is a home date on Sunday with No. 5 Xavier (25-3, 13-3 Big East).

‘Nova loses duel with Musketeers

Coach Jay Wright’s Wildcats (24-3, 13-2 Big East) may have had a short-lived stay as the No. 1 team in the country when they lost an old-fashioned Big East battle on the road to No. 5 Xavier (25-3, 13-3 Big East), 90-83.

In spite of the loss, the Wildcats still remain in control of their path to the Big East regular season title.

The game showcased two teams that are legitimate No. 1 seed’s in the NCAA Tournament.

If this game is an example of what’s in store come tournament time, March Madness promises to be one of the wildest rides in NCAA Tournament history.

Pride bidding for No. 1 seed

Coach Joe Mihalik’s Hofstra Pride (21-8, 13-4 CAA) held on for a dramatic come-from-behind 70-69 road win over UNC-Wilmington (21-7, 13-4 CAA) to gain a tie for the top spot in the CAA standings.

Juan’ya Green, the Pride’s leading candidate for CAA POY, scored Hofstra’s final eight points to give the Pride the lead for good.

The Pride, who picked up their fifth straight win, dug out of a 16-point deficit at the half.

Hofstra’s Ameen Kiley scored 18 points in the win which helped him become the 33^rd Pride player to eclipse the 1,000 point career mark.

The Pride will look to secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming CAA Tournament with a win tomorrow over the College of Charleston (16-12, 8-9 CAA).

Bulldogs and Tigers fight for NCAA berth

Yale (18-6, 9-1 Ivy) and Princeton (18-5, 8-1 Ivy) are on a collision course in the fight for the Ivy League championship and with it an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Columbia remains close behind (19-8, 8-2 Ivy) and faces a key showdown at Princeton this evening and next weekend with Yale.

Expect the unexpected in the Ivy League … you could have a three-way tie.

Little of this and a little of that …..

Seton Hall’s win over Providence marked the ninth 20-win season in the Big East era (1979-80 through the present). The first seven resulted in NCAA tournament bids. The only one that didn’t was 2011-12, when a 20-12 regular-season sent Seton Hall to the NIT.

Congratulations to the Wagner College (19-9, 12-5 NEC) men’s basketball team for clinching their second Northeast Conference regular season championship with a 69-54 win over St. Francis (PA). The Seahawks recorded their first league title back in 2002-03. The win allowed Wagner to secure home court advantage throughout the NEC Tournament which is slated to begin on March 2.

Yale senior forward Justin Sears is one of 10 finalists nominated for the 2015-16 Senior Class Award in men’s collegiate basketball. Sears is the Ivy League’s first finalist since Penn’s Zack Rosen in 2011-12. Oakland guard, Max Hooper has launched 221 three-point field goal attempts this season. The senior has connected on 98 in 30 games played this year for the Golden Grizzlies. It’s amazing that Hooper has not taken one single shot from inside the three-point arc.

A parting shot

The University of Tennessee is the next in an increasingly long line of institutions that continue to bury their head in the sand when it comes to addressing sexual assaults on their campus, and in particular, with their athletes.

Athletic director Dave Hart, and other members of the athletic department, are treating these attacks on women like some-type of recruiting violation, but sexual assaults are far more serious and something needs to be done to remedy this deplorable and downright disgusting behavior.

RIP Eddie Einhorn

Eddie Einhorn, a pioneer in promoting televised college basketball and minority owner of the Chicago White Sox, recently passed away at a New Jersey residence from complications from a stroke.

Einhorn, founder of TVS Network, put college basketball on the TV map 50 years ago and his broadcast of the UCLA and Houston Game of the Century from the Astrodome in 1968 was widely recognized for the growth of televised college basketball. In 2011, Einhorn was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

March Madness is around the corner … Selection Sunday is March 16 …. Keep shooting!

(Various wire reports used in the compiling the column)

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