By Zack Cziryak

The Seton Hall Pirates avoided a thunderstorm by playing on the road Thursday night but couldn’t avoid the raining three-pointers and Ryan Kalkbrenner alley-oop finishes in Omaha.
The #12 Creighton Bluejays ran a shorthanded Pirate squad out of the CHI Center with an 85-64 victory to retake possession of third place in the Big East standings on the strength of 13 three pointers, including eight en route to a 38-22 halftime lead.

An Al-Amir Dawes three pointer would cut the Creighton lead to 14-11 midway through the first half shortly after Kadary Richmond exited the game with his second foul. The Pirates, already heavily reliant on their starting five, played without their sixth man in freshman Isaiah Coleman as well as deep bench forward Sadraque NgaNga due to illness.

The three-point deficit would mark the closest the Pirates would come as Creighton would respond with three straight three pointers, including a pair from Bluejay reserve big Isaac Traudt to kick off the 9-0 run. The Bluejays would never look back, outscoring the Hall 15-11 over the remainder of the half and extending the lead to as many as 25 in the second half.

Trey Alexander, 15 points and 10 assists, and Baylor Scheierman, 20 points and 11 rebounds, would each put up double-doubles for Creighton, while Kalkbrenner notched his own double-double of sorts in finishing a perfect 10-10 from the floor for a game high 23 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots for the reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

Similarly reliant on their starters, Creighton would get a total of 14 points from their own bench – 11 from Traudt, who hadn’t scored a point since Jan. 27, and three garbage time points from sophomore center Frederick King.

The Pirates’ big three of Richmond, Dawes and Dre Davis finished with 15, 13 and 18 points, respectively, while the bench tallied 5 total points between a runner from Jaquan Sanders and a three from David Tubek, both with the game well out of hand.

Seton Hall would finish 41.7% from the field and 2-9 from beyond the arc while being outrebounded 35-28, thought they would somehow win the turnover battle at 13-15. As is typical against a Greg McDermott coached squad, the Bluejays assisted on 20 of 31 baskets compared to just 7 assists for the Hall on 25 makes.

The loss comes in the first of back-to-back road matchups against top 15 teams as the Pirates will travel to Storrs, Conn. on Sunday for a return game after defeating UConn 75-60 in the Big East season opener on Dec. 20.

Tipoff for the CBS broadcast is scheduled for noon.

By Phil Mushnick

It’s easy to blame ESPN for so much that has disfigured sports. That’s the problem — it’s too easy.

So, after five days of rationalized nonsense, let’s make a few things clear about Saturday’s latest news-making court-storming after Wake Forest defeated Duke.

1) Once again, ESPN cameras thoughtlessly invited a crowd to do its worst. ESPN rewarded every over-the-top, attention-starved “fan” it could find.

And in the minutes before the mob rush that injured Duke’s 7-foot Kyle Filipowski, ESPN three times provided a closeup of the same corpulent courtside “fan” who was happy to go berserk as he knew what ESPN was looking for and he was more than happy to provide it on cue.

2) The actual storming was gratuitous and obligatory. Wake was up four with 1.8 seconds left when a timeout was called, followed by a commercial. So the “spontaneous” selfie-snapping combustion that followed was not spontaneous but rather performed in accordance with ritual.

3) The media fallout that followed was absurd. FS1’s bad-guess artist and self-history revisionist Colin Cowherd, broadly asked, “What’s the big deal?” He concluded that some student half Filipowski’s size bumped into the Duke player, who should’ve tossed this kid back into the stands.

Cowherd unsurprisingly missed the largest point: All it takes was for one court-stormer to have fallen, creating a pileup of humans. All it takes is one in 1,000 to fall to place dozens in immediate peril. Besides, when did matters of indisputable common sense become debatable?

Des Moines Register columnist Randy Peterson’s leg was broken in a court-storming after Iowa State, at home, beat Iowa. It happened on ESPN.

Joe Kay, a brilliant, 6-foot-6 student headed to Stanford on an athletic scholarship was left brain-damaged in a court-storming after his Arizona high school team won a tournament.

Gerry Plunkett, wife of Stanford and NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett, was in her seat at an Arizona-Stanford game when she was caught from behind in a court-storming. She was left battered, bruised, traumatized.

Will Privette, a North Carolina St. student who was knocked out of his wheelchair during a storming. He was rescued before he could be trampled.

A court-storming led to a brawl between New Mexico State players and Utah Valley fans.

ESPN once held an expert’s group discussion on court-storming. Bring it on! It’s all just good, clean fun.

Condescending House Genius Jay Bilas, after a frightening court-storming at Kansas St. following a win over Kansas “It’s not necessary, but if you want to do it, that’s fine. But have the proper security. … It might be a little dangerous.”

Sure, hire an additional 200 more security guards per home game. Just in case. That should do it!

This week, following the Wake Forest tumult, Bilas: “If they wanted to stop it. They could stop it tomorrow. … All you have to do is, once they’re on the court, don’t let them off. Just say, ‘You’re all detained’ and give them all citations or arrest them if you want to. Then court-stormings will stop the next day.”

Perhaps the college arena parking lots will regularly include dozens of police wagons, judges’ kiosks and bail bonds booths in service to transporting or charging, oh, 1,500 students with rioting. Hey, ESPN can be named as co-defendants for years of aiding and abetting such scenes!

ESPN’s Seth Greenberg, the former Virginia Tech coach who was in the studio for Sunday’s Duke-Wake, saw the Kansas St. court-storming as both a fundamental right and obligation:

“That was a legal court-storming because it was a Top-10 win and a rivalry game. And the place was packed. That’s good for college basketball, good for everyone.”

Was Sunday’s “a legal court-storming”?

Stephen A. Smith, ESPN’s first-in-line fool: “Hire extra security, put ’em by the visitors’ bench, call it a day.” Solved!

Well, that might protect the visitors but what about the vast majority?

ESPN’s Digger Phelps: “I have no problem with it. … Safety? Sure, you may get one person hurt.”

If lucky, just one hurt at a time … as long as it isn’t your person.

ESPN’s Dan Dakich, former Indiana and Bowling Green coach, said he loves court-storming — even if one of his players had his knee wrecked during one. ESPN’s since-departed Jalen Rose said he loves it, regardless, too.

Court-storming met with CBS’s Doug Gottlieb’s approval. Greg Anthony, former CBS hoops analyst, said, “What’s next? Are you going to outlaw tailgating?”

The only one to apply see-it/say-it common sense to the common senselessness was ESPN’s Jay Williams, who said he’s against court-storming because it can be inescapable to those innocently caught in the rush. He called it “dangerous madness.”

Hell, the first talk I had with my daughter after she decided in 2004 to attend Indiana was to avoid the rush toward the court near the ends of close games by moving toward the upper regions of the arena. I had her pledge to head up rather than down.

4) Perhaps the least surprising of these misadventures is that tape of the above court-storming approvals exist for ESPN’s airing. But ESPN has always played selectively dishonest with hard evidence. Consider that its regularly seen “Bobby Knight Goes Nuts” reel disappeared after ESPN hired Knight, returning only after Knight left ESPN.

5) The worst part: ESPN was twice — 2007, then 2013 — warned by ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” investigations against court-storming for its serious consequences, including an update on Stanford-bound Kay who had to relearn how to read, write and speak after he was floored in a court-rush.

Yep, ESPN tried to warn ESPN, but ESPN just wouldn’t listen. It can take years for ESPN to wake up. It once celebrated the most excessively brutal and even illegal hits in football in “He Got Jacked Up!” sessions. Yes, it’s easy — much too easy — to blame ESPN.

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Indianapolis, Ind. – The Seton Hall men's swimming and diving team wrapped up the first night of competition at the 2024 BIG EAST Championships on Wednesday night at IU Natatorium.

The Pirates swam in a pair of relay races on the first night of the four-day championships event. The meet kicked off with the 200 Medley Relay which saw The Hall touch the wall in third place. Chris Jackson (Maywood, N.J.), Ben Endersby (Caldwell, N.J.), Michael Klimaszewski (London, England) and Toma Adam (Bacau, Romania) combined for a time of 1:28.31 in the event.

Later on, the Pirates would claim a fourth-place finish in the 800 Free Relay. Klimaszewski, Gideon Langenbusch (Oberhausen, Germany), Justin Oosterwyk (Pequannock, N.J.) and Kevin Cary (West Chester, Pa.) combined for a time of 6:36.92 in the night's final event.

Heading into the second day of competition, the Pirates find themselves in third place with 62 points overall.

1. Xavier – 80 points
2. Georgetown – 68
3. Seton Hall – 62
4. Villanova – 60
5. Providence – 58

The Pirates return to action on Thursday with Day Two of the BIG EAST Championships. Events include the 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, Men's 3-Meter Dive and 200 Free Relay.

Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jon Sanderson has resigned as a strength and conditioning coach at Michigan, two-plus months after he stopped working with the men's basketball program under coach Juwan Howard.

"We appreciate Jon's contributions over the years and wish him the best moving forward," school spokesman Kurt Svoboda said Friday.

A message seeking comment was left with Sanderson.

Howard, who had heart surgery in September, returned to his head-coaching duties in mid-December after a review of an incident involving several individuals during a team practice. Sanderson did not join the team on the sideline for its Dec. 10 game at Iowa, and was not on the team's bench in subsequent games.

Athletic director Warde Manuel said in a Dec. 15 statement that a "thorough internal review" did not uncover anything that warranted disciplinary action for anyone involved.

Michigan, Howard and Sanderson have not shared specific details of the review or what led to it.

Former coach John Beilein hired Sanderson in 2009, and Howard retained him a decade later. He previously was the strength and conditioning coach at Clemson for its men's and women's basketball programs and worked at Marshall.

Sanderson played basketball at Ohio State, where he was the starting small forward on its Final Four team in 1999, and finished his college career at Ohio University. His son, Jonathan, is a highly touted sophomore point guard at Saline High School, which is near Michigan's campus.

The Wolverines are 8-21 -- one short of a single-season school record for losses -- after losing by 30 points at Rutgers on Thursday night for their sixth straight defeat and 10th in 11 games.

Stats

Is anyone here worried that a team who was a runaway champ in a mid major with high win total on the year, stubs toe in conf tourney which may impact available at large bids.

Lets go folks, here is my confirmation below. Lets kick March off. Who's in????

Just sickening

https://www.axios.com/2024/02/29/worldwide-obesity-doubles

US moving in the wrong direction. 10th highest in the world (men) and children/adolescent 4x increase. Healthcare as a percentage of GDP approaching 20%. Several variables driving that but this is a big one.

March is here…

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Waaay too many posessions where he gives it up and drops to the corner, leavimg Al or wusu in charge of making a play as.the shot clock winds down. My question is why???Al and wusu are not decision makers. We already struggle when kadary goes to the bench w foul trouble. Kadary needs to be the point guard amd stay agressive for 40 minutes.

Miami, Fla. – The Seton Hall softball team concludes its slate of early season multi-team tournaments this weekend as they take part in the FIU Classic hosted by Florida International. The bracket style event begins on Friday for the Pirates with games against North Dakota at 3 p.m. and the host Panthers at 5:30 p.m. Saturday morning sees the Pirates square off with UIC at 10 a.m. The remaining two opponents on the weekend for Seton Hall will be determined based on the outcome of games throughout the weekend.

LAST TIME OUT
Seton Hall came home with a 2-3 record at the Sun Devil/GCU Classic last weekend in Phoenix, Ariz. The Pirates captured a pair of 4-2 victories over New Mexico State and Utah Valley, while battling Texas State, Arizona State and Grand Canyon to a trio of narrow losses.

Friday, March 1
3 p.m. – Seton Hall vs. North Dakota
5:30 p.m. – Seton Hall at FIU

Saturday, March 2
10 a.m. – Seton Hall vs. UIC
3/5:30 p.m. – Seton Hall vs. TBD

Sunday, March 3
9/11:30 a.m. – Seton Hall vs. TBD

NEWS & NOTES

• Kyra Kreuscher was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after her strong outing on Saturday against New Mexico State. The sophomore pitched all seven innings, allowing just five hits and two runs to pick up her second win of the season.
• Taylor Hill was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll last week after going .500 (6-for-12) at the plate with three doubles, four runs scored and two RBI in the season's opening weekend at FAU.
• The Pirates were picked to finish third in the BIG EAST preseason poll, behind second-place UConn and first-place Villanova. Seton Hall finished in third place in last year's standings.
• Seton Hall will be tasked with replacing some key producers from last year's squad. Centerfielder and last year's team leader in batting average Abby Wingo, second baseman Ashly Colonnetta, and left fielder Marisa Pla have all graduated along with reserves Grace Dawson, Ally Taylor and Jordan Tressler. Pitcher Shelby Smith, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament, transferred to Houston. Catcher Regan Rand has also transferred to Division-II Indiana (Pa.).
• The Hall welcome in a pair of freshmen to the 2024 squad. Outfielder Katey Brennan and pitcher Karissa Dupuis will both look to be key contributors in South Orange this upcoming season.
• Seton Hall will face a tough non-conference slate in 2024, including matchups against three teams that won NCAA regional games last season an six opponents who won at least 34 games. Included in that bunch are dates with Grand Canyon, who pulled off a shocker last season against No. 2 UCLA, as well as a rematch of the Austin Regional elimination game against Texas State.
• The Pirates will face off against opponents from three of the power conferences this season: ACC (Louisville, Syracuse), Big 10 (Michigan) and PAC-12 (Arizona State).
• Head Coach Angie Churchill coached against her alma mater in Michigan last weekend for the first time in her career. Churchill was a four-year member of the Wolverines softball team from 2001-04, winning three Big Ten titles and reaching the College World Series three times.
• The Pirates earned several All-BIG EAST awards. Kelsey Carr was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, Abby Wingo was named Defensive Player of the Year, and the coaching staff led by Angie Churchill was named BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. Carr, Wingo and Shelby Smith were all named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, with Carr being a unanimous selection.
• Carr is the first Pirate pitcher to be named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year. The junior led the league in ERA (1.82), reaching that number after 61.2 innings of work. Carr only allowed more than two earned runs in a start just twice during BIG EAST play.
• Carr was one of just two players in the country last season to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA, hit 10+ home runs and drive in 50+ runs (Valerie Cagle, Clemson).
• Wingo was the first Pirate recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 31 chances in center field. Wingo had the third-highest number of chances among BIG EAST outfielders and had the most chances among center fielders in the league.
• Abby Wingo set new single-season records in base hits (71) and longest hitting streak (19 games) last season. Her .397 average led the club, and she only failed to collect a base-hit in consecutive games twice all year.
• Seton Hall's 18 BIG EAST victories last season were a new program record, and the team's 42 wins rank as the second-most in program history (46, 2004).
• Seton Hall's win over Villanova on Day Two of the BIG EAST Tournament was its 40th win of the season, reaching that plateau for just the second time in program history. Enterting the year, Seton Hall had not won 30 games in a season since 2005.
• The Pirates finished with an overall record above .500 for the first time since 2006, when they finished 29-27.

A day before she is set to begin a two-year commitment as the new commissioner of the Pac-12 conference, Teresa Gould said the most important part of her job will be to help the remaining two schools -- Oregon State and Washington State -- position themselves for the future.

"That strategic piece is really being bold and being aggressive, being intentional and really attacking these challenges head on, but also being open-minded and making sure that we're considering all options," Gould said on a videoconference.

"That is probably the most important and urgent piece of my role, is to partner with the leadership on both campuses to forge that future path for their two campuses and their athletic programs."

Gould, who was joined by Washington State president Kirk Schulz, did not provide any specifics about what that future could look like beyond the next two seasons, during which Oregon State and Washington State will compete in the West Coast Conference in most sports, along with a scheduling partnership in football with the Mountain West.

For a conference to exist, the NCAA requires "at least seven active Division I members," all of which must sponsor men's and women's basketball, and for the conference to sponsor at least 12 Division I sports, among other requirements.

In the case of departures, NCAA bylaws allow a conference a two-year grace period in which it can exist without the minimum number of schools. The Pac-12's grace period starts in the 2024-25 academic year.

"I think we all felt that that was an important commitment that I commit to stay through the NCAA grace period and through those two agreements [with the WCC and MWC] to make sure that we're collaborating and seeing this work through," Gould said.

Gould confirmed there have not been any formal discussions with the Mountain West about a full-on merger or so-called reverse merger that would formally tie Oregon State and Washington State with the MWC member schools.


"Both those conferences know that we've got a multiyear window here where there's got to be some final landing spot for those two schools," Schulz said. "And so I just think we got to keep communications open back and forth. We got to make sure that we don't sort of come strutting in there thinking we're just better than everybody else of where we were before. We'll wind up getting our ass kicked if that happens.

"But I do think it's really important for us to keep that partnership there, keep the communications open, and we're counting on Teresa to work with her commissioner colleagues in those two conferences as well on what future partnerships could look like."

The conference will continue to operate under the Pac-12 brand and will keep its television studio in San Ramon, California, for at least another academic year. Gould did not provide an update on what should be expected regarding television broadcasts for OSU and WSU home football games, only saying that she has been "encouraged about the interest for those media rights" and was hopeful there would be an announcement in the near future.

Ole Anderson, original Four Horsemen member, dead at 81​

By Christian Arnold

Pro wrestling legend Ole Anderson passed away on Monday, friends and family members revealed.

He was 81 years old.

Anderson, whose real name was Alan Rogowski, is best known for his role as one of the members of the original Four Horsemen faction.

The group consisted of Anderson, Arn Anderson, Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard.



Wrestling legend Ole Anderson passed away on Monday. He was known as one of the original Four Horsemen.
WWE.com

He was considered one of the biggest heels and Anderson was widely respected for his work in the business.

“Ole Anderson’s passing is a somber moment or the wrestling world,” former wrestler Ricky Morton wrote on Instagram. “Ole was not just a colleague; he was a formidable opponent, a respected veteran, and a part of wrestling history. Our battles in the ring were intense, and the memories we created together will always be cherished.

Morton added: “While his passing leaves a void in the wrestling community, Ole Anderson’s legacy will live on through the impact he made on the sport and the memories he shared with fans and fellow wrestlers alike.”

The Horsemen were one of the most legendary groups in professional wrestling history while performing in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and then World Championship Wrestling.

“I Am Forever Thankful To Ole And Gene For Bringing Me In To Crockett Promotions As A Cousin,” Flair wrote on X. “It Launched My Career. I Will Be Grateful Forever For You Giving Me The Opportunity To Become Who I Am Today. We Didn’t Always Agree With Each Other, But The Honest To God Truth Is You & Gene Started Me. Rest In Peace My Friend!”

Anderson retired from the ring in 1987 but did return to reform the Horsemen in 1989 before retiring shortly thereafter.

He became the head of the WCW booking committee in 1990 following his retirement.

“WWE is saddened to learn that Ole Anderson has passed away. WWE extends its condolences to Anderson’s family, friends, and fans,” WWE said in a statement on X.

“AEW and the wrestling world mourn the passing of the legendary Ole Anderson. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans,” AEW said in a statement of their own Monday night.

WWE also acknowledged the passing of Anderson on its “Monday Night Raw” telecast.

Any Bitcoin-ers here? Man a few BTC from 2018 would make for a nice NIL donation

March is upon us, and it’s been a pleasantly surprising season on a few fronts. I hope we can at least do the following for the remainder of the season…

* Get 2 more wins out of the remaining 4 games. Won’t be easy, but have to think we’re a lock to get at least 1. If my math is right we’d be 13 conference wins, 20 regular headed in to BET. That's a really good year for us given the pre season expectations.

* Win a game in the BET and have a real strong showing in the BET semi’s (make it to Friday night)

* Let’s be a surprise team in the NCAAs and not take on the Willard happy to be here role.

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-ne...rage/biden-trump-dueling-visits-texas-border/

Trump goes to Eagle Pass - 600 encounters per day. Biden goes to Brownsville… No encounters.

I’m going to Essex Falls today to speak about crime in Essex County.