SHU Media Notes
Red-Hot Pirates Open BIG EAST Tournament Play Thursday vs. Creighton
No. 3 Seton Hall (22-8, 12-6 BIG EAST, KenPom 29, RPI 33)
vs. No. 6 Creighton (18-13, 9-9 BIG EAST, KenPom 45, RPI 99)
March 10 · Madison Square Garden (New York, N.Y.) · 9:30 p.m.
TV: FS1 with Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery & Molly McGrath
Radio: AM970 The Answer/Seton Hall Gameday Live App with Gary Cohen & Dave Popkin
THE HALL IS ONE OF 15 TOP-50 RPI TEAMS WHO HAVE ZERO LOSSES OUTSIDE OF THE TOP 100
LINK TO FULL SETON HALL POSTSEASON GUIDE (INCLUDING CLIPS)
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT BRACKET
What to Know About The Hall:
Red-Hot Pirates Open BIG EAST Tournament Play Thursday vs. Creighton
No. 3 Seton Hall (22-8, 12-6 BIG EAST, KenPom 29, RPI 33)
vs. No. 6 Creighton (18-13, 9-9 BIG EAST, KenPom 45, RPI 99)
March 10 · Madison Square Garden (New York, N.Y.) · 9:30 p.m.
TV: FS1 with Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery & Molly McGrath
Radio: AM970 The Answer/Seton Hall Gameday Live App with Gary Cohen & Dave Popkin
THE HALL IS ONE OF 15 TOP-50 RPI TEAMS WHO HAVE ZERO LOSSES OUTSIDE OF THE TOP 100
LINK TO FULL SETON HALL POSTSEASON GUIDE (INCLUDING CLIPS)
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT BRACKET
What to Know About The Hall:
- Sophomores Isaiah Whitehead provided the exclamation point for a spectacular regular season by scoring 25 of his career-high 33 points in the second half of an 80-66 win at DePaul Saturday that helped The Hall head into postseason play at 22-8 overall and 12-6 against BIG EAST foes. The effort marked the second time in as many outings last week that Whitehead set a new career-high in scoring as the Brooklyn native previously went for 27 in a narrow setback at Butler Wednesday.
- The superb final week was the icing on a season that saw Whitehead cement himself as one of the premier players in the nation as well as program history. On Sunday, Whitehead was named one of four unanimous All- BIG EAST First Team selections, becoming the first Pirate to earn the honor since Brian Laing in 2007-08 and just the seventh all-time. The Brooklyn native finished the regular season ranked among the top-four in the league in 3-pointers/game (2.9, 1st), scoring (20.0 ppg, 2nd), assists (5.5 apg, 3rd), blocks (1.7 bpg, 3rd) and 3-point field goal percentage (42.6%, 4th) during conference play. The former McDonald’s All-American joins a list of former All-BIG EAST First Team honorees that includes Laing, Andre Barrett (03-04), Terry Dehere (3x, 90-93), Ramon Ramos (88-89), Mark Bryant (87-88) and Dan Callandrillo (81-82). Both Callandrillo (81-82) and Dehere (92-93) were named BIG EAST Player of the Year as seniors but Dehere and Whitehead are the only Pirates to earn First Team recognition as sophomores.
- The play of Whitehead was the impetus behind a 9-2 close to the regular season for the Pirates as Seton Hall reached the 20-win mark for the second time under head coach Kevin Willard and the ninth in the BIG EAST era; all while matching its second-highest total ever with 12 BIG EAST wins. Over the final 11 games, Whitehead averaged 22.1 ppg, 5.6 apg, 4.1 rpg, 2.1 bpg and 1.5 spg. During the span, he posted eight 20+-point scoring efforts and knocked down 41-of-81 3-point attempts (.506) , helping him join another sharpshooter in Jeremy Hazell ‘11 as the only Pirates to average at least 20.0 ppg in conference play since the turn of the century. More impressively, a 6-of-10 performance from downtown against the Blue Demons marked the ninth time in the last 11 games he has finished with at least three treys, something he had only done 11 total times prior to the stretch.
- The late season push has helped the Pirates cement their postseason resume as the program heads towards its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2006 and the 10th in program history. At the conclusion of its regular season schedule, The Hall ranked among the top-30 teams in the nation (29) according to KenPom. com and just outside the top-30 of the RPI rankings (32). SHU totaled three wins over ranked teams, most recently knocking off No. 5 Xavier for the program’s sixth win over an AP Top-5 opponent and boast seven RPI Top-100 wins without a single loss to a team outside the top-100. The Pirates have thrived regardless of their surroundings and their seven road wins are more than 21 of the 31 teams ranked ahead of them in the RPI at the close of the regular season.
- Overall, SHU posted a 7-4 road record and a 6-3 mark on the road in conference play. By easing past DePaul on Saturday, the Pirates set a school record for BIG EAST road wins, eclipsing the old mark of five which had been done four times - all of which led to NCAA Tournament berths:
- 1988-89 - 5-3 BIG EAST road record/11-5 conference record (2nd) // 31-7 overall, National Runner-up
- 1991-92 - 5-4 BIG EAST road record/12-6 conference record (1st) // 23-9 overall, Sweet 16
- 1992-93 - 5-4 BIG EAST road record/14-4 conference record (1st) // 28-7 overall, BE Tourn. Champs
- 1999-00 - 5-3 BIG EAST road record/10-6 conference record (5th) // 22-10 overall, Sweet 16
- 2015-16 - 6-3 BIG EAST road record/12-6 conference record (3rd) //22-8 overall, ????
- On the heels of the most successful season in the last decade, the Pirates will enter the BIG EAST Tournament among the top-three overall seeds for the first time since coming away with the 1993 tournament title as the regular season champions. SHU has only entered the conference tournament among the top-three seeds a total of three times prior to this year, including a regular season title in 1992 and a 1989 campaign in which the Pirates secured the second seed and went on to appear in the NCAA title game. SHU advanced at least as far as the semifinals in all three of those tournaments but only reached the final in 1993. Seton Hall is unbeaten in two all-time appearances in the BIG EAST championship game with the 1991 season (4 seed) marking the first tournament crown in program history. No current Pirate has played more than one BIG EAST Tournament game.
- Team defense has been a huge key for the Pirates this season as The Hall closed the year ranked second in the BIG EAST in scoring defense at 69.8 ppg during conference play. According to the advanced statistics at KenPom.com, the Pirates ranked 15th in the nation and second in the league in defensive efficiency and the 69.8 ppg reflects the lowest average total allowed for SHU in conference play since 2011-12 when the team held BIG EAST foes to an average of 65.0 ppg. Following the win over DePaul, Seton Hall is now 18-0 this season when holding its opponent to 69 points or less.
- A large contributor to that defensive effort has been senior transfer Derrick Gordon whose energy and leadership off the bench has been vital to the Pirates’ progression this season. Gordon routinely draws the opponent’s primary perimeter threat on the defensive end but has also accounted for over half of the team’s bench points (117/225, .520) during conference play. A former starter at Western Kentucky and UMass, it has been confirmed that Gordon would become the first player ever to play in the NCAA Tournament with three different teams should the Pirates receive a bid.
- Khadeen Carrington and Desi Rodriguez have made tremendous leaps in year two at The Hall and each finished among the top-16 scorers in the conference overall, ranking 13th and 16th respectively. The duo’s ability to get to the rim was evident throughout their freshman campaigns but both have improved their outside shooting in a big way. On the season Carrington (46) and Rodriguez (29) combined for 75 3-pointers after totaling 18 between them as freshmen, with Carrington accounting for 17 of those.
- These Pirates have excelled at playing from in front as the team has recorded an 18-0 record when ahead at halftime and gone on to win all 22 games in which the squad has built a lead as large as seven points at any time during the contest. In six years under Kevin Willard, The Hall is 86-14 in 100 games that it has led going into halftime.
- With a road win over the Hoyas, Seton Hall completed its second sweep of Georgetown in the last three years and head coach Kevin Willard became the sixth head man ever to record 100 wins at The Hall. No Seton Hall coach had reached the 100-win mark since SHU Athletics Hall of Famer PJ Carlesimo did so during a 31- win 1988-89 campaign that culminated in a national championship game appearance. With the victory, Willard joined John “Honey” Russell (294 wins), Carlesimo (212), Frank Hill (178), Bill Raftery (154) and Richie Regan (112) in the exclusive group and after adding another four more since, he sits just eight wins shy of cracking the top-five on the school’s all-time list. Prior to Willard (2), Carlesimo (5) was the only Pirate head man to lead the program to multiple 20-win seasons in the BIG EAST era.
- .@SetonHallMBB star @IsaiahW_15 is 7th Pirate ever named All-@BIGEAST First Team after unanimous selection, 1st since Brian Laing in 2007-08
- .@SetonHallMBB 1 of 15 top 50 RPI teams who have zero losses outside of the top 100; 1 of only 2 @BIGEASTMBB teams
- .@SetonHallMBB (22-8, 12-6) matched the 2nd highest conf. win total in school history; enters @BIGEASTMBB Tourney as top-3 seed for 4th time
