Seton Hall is making its fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance and staying on the East Coast for the second time in that span. The Pirates (20-13) were seeded 10th in the Midwest Regional and will face No. 7 Wofford on Thursday in Jacksonville. The Terriers (29-4) have won 20 consecutive games and won the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament titles.
Interestingly, the selection committee set up a potential second-round rematch. If The Hall can get past Wofford, the Pirates likely would face second-seeded Kentucky in the second round. Kentucky, which lost to the Pirates at The Garden in December, will play Southland champ Abilene Christian in the first round.
Some takeaways:
Don’t sleep on Wofford. Pronounced like waffle, Wofford was a regular participant in the tournament earlier this decade, making four appearances from 2010 to 2015. But the Terriers have yet to win a game in the event, but gave Wisconsin and Arkansas fits in 2010 and 2015, losing by four and three points, respectively. Both of those games also were played in Jacksonville, so Wofford coach Mike Young is quite familiar with the venue. He has coached the Terriers for 17 years, compiling a 298-243 record. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Wofford for 13 seasons. Against high-majors, Wofford has one win, a 20-point victory at South Carolina. The Terriers lost at home to North Carolina by 11, lost at Oklahoma by 11, at Kansas by 25 and at Mississippi State by 11. All of those teams also are in the NCAA field.
At least they aren’t heading West. Coach Kevin Willard said Saturday night after the loss to Villanova that he made a mistake in leaving too early for Denver in 2016, when the Pirates got a tough draw despite winning the Big East tournament title. Willard said on a conference call after this year’s draw was announced that the team will hold its regular practices Monday and Tuesday before flying to Florida on Tuesday night. He said he didn’t think the tough loss Saturday would affect the team. “Right after the game it was a little emotional,” Willard added. “They’re a little tired but they’re excited about the challenge ahead. I like their attitude.”
Scouting Wofford. The Terriers love to shoot the three-pointer and are quite good at it, too, hitting 41.6 percent. Senior guard Fletcher Magee shoots 42.8 percent from beyond the arc for the Terriers, and averages 20.5 points. The main force inside is 6-8 senior forward Cameron Jackson, who averages 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds. “I thought I had the best shooter in the country,” Willard said, referring to Myles Powell, “but Fletcher Magee might be right up there with him.” He also compared Jackson to former Pirate Gene Teague in terms of his bruising play around the basket.
A joyful moment. The players again gathered at Willard’s house to watch the selection reveal, and postgrad big Mike Nzei said on the conference call that freshman point guard Anthony Nelson yelled out, “It’s a dream come true,” when The Hall’s name was announced. For Nzei, it’s a dream he will experience for the fourth consecutive year, joining Bryan Caver and Arturas Karnisovas as the only Pirates to go to four NCAAs. “I was happy for the guys and happy for myself,” Nzei said. “Some players never get to the NCAAs one time.”
Odds and ends. Willard said of Quincy McKnight, “He’s a little sore but he should be able to practice tomorrow.” McKnight tweaked his groin in the second half of the loss to Villanova. … McKnight will have a little more time to heal, even though the Pirates play Thursday. They are playing the final game of the day at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, with tipoff likely around 9:40, similar to the ones they had in thee quarterfinals and semifinals of the Big East tournament. … The Southern Conference narrowly missed out on having two teams in the tourney. UNC-Greensboro, which lost to Wofford in the SoCon final, was the first team out, according to a tweet by NCAA March Madness media coodinator David Worlock. Oregon’s win over Washington in the Pac-12 final bounced UNCG.
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Interestingly, the selection committee set up a potential second-round rematch. If The Hall can get past Wofford, the Pirates likely would face second-seeded Kentucky in the second round. Kentucky, which lost to the Pirates at The Garden in December, will play Southland champ Abilene Christian in the first round.
Some takeaways:
Don’t sleep on Wofford. Pronounced like waffle, Wofford was a regular participant in the tournament earlier this decade, making four appearances from 2010 to 2015. But the Terriers have yet to win a game in the event, but gave Wisconsin and Arkansas fits in 2010 and 2015, losing by four and three points, respectively. Both of those games also were played in Jacksonville, so Wofford coach Mike Young is quite familiar with the venue. He has coached the Terriers for 17 years, compiling a 298-243 record. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Wofford for 13 seasons. Against high-majors, Wofford has one win, a 20-point victory at South Carolina. The Terriers lost at home to North Carolina by 11, lost at Oklahoma by 11, at Kansas by 25 and at Mississippi State by 11. All of those teams also are in the NCAA field.
At least they aren’t heading West. Coach Kevin Willard said Saturday night after the loss to Villanova that he made a mistake in leaving too early for Denver in 2016, when the Pirates got a tough draw despite winning the Big East tournament title. Willard said on a conference call after this year’s draw was announced that the team will hold its regular practices Monday and Tuesday before flying to Florida on Tuesday night. He said he didn’t think the tough loss Saturday would affect the team. “Right after the game it was a little emotional,” Willard added. “They’re a little tired but they’re excited about the challenge ahead. I like their attitude.”
Scouting Wofford. The Terriers love to shoot the three-pointer and are quite good at it, too, hitting 41.6 percent. Senior guard Fletcher Magee shoots 42.8 percent from beyond the arc for the Terriers, and averages 20.5 points. The main force inside is 6-8 senior forward Cameron Jackson, who averages 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds. “I thought I had the best shooter in the country,” Willard said, referring to Myles Powell, “but Fletcher Magee might be right up there with him.” He also compared Jackson to former Pirate Gene Teague in terms of his bruising play around the basket.
A joyful moment. The players again gathered at Willard’s house to watch the selection reveal, and postgrad big Mike Nzei said on the conference call that freshman point guard Anthony Nelson yelled out, “It’s a dream come true,” when The Hall’s name was announced. For Nzei, it’s a dream he will experience for the fourth consecutive year, joining Bryan Caver and Arturas Karnisovas as the only Pirates to go to four NCAAs. “I was happy for the guys and happy for myself,” Nzei said. “Some players never get to the NCAAs one time.”
Odds and ends. Willard said of Quincy McKnight, “He’s a little sore but he should be able to practice tomorrow.” McKnight tweaked his groin in the second half of the loss to Villanova. … McKnight will have a little more time to heal, even though the Pirates play Thursday. They are playing the final game of the day at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, with tipoff likely around 9:40, similar to the ones they had in thee quarterfinals and semifinals of the Big East tournament. … The Southern Conference narrowly missed out on having two teams in the tourney. UNC-Greensboro, which lost to Wofford in the SoCon final, was the first team out, according to a tweet by NCAA March Madness media coodinator David Worlock. Oregon’s win over Washington in the Pac-12 final bounced UNCG.
COMMENTS
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