Here's my media notes from the school....
BIG EAST CHAMPION PIRATES PLAY FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME IN 10 YEARS THURSDAY VS. GONZAGA
No. 6 Seton Hall (25-8, 12-6 BIG EAST, AP 20, Coaches 21, KenPom 24, RPI 19)
vs. No. 11 Gonzaga (26-7, 15-3 WCC, AP 34, Coaches 30, KenPom 27, RPI 46)
March 17 · Pepsi Center (Denver, Colo.) · Approx. 9:57 p.m., ET, 7:57 p.m., MT
TV: TruTV with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas & Jamie Erdahl
Radio: AM970 The Answer with Gary Cohen & Dave Popkin
As a reminder to media attending today’s open practice, student-athlete press conference begins at 4:30 p.m., MT, followed by Coach Willard at 4:45 p.m., MT. The practice will start at 5:10 p.m., MT.
What to Know About The Hall:
BIG EAST CHAMPION PIRATES PLAY FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME IN 10 YEARS THURSDAY VS. GONZAGA
No. 6 Seton Hall (25-8, 12-6 BIG EAST, AP 20, Coaches 21, KenPom 24, RPI 19)
vs. No. 11 Gonzaga (26-7, 15-3 WCC, AP 34, Coaches 30, KenPom 27, RPI 46)
March 17 · Pepsi Center (Denver, Colo.) · Approx. 9:57 p.m., ET, 7:57 p.m., MT
TV: TruTV with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas & Jamie Erdahl
Radio: AM970 The Answer with Gary Cohen & Dave Popkin
As a reminder to media attending today’s open practice, student-athlete press conference begins at 4:30 p.m., MT, followed by Coach Willard at 4:45 p.m., MT. The practice will start at 5:10 p.m., MT.
What to Know About The Hall:
- For the first time in 23 years, Seton Hall is the BIG EAST Tournament champion after sophomore Isaiah Whitehead helped the Pirates complete an impressive run of three wins in three days at Madison Square Garden last week, taking home MVP honors following a 26-point effort in a 69-67 victory over No. 3 Villanova in the title game Saturday. SHU led for the majority of the contest but reigning conference tournament champions and current regular season title holders Villanova leveled the score at 62-62 with just under three minutes remaining. From there, Whitehead scored six of the Pirates’ final seven points in the game to help bring the hardware back to South Orange.
- The victory clinched The Hall’s 10th NCAA Tournament berth all-time and sent the Pirates to the Big Dance for the first time since 2006. As the No. 6 seed in the Midwest region, The Hall has now been a six seed or better in five of its 10 trips to the tournament. Seton Hall was seeded second in the East region following its previous BIG EAST Tournament title in 1993 - marking the best seed in program history. SHU traveled through Denver (regional semifinal and final) en route to the 1989 title game and was also seeded third in the West during an Elite Eight run in 1991. SHU advanced to the Sweet 16 as the fourth-seeded squad in the East in 1992.
- After receiving votes a total of 11 times between the two polls during the season, the Pirates finallycracked both the AP (20) and Coaches (21) Top-25 polls for the first time this year on Monday. The selection marks the 100th time in program history that Seton Hall has appeared in the AP rankings and comes on the heels of an incredible 24 hours in which The Hall took down two top-five opponents in No. 5 Xavier and Villanova to earn the conference crown. Prior to the conference tournament, Seton Hall had never beaten two AP top-five opponents in the same season. In the last two weeks, the Pirates have now defeated a fifth-ranked Xavier team twice and added another with the win over Villanova in Saturday’s title tilt. For the season, SHU boasts five victories over ranked teams, four of which came against AP top-12 teams. Per ESPN, SHU is just the seventh team in the last 30 years to score three wins over AP top-five opponents as an unranked squad in the same season.
- SHU has now made its way into the poll in three different seasons (2011-12, 2014-15) in six years under head coach Kevin Willard after being absent for a decade prior to his arrival in 2010-11. After leading a squad that has featured an all-sophomore starting five in 27 of 33 contests to the program’s highest win total since 1992-93 (28-7) and matching the third-highest number of victories in 104 seasons of Seton Hall basketball, Willard was named BIG EAST Co-Coach of the Year along with Villanova’s Jay Wright. During the year, Willard became just the sixth head coach to record 100 victories at The Hall and the first since PJ Carlesimo posted 212 wins from 1982-94. Under Willard’s guidance, the current Pirates are assured of finishing with single-digit losses for the first time since the 1993 BIG EAST championship run and just the fifth time in the last 50 years.
- The current crop of sophomores has already assured its place in Seton Hall history but enters the tournament looking to add to a litany of accomplishments. Together, Whitehead, Khadeen Carrington, Desi Rodriguez, Ismael Sanogo, and Angel Delgado have combined to account for 80.3 percent of the team’s total points, (1983/2470), 70.6 percent of its rebounds (932/1321), 83.4 percent of its assists (373/447), 79.2 percent of its blocks (122/154) and 79.6 percent of its steals (191/240). The five usual starters have also combined to score at least 50 total points between them in 25 of 33 games including each of the last 17.
- With the recent elevation in his play, Whitehead has emerged as the breakout star of the balanced core. The former McDonald’s All-American is once again performing at an All-American level, joining Duke’s Brandon Ingram and Jared Uthoff of Iowa as the only major conference players that recorded 50+ 3FGM and 40+ blocks during the regular season. For the year, he ranks second in the BIG EAST in scoring (18.4 ppg) and third in assists (5.0 apg); joining Michigan State standout Denzel Valentine who leads the Big Ten in both categories (19.4 ppg, 7.6 apg) as the only major conference players who stand among the top-three in their respective league in each. Fittingly, Whitehead and Valentine are the only major conference players averaging at least 18.0 ppg and 5.0 apg as well.
- Whitehead joined Oliver Taylor (1991) and Terry Dehere (1993) as the only Pirates ever to be named BIG EAST Tournament MVP and enters the tournament with totals of 604 points, 164 assists and 48 blocks that all rank 15th on Seton Hall’s single season lists while his 81 3-pointers are ninth-most all-time. The Brooklyn product is also the first Pirate ever to record 600+ points and 160+ assists in the same year and has scored or assisted on 40.7 percent of the team’s field goals made this season (355/872), a rate that has increased to 45.8 percent (171/373) over the last 14 games.
- Teammate Angel Delgado is also climbing the charts as his 311 rebounds have already surpassed his total of 305 from a season ago when he became the first rookie to win the BIG EAST rebounding title since Troy Murphy of Notre Dame in 1999-00. The 6-foot-9 Dominican Republic native now owns the 17th and 18th most prolific single season rebounding totals in program history and at 616 career rebounds, he needs just 14 more to match SHU Athletics Hall of Famer Jerry Walker for 20th on the school’s all-time list. With 619 points to his credit as well, Delgado is well on his way to joining Walter Dukes (1950-53), Glenn Mosley (1973-77), Ken House (1969-72) and Nick Werkman (1961-64) as the only Pirates ever to surpass 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
- The rapid ascension of this Seton Hall group has been accelerated by the dramatic improvement of Carrington and Rodriguez. The two displayed an elite ability to get to the rim as freshmen but the addition of a consistent 3-point shot has helped transform them into two of the most dynamic scoring threats in the BIG EAST. Carrington has knocked down 54 triples after going 17-of-60 from deep as a freshman and saw his scoring average jump from 8.8 ppg to 14.3 ppg as he finished as one of seven players in the league to rank among the top-15 in both scoring (10th) and assists (2.5 apg). Rodriguez has evolved into a pivotal offensive presence for The Hall, shooting over 50 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc while totaling 31 treys one year after going 1-for-12 from deep in 31 appearances. The two have scored in double- figures in the same game 17 times this season after combining for a total of 16 double-digit scoring efforts between them last season.
- Classmate Ismael Sanogo is playing the best basketball of his career as well and was rewarded with an All- Tournament selection after last week’s championship run. The 6-foot-8 sophomore has stepped in and cemented his position in the frontcourt; ranking among the BIG EAST leaders and second on the team in rebounding, blocks and steals after logging 96 total minutes as a freshman. The Newark native has registered at least one block or steal in 30 of 32 appearances and pulled down at least 5+ boards 27 times including his first 20 outings of this season and each of the last six. Over his last six games, Sanogo is shooting 68.4 percent from the floor (13-of-19) and averaging 8.2 rpg.
- Another key contributor on the defensive end has been senior Derrick Gordon who is poised to make history when he steps on the floor Thursday. Gordon previously appeared in the NCAA Tournament with Western Kentucky (2012) and UMass (2015) and will become the first player ever to appear in the Big Dance with three different schools. A starter in all 100 of his career games prior to coming to The Hall, he has accounted for 45.2 percent of the team’s bench points this season and routinely draws the opponent’s top perimeter threat. The Plainfield native is coming off a BIG EAST Tournament in which he ranked fourth on the team with 9.0 ppg.
- .@SetonHallMBB star @IsaiahW_15 averaging 22.4 ppg, 5.6 apg w/ 11 20+-point efforts (6-straight) during 12-2 run heading into #MarchMadness
- .@BIGEASTMBB champions for the 1st time in 23 years, @SetonHallMBB is 21-0 when ahead at half, 25-0 when leading by 7+ in a game this year
- Beasts of the...West! @BIGEASTMBB teams are 12-4 all-time in Denver during #MarchMadness including 2 W’s for SHU en route to 1989 #FinalFour
