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Pirates nearly give up 29-point lead in first round of Big East Tournament
BY MIKE VORKUNOV
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT
NEW YORK — The game turned as suddenly for Seton Hall as the its breakneck pace. A tight 29-point grip over Providence one minute, watching their fingers slip off the ledge one-by-one the next.
As Duke Mondy put up a game-tying three in the final seconds, then watched it bounce off the far side of the backboard, there was not any jubilation over their 109-106 victory in the first round of the Big East Tournament.
"We're just happy to survive and advance," said Bobby Gonzalez.
The game was never supposed to be that close. After the Pirates (19-11) took a 76-47 lead with 13:36 remaining, it was all about finding time to rest the starters for Wednesday night. Even with a 24-point lead with less than six minutes remaining, there wasn't any cause for concern.Then all of a sudden it was S.O.S.
The Pirates barely held on, overcoming a run of carelessness, inertia and missed free throws. As the Friars (12-19) grew closer and the crowd swelled in backing them, the Pirates missed 5-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes. They almost had their Memphis moment, like the squad in 2008 who could not nail the easy ones from the charity stripe to win the national championship. Different circumstances, but at this point the opportunities don't get any bigger for Seton Hall.
In scoring 109 points, they set a new record for points in a regulation game in the Big East tournament, breaking their own mark from the 1993 champion game 103-70 win over Syracuse. The 215 points the two teams combined to score was a tournament best, pole vaulting over the previous record of 186 points.
Herb Pope scored a season-best 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds before fouling out with 3:10 remaining when the lead was at 15-points, as the whole starting lineup scored in double digits. Jordan Theodore added 21 points and Jeremy Hazell scored 18 points in 23 minutes before also fouling out.
Now Seton Hall gets a chance to play themselves into the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday night. By most measures their opponent Notre Dame is on the right side of the bubble and piping hot since losing star Luke Harangody to injury.
The Pirates already own a home victory over the Fighting Irish back in the simpler times of February, also thanks to a missed three at the buzzer.
"A lot of people are saying they're in," said Gonzalez of Notre Dame. "We know it's a big game. If we win now, all of a sudden we swept Notre Dame, we have 20 wins. We'll leave it up to the people to make the decision. We want to keep playing."
Gonzalez thought that they could draw an advantage for tomorrow night through their wrong-end-of-avalanche end Tuesday night.
"It was like two games...that might be good for us in a way," he said. "Maybe by all of a sudden you know the crowd is going nuts, it's crazy at the end. You have to play to win. Maybe that's good for us."
Before the crowd was awoken out of its torpor from a day of listless games, during the calmer part of the game Pope was the difference. He scored 18 points in the first half, dominating on both ends and playing with an aggressive that's been unseen so far. He was negated, though, by Jamine Peterson.
Peterson threw up a monster line of 38 points and 16 rebounds, 10 of them offensive. That after scoring just six points and grabbing four rebounds Sunday.
Then again, funny things have a habit of happening under the bright lights in the Garden.
"You never know what's going to happen playing in this league," said Hazell. "So we're just happy we got the win and we are moving on to Wednesday."
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