Author: Vincent M. Santore

Pirates to Play Butler at MSG

Madison Square Garden

Today at 7 PM EST, the Seton Hall Pirates will face the Butler Bulldogs at Madison Square Garden in the annual Big East Tournament, with the winner having the “privilege” to play #3 and top-seeded Villanova. In the past (and only) two meetings between Seton Hall and Butler, Butler has bested the Pirates, including the regular season finale. Senior Fuquan Edwin and company looks to put a stop to that tonight, as this could very well be his last game as a Pirate. Luckily, the Pirates have some good fortune working for them today.

Even with birthday wishes, there is no way to sugarcoat it: Butler has the Pirates’ number this season. With their latest defeat (which ensured them a losing record), it was an embarrassing 71-54 effort put forth by the boys in blue. However, as detail oriented as HC Kevin Willard is, the Pirates will almost certainly not make the same mistakes again. Seton Hall is even ever so slightly favored to win this game, and they have an entire fan base hoping they do.

While not technically an inaugural tournament, this tournament is the debut of the New Big East. Last year during the conference realignment that saw the “Catholic 7” (Seton Hall, Villanova, St. John’s, Providence, Marquette, DePaul and Georgetown) break away from the D-I football schools (USF, Cincinnati, UConn, among others) to form their own basketball centric conference. During their departure, they made sure to retain the rights to the name “The Big East” as well as the very important conference tournament at Madison Square Garden. If anyone has any doubt, just remember that this is technically the postseason, which means that anything can happen. As always, Hazard Zet Forward and go Pirates!

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Pirates Fail to Rebound

SHU/MU

After a crushing defeat at #6 Villanova last week, Fuquan had this to say to the fans, students and alumni of Seton Hall:

Senior Fuquan Edwin has done a pretty good job of keeping his promises to bounce back, like he has done against DePaul and Xavier. Sadly, this time it was not meant to be, with the Pirates losing to the Marquette Golden Eagles 77-66.

Despite jumping out to an 8-0 start, it was pretty much downhill for the Pirates. The highlight of the game was the lack of rebounding by the Pirates, coupled with 10 turnovers very early into the first half. Fuquan had one of his worst statistical games of the season, finishing with only 9 points and 3 rebounds. Senior Brian Oliver lead the Pirates with 15 points. Marquette has always had Seton Hall’s number, winning 13 of their 15 meetings, and swept the home-and-home series between the two schools for the past two seasons. Now the Pirates are 4-7 in the Big East, sitting in the cellar of the conference, ahead of only Butler and DePaul.

Next game is tonight 9 tonight at the Prudential Center against their Hudson River rival St. John’s. After all, the Pirates want revenge for their close loss at St. John’s earlier in the season. Hopefully Fuquan’s promise was just a game early; until then, Hazard Zet Forward.

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Pirates to Play in 2014 Paradise Jam

Junior Patrik Auda will likely start in the Paradise Jam

Then Senior Patrik Auda will likely start in the Paradise Jam next Fall

As “Pirates”, part of the duty that comes with the name is the expectation of terrorizing the Caribbean. Later this year, Seton Hall will have that opportunity, playing in the 2014 Paradise Jam preseason tournament November 21-24. Held annually at the University of the Virgin Islands, Seton Hall will be playing against potential opponents Clemson, Gardner Webb, Illinois State, Louisiana State, Nevada, Old Dominion, and Weber State.

True to their name, the Seton Hall Pirates should be able to pillage and plunder their competition. None of their potential opponents are in the AP Top 25, and none besides Seton Hall (14 Isaiah Whitehead, 47 Angel Delgado) and LSU (60 Elbert Robinson) have any ESPN Top 100 Recruits. No doubt Seton Hall will open up as heavy favorites, followed by LSU, with the rest falling somewhat randomly into place. Their exact schedule and match-ups will not be released until much closer to November.

This will be the second time since its 2001 inception that Seton Hall has appeared in the tournament, previously making the semifinals in 2010 and being eliminated in a close loss against Xavier. Xavier would go on to lose to eventually champion Old Dominion, who has the chance to be the first team to claim more than one title in the tournament. Clemson has also previously appeared in the tournament back in 2005, losing to Wisconsin in the title game, as well as placing 3rd in 2010.

I cannot wait to see what the Whitehead-lead Pirates can do in 2014; this will be a great way to showcase their collective ability against much weaker teams and take home the gold. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.

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Pirates End Musketeers’ Streak

Once again, after a close defeat to first-time opponent Butler, Fuquan took to Twitter to make another promise:

And once again, bounce back they did. Seton Hall jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a close game. Xaiver rallied back, lead by Junior C Matt Stainbrook, even gaining a one point lead by half-time. The Pirates pulled off an 68-60 win, sitting comfortably in 5th place in the Big East standings. Surprising no one, Fuquan lead the Pirates in scoring with 18 points, building an even bigger resume for the upcoming NBA Draft.

In what was a strange turn of events, there seems to be some confusion on what exactly is going on with Senior star PG Brian Oliver. While it was clear he was not court-side, there were conflicting reports on if he even made the trip to Cincinnati with the team, or remained back in South Orange. Even as of the writing of this article, the whereabouts of Brian Oliver are unknown to the general public. Hopefully more details will emerge shortly. Either way, despite the win, the team still needs Oliver to succeed.

The Xaiver Musketeers previous won 13 straight games at home, boasting one of the best home court advantages (185-26 all time at home) in all of the NCAA. In what has become a fantastic trend, the Pirates ended their third opponents’ extended home winning streak this season, with the others being against Providence (13 games) and Georgetown (16 games). Seton Hall will need more of this upset magic when they take on #9 Villanova at the Pavilion in Philadelphia next Friday. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.

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