Wednesday was not a good night for Seton Hall’s NCAA Tournament hopes.
Not only did the Pirates (16-7, 6-6 Big East) lose 72-60 at Villanova, but a game halfway across the country made their Big Dance dreams even slimmer.
When Oklahoma State upset No. 16 BYU 99-92 on Wednesday, it put the Cowboys in the driver’s seat for an at-large berth instead of the Pirates, according to CBS Sports Bracketology.
Seton Hall needs to get back on track starting Saturday when it travels to Omaha, Neb. to take on Creighton (12-11, 6-6) in a Big East matchup.
Villanova led 40-25 at halftime and never looked back. The Wildcats made 9 of 29 3-pointers while the Pirates only hit 2 of 17, including 0 for 8 in the first half.
“They make their threes, we don’t,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said. “And that’s what happened tonight.”
What also happened was the Pirates dropping out of the NCAA Tournament picture, at least for now. No. 3 UConn, No. 22 St. John’s and Villanova are the only Big East teams most experts project to make the bracket.
The Pirates don’t have a dominant scorer as their three top threats, Adam “Budd” Clark (11.6), A.J. Staton-McCray (11.5) and Tajuan Simpkins (11.0) lead the way.
The Bluejays have also seen their NCAA Tournament hopes take a hit recently. After starting the Big East schedule 6-3, they have lost three straight. Wednesday was the latest setback in a 76-68 loss to Georgetown.
Coach Greg McDermott was frustrated that the Bluejays did not play like themselves.
“I told them at halftime they had nine (offensive) rebounds and no second-chance points … that’s fool’s gold,” McDermott said. “The 16 turnovers for us is just out of character. A lot of them were just foolish turnovers.”
The Bluejays also do not have a dominant scorer, but a collection of cogs. Josh Dix (11.7), Austin Swartz (11.3), Jasen Green (10.7) and Nik Graves (10.0) top the list.
Swartz is scoring 15.3 points per game in Big East play. Green, at just 6-foot-8, leads the team with 5.1 rebounds per game.
“We are playing small,” McDermott said. “Jasen Green started at small forward last year and at center this year. It is kind of the hand we have been dealt. We are asking him to do a lot.”
