Seton Hall Will Play Gonzaga In NCAAs
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show was now into its second hour and Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard was starting to pace nervously. Not as nervously had the Pirates been a bubble team waiting and hoping. But nervous nonetheless as team after team saw its name come and go on a TV screen so big at the Walsh Gym on the Pirates campus, it would not fit in many Manhattan apartments.
“This is (blanking) torture,” Willard said with a smile. He still hadn’t been to bed yet but he looked no worse for wear. After all, he brought this sweet torture all on himself by knocking off two of the top five teams in the nation in No. 5 Xavier and No. 3 Villanova to give Seton Hall its first BIG EAST Tournament title since 1993.
It was getting down near the end of the show now and still no Seton Hall on the big screen. Villanova had its name called. The Wildcats (29-5) will be a No. 2 seed in Brooklyn beginning Friday when they take on UNC-Asheville (22-11), the winners of the Big South tournament. That game is slated for a 12:40 p.m. tipoff and will be seen on TruTV. If Villanova wins Friday, the Wildcats will face either Iowa or Philly-rival Temple next Sunday.
Providence saw its name called, so did Xavier. And when Butler’s name was splashed on the screen, the BIG EAST Tournament champs were the only one left still waiting. But a few matchups before Seton Hall was finally called – as the last matchup of the day – word leaked out and got to the Pirates (25-8) that they would be heading to Denver as a six seed for a St. Patrick’s Day night matchup with No. 11 Gonzaga, champs of the West Coast Conference. Game time is 9:55 p.m. Eastern Time and will air on TruTV.
It was sort of like learning about the end of the movie before the actual end of the movie, but the Pirates were thrilled anyway.
“I was talking to Khadeen and said, ‘Wow, imagine we didn’t win (Saturday),” Isaiah Whitehead said laughing. “That would have been really nerve-wracking waiting this long. But it wasn’t as nervous as it would have been if we would have lost (Saturday). But when Iowa State was called (just a few matchups before Seton Hall’s), one of our managers told us it was leaked and who we were going to be playing. That’s why we were kind of on the edge of our seats. We knew it was coming. It didn’t ruin it. We knew we were going to be there it was just a matter of who we were going to play.”
Willard, who spent much of the pre-announcement party shaking hands, signing autographs and kissing more babies than a campaigning politician at a state fair, admits he knows very little about Gonzaga, a perennial visitor to the NCAA Tournament. They’re on way too late for him to stay up and watch.
“I don’t get to watch a lot of West Coast basketball because of the time difference and I go to sleep early,” Willard said. “But I’ve watched (Gonzaga coach) Mark Few’s teams before. They’re tremendous offensively, they pass the ball, they’re unselfish. I did watch them early in the year and they were a terrific basketball team so it’s going to be a great challenge. It’s a great opportunity for our guys, it’s a great opportunity for our university and we’re looking forward to it.”
The announcement capped a whirlwind weekend for the Pirates who shocked many – not themselves, however – by taking out both Xavier and Villanova in the BIG EAST Tournament, earning its first tournament title in nearly a quarter century.
“It’s been a little surreal,” Willard said. “You win the BIG EAST Championship, and I’ve talked to (Louisville) Coach (Rick) Pitino and (Syracuse) Coach (Jim) Boeheim about it and I’ve talked to (former UConn coach) Jim Calhoun at BIG EAST meetings and they talked about the greatness and how you would feel (winning the tournament). And it feels better than they could ever describe winning the BIG EAST championship. It’s been an unbelievable 18 hours but now we have to get back to work.”
Willard said while the championship and the Selection Show were wonderful experiences for his players and coaching staff, he said it was just as important for the long-suffering Pirates fan base to enjoy the last few days, including Sunday’s celebration at Walsh, which was attended by hundreds of Seton Hall fans, alumni and boosters.
“We have a very loyal fan base and it’s been a tough 23 years for this fan base,” Willard said. “To give them a BIG EAST championship, to get them back in The Dance, it’s exciting.”
The Pirates aren’t the only BIG EAST team to receive exciting news Sunday. Ed Cooley’s Providence Friars received a nine seed and they will take on the No. 8 USC Trojans, who finished the year 21-12. Now the rest of the nation will get to see what BIG EAST coaches didn’t want to see anymore of this year: the duo of Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil. The Friars’ game will air Thursday night at 9:55 p.m. Eastern Time on TBS. Should the Friars win, they would most likely face top-seeded North Carolina.
Xavier (27-5) earned a two seed and is headed for St. Louis for a Friday matchup with No. 15 Weber State (26-8), winners of the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles. The game tips off at 9:25 p.m. and will air on TNT. A victory over Weber State would set the Musketeers up for a Sunday date with either No. 7 Wisconsin or No. 10 Pittsburgh.
The Butler Bulldogs made it five teams from the BIG EAST to reach the NCAA Tournament and it’s the second time in his two seasons as head coach that Chris Holtmann has guided the ‘Dogs to the Big Dance.
Butler (21-10) will take on coach Tubby Smith’s Texas Tech team. The Red Raiders (19-12) are making their first tournament appearance since 2007 and haven’t won a tournament game since 2005. The game will be in Raleigh on Thursday with tip off set for 12:40 p.m. on TruTV. Should the Bulldogs advance, they would most likely get a shot at top-seeded Virginia on Saturday.
It was a special day for the five BIG EAST teams selected on Sunday – but maybe, just maybe, a little more special for the Pirates.
“It definitely feels like we’re doing something special here at Seton Hall,” Khadeen Carrington said. “They hadn’t won a BIG EAST championship since 1993 and haven’t been in the tournament in 10 years so we’re just trying to bring the excitement back to South Orange. That’s why we came here in the first place.”
Creighton's season is also still going. The Bluejays accepted an NIT berth and will host Alabama on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.