Hitting its stride two weeks ago during a time that was sink or swim, the Seton Hall men’s basketball team firmly secured one of the 34 at-large tickets to the NCAA Tournament. The Pirates received a 10-seed, much to the skepticism and dismay of many. On Thursday, Seton Hall will face one of the nation’s hottest teams – the No. 7-seeded Wofford Terriers.
A couple of Seton Hall students weighed in on what is at stake come Thursday night while also reflecting on the admittedly turbulent season.
Two sports radio broadcasters for WSOU 89.5 FM, Wilnir Louis, a sophomore sports management and marketing major, and Erin Kelly, a senior communication and public relations major, had differing opinions on the seeding that the Pirates received.
“I think this is the fairest seed I’ve seen Seton Hall get in my four years,” Kelly said. “Having wins over other tournament teams helps but then you take into account the losses against Georgetown, Nebraska, and DePaul twice. A 10-seed is fair given those losses.”
Louis felt that the Pirates were more deserving of a higher seed, given the quality of their victories throughout the campaign. According to Louis, the hot streak that the team has been on of late, winning four out of its last five games, proved its worth for the tournament.
“Seton Hall definitely should have been seeded as the 9th or the 8th seed due to the teams that they played in non-conferences as well as the way that they played to end off the season,” Louis said. “They defeated 2-seeded Kentucky, 6-seeded Maryland, 5-seeded Marquette twice and was a couple of bounces away from beating 6-seeded Villanova twice. I think that is very deserving of Seton Hall to be a single-digit seed in this NCAA Tournament.”
Conversely, Kelly’s point of valuing longevity over recent success seems to have been what the NCAA Tournament committee honed in on when deciding how to slot teams. Marquette, who finished second in the Big East and made it to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament, were given a No. 5 seed – one seed higher than Villanova who won both the regular season title and the tournament. Marquette’s early wins against top teams like Kansas State and Buffalo proved to be more valuable than losing five of their last six games.
Seton Hall’s matchup against one of the best three-point shooting teams will not be easy, facing a team that had risen all the way up to No. 19 in the AP Poll. Fletcher Magee, who has the potential to have the most threes made in the history of college basketball, will be a tough task among the four players on the Terriers’ roster that shoot the three ball at a 39 percent clip or better.
“I look at Cale to stand out during this tournament,” Louis said. “There have been games this season where he has been electric, and I believe that with his talent and confidence, it will be a great tournament for him. For the Pirates to win, they have to slow down the offense of Wofford and make sure that their perimeter defense is stellar this game.”
Regardless of how the game against Wofford plays out, the team can hold their heads high by looking at the remarkable season of accomplishments and the youth that steers the ship for the future.
“This year is 100 percent a success. Losing your entire starting lineup and a tough non-conference schedule was a daunting task that this team was able to overcome,” Kelly said. “The positive from this season is that everyone is coming back beside [Michael] Nzei. This is a young team that faced challenges and will continue to grow as we enter tournament play.”
Evando Thompson can be reached at evando.thompson@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @Thompsev.
