Show Me My Opponent - Seton Hall Pirates

NAME: Seton Hall University
LOCATION: South Orange, New Jersey
ESTABLISHED: 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley
ENROLLMENT: 9,745
MASCOT: Pirates

DATE: Wednesday, March 4
TIME: 7:04 p.m.
SITE: Louisville, Kentucky, Freedom Hall, Crum Court

TELEVISION: BIG EAST Network (WHAS-TV in Louisville); Bob Picozzi play-by-play, Mark Adams commentary
RADIO: WHAS 840 AM; Paul Rogers play-by-play, Bob Valvano commentary

OFFICIALS: Mike Kitts, John Gaffney, Pat Driscoll

SERIES HISTORY: U of L leads 7-4 (4-1 in Louisville, 3-3 at Seton Hall)
LAST MEETING: Seton Hall 92, U of L 82 (January 19, 2008 in Newark, New Jersey)

HEAD COACH: Bobby Gonzalez, 3rd Year, 44-45 at SHU
ASSISTANTS: Dermon Player, Scott Abudato, Kevin Murphy

OVERALL RECORD: 15-13, 6-10
NATIONAL RANKING: N/A (Again, just a fancy little abbreviation for “not applicable,” which just means I’m saying that they’re not ranked)

RPI: 107

SOS: 65

CARDINAL CONNECTION: Seton Hall’s administrative assistant is none other than one Rodrick Rhodes, the all-world blue chip recruit who played for Rick Pitino from 1993-95, before Rhodes transferred to Southern Cal. Rumor has it that Rhodes still blames Pitino for his departure from Lexington and his less-than-immediate start to an NBA career.

NOTABLE ALUMNI:

BASKETBALL:

Terry Dehere, Andre Barret, Adrian Griffin, Eddie Griffin, Samuel Dalembert

OTHER:
Mo Vaughn (MLB Player)
Richie Roberts (Law) (Former detective and attorney responsible for the arrest and prosecution of Frank Lucas, portrayed by Russell Crowe in the film American Gangster)
Craig Biggio (MLB Player)
Sacha Kljestan (2008 Olympic Soccer captain)
Naturi Naughton (actress and singer) (left)

PROBABLE STARTERS:
F 23 Robert MITCHELL 6-6 180 Jr. 14.5 8.0
C 31 John GARCIA 6-9 265 Sr. 8.5 6.9
G 20 Eugene HARVEY 6-0 165 Jr. 12.4 3.2
G 21 Jeremy HAZELL 6-5 185 So. 22.7 3.6
G 22 Paul GAUSE 5-11 188 Sr. 7.8 4.1

BENCH: Jordan Theodore (5.9 ppg), Mike Davis (2.9 ppg)

OUTLOOK:

Tomorrow night the Freedom Hall Faithful say goodbye to Andre McGee, Will Scott, Earl Clark, and Terrence Williams. While this class’ legacy is yet to be written, they – perhaps even more so than the classes before them – will hold a special place in the heart of this observer. I’ve said it once before – actually, twice – that Terrence Williams should go down as one of the greatest to ever wear a Cardinal uniform.

He and the other three will be sorely missed.

On to the Pirates.

Seton Hall has dropped four of its last five and is not predicted to make the NCAA Tourney by anybody’s projection. But it should be noted that they played Pittsburgh tough last Saturday, and actually was only down one point early in the second, before the Panthers pulled away for an 11 point victory.

Get ready to hear the name Jeremy Hazell on multiple occasions tomorrow night. The 6-5 sophomore guard averages 22.5 ppg and was a significant reason the Pirates upset the Cards last season. (Hazell had 29 points on 10 of 17 shooting.) I expect him to score Wednesday, but I also expect our defensive-minded guards to keep him in check.

I’m always a little uneasy going up against teams in nothing-to-lose mode. But emotions will be riding high in the Hall tomorrow, the Cards are playing their best ball of the season, and we’re still very much in the hunt for the Big East Regular Season Title. As long as we stay focused, I very much like our chances. Give me the Cards, 85 to 66.