The schedule-makers did Seton Hall no favors with Big East openers against West Virginia and Syracuse. On Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, Bobby Gonzalez’s Pirates pushed undefeated West Virginia to overtime with a last-minute surge before succumbing, 90-84. It will take an equally strong effort to defeat also-undefeated Syracuse on Tuesday night.

Despite the loss to the Mountaineers, there was plenty of good news for Seton Hall fans based on the performance, news that should boost hopes at a big upset on Tuesday. The biggest bit of optimism stems from Seton Hall’s ability to hold its own — and thensome — on the glass against WVU.

The Pirates have been exploited on the defensive backboard during Gonzalez’s entire tenure thanks to a lack of size and frontcourt depth. But with Herb Pope, Jeff Robinson and John Garcia as a starting frontline, the Pirates can actually play three real frontcourt players at once. While it’s true that guards Jordan Theodore and Jamel Jackson both played more than Robinson and Garcia on Saturday, the 89 minutes that Seton Hall got out of the starting frontcourt plus Ferrakohn Hall meant that the Pirates actually matched up with the long, athletic Mountaineers. Holding West Virginia, an exceptional offensive-rebounding team to just a 28.6 percent rate on that glass is borderline phenomenol. WVU is fourth in the nation in offensive-rebounding rate at 43.3 percent. Read More »