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.

Pope, the transfer from New Mexico State, will be the key to a transformation of the Pirates into a competent defensive-rebounding group. Pope had 11 rebounds — six defensive — in the loss to West Virginia. He averages seven defensive rebounds again, but it may be his ability to alter opponents shots that will be most beneficial to Seton Hall against Syracuse. The Orange is the best shooting team in America and haven’t been held within even 10 points of 1.00 points per possession since the opener against Albany.

There isn’t a single Syracuse player who misses more of his twos than he makes. The three most often shooters from inside — Wesley Johnson, Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku are each hitting on at least 63 percent of his twos. Pope’s shot-blocking ability will be a necessity to any chances Seton Hall has at slowing down Syracuse. One wonders whether Gonzalez will use Garcia more in this game, sacrificing some offensive firepower for Garcia’s ability to soak up contact and defend the rim. I doubt we’ll see that much of Garcia, but this would be a good game to get him some extra run.

Another positive out of Saturday’s loss was Seton Hall’s continued affection for maintaining possession of the basketball. In an 82-possession game, SHU turned the ball over just six times, or 7.3 percent of the time. WVU has forced turnovers on 24.3 percent of all defensive possessions this season. In the Pirates, the ‘Neers ran into a team utterly unwilling to relinquish possessions without a shot. Seton Hall’s rebounding in combination with its few turnovers were why Seton Hall attempted 21 more field-goals, a disparity that kept the Pirates in the game despite terrible shooting from the three-point and foul lines (we’ll get to that in a bit).

Syracuse has only forced turnovers on less than 20 percent of opponents possessions twice this season — against Cal and St. Bonaventure. The former is a solid ball-handling team, led by All-Pac-10 player Jerome Randle. The Bonnies, however, are one of the more charitable offenses in the country. Seton Hall has proved it can take care of the ball against teams that force turnovers, and it should do so again on Tuesday. The Pirates will need to maintain a gap in field-goal attempts to make up for the likely discrepancy in shooting efficiency.

Saturday’s loss to West Virginia was an uncommonly awful shooting performance for Seton Hall. The Pirates shot a reasonable 48.1 percent on 2-pointers but just 20 percent on 3-pointers and 48.5 percent on free throws. With the exception of a 40-second-long brainfart to end regulation, WVU bothered Jeremy Hazell’s jumpers all night, forcing him into 4-of-19 shooting on 3-pointers. Hazell still wound up with a career-high 41 because of his success inside (10-for-14) and at the foul line (9-of-12), though plenty of his teammates were less fortunate there.

All non-Hazells were 15-for-38 (39.0 percent) on 2-pointers and 7-for-21 (33.3) on free throws. Pope’s 1-for-10 at the line was a killer, especially as it seemed he was always there down the stretch. Seton Hall’s 62.6 free-throw percentage must improve as the Pirates are likely to find themselves in numerous close games during Big East play, and the results of those close games will probably decide their NCAA Tournament fate. Seton Hall is 13th in the Big East in free-throw shooting, but Syracuse is 14th. For SHU’s Pope, Syracuse offers Onuaku, a notoriously poor shooter.

If Seton Hall can emerge from a brutal opening week in the Big East with a split, it will feel like it’s on the right track for the 10 Big East wins that will likely secure an NCAA Tournament bid. The Hall will have to shoot better than it did against West Virginia, and Hazell will have to hoist over the Orange’s length in the 2-3 zone. If SHU can continue to take care of the ball and rebound two-thirds of its opponents misses, Gonzo and Co. will give another undefeated team a serious test.