2010 Big East Basketball Tournament: Seton Hall vs Providence

For the majority of their opening round game with Providence College, the Seton Hall Pirates maintained a lead of twenty points or more.

That is, until the wheels fell off.

A furious and unlikely Providence comeback fell just one possession short on Tuesday night as the fifteenth-seeded Friars (13-18) fell to tenth-seeded Seton Hall (18-12) 109-106 in one of the highest scoring non-overtime games in recent memory in the Big East Tournament.

Herb Pope scored a team-high 27 points for Seton Hall, which dominated the majority of the game before losing its composure along with their seemingly insurmountable lead in the final few five minutes of regulation. Providence’s Jamine Peterson led all scorers with his game-high 38 points.

Defensive miscues plagued the Friars, who allowed Seton Hall to make 16 of its last 19 shots of the first half, many of them layups, prompting ESPN commentator Jay Bilas to say that Providence coach Keno Davis would soon be known as Keno Avis “because there is no ‘D’”. Less than a minute into the second half, already trailing 59-39, Davis was whistled for a technical foul that, if intended to wake up his team, failed to accomplish its mission. At the 13:30 mark, with a slam dunk from lead scorer Herb Pope, Seton Hall extended its lead to the biggest margin of the game at 76-47.

It was that 29-point lead that Providence would nearly erase.

It seemed as though the early exit of star Pirate Jeremy Hazell, who fouled out during the second half, served as the starting point of Seton Hall's unraveling in the closing minutes. With three minutes remaining, the 29-point bulge had been cut to ten points, but Providence would pull even closer thanks to a combination of the Friars’ sharp-shooting and Seton Hall’s failures at the free throw line. The Pirates’ collapse culminated in two missed free throws with just seconds remaining, leaving their lead at three (109-106) and the ball in the hands of Friars guard Duke Mondy. However, Mondy’s final 3-pointer was woefully off the mark, leaving the frantic comeback one possession short.

The first round loss concludes a disappointing campaign for the Friars, who fell to 13-18 on the season, including a streak of 12 losses in their final 14 games. This, for a team that held an 11-6 record on January 14 following a 79-62 win at DePaul.

WHAT’S NEXT

Seton Hall must rest and regroup quickly as the Pirates move on to the second round of the Big East tournament, meeting seventh-seeded Notre Dame on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. The Pirates remain on the proverbial bubble for the NCAA Tournament, needing to add to their resume to assure an at-large berth. With Notre Dame also squarely on the bubble, the matchup in the conference tournament could also serve as a playoff of sorts, with the winner almost certainly gaining the postseason bid it desires, and the loser presumably still needing help from other bubble teams. The Seton Hall-Notre Dame matchup tips off at 7 p.m. Eastern, with television coverage provided by ESPN.

BIG EAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

WHAT’S NEXT