2010 Seton Hall Pirates Basketball: Seton Hall vs Texas Tech

At first glance, a matchup between the Texas Tech Red Raiders (17-15, 4-12 Big XII) and the Seton Hall Pirates (19-12, 9-9 Big East) may have seemed to be lopsided in favor of the Big East representative. The Big East is widely seen as the best conference in the nation, and a .500 record in that conference was seen by many as being enough to but Seton Hall firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Texas Tech, on the other hand, was only 4-12 in a conference not nearly as deep as Seton Hall’s. Additionally, as the higher seed, the Pirates played host to the Red Raiders at their home court in Newark, N.J., in this 4-5 NIT battle.

The game began as a chippy affair, as Seton Hall’s powerful forward Herb Pope was ejected just over five minutes into the game after apparently punching Tech's Darko Cohadarevic twice in the package (yes, THAT package) – once on each end of the court - on consecutive possessions, dropping the Texas Tech big man both times. Seton Hall never really regained its composure as Texas Tech raced out to a big lead. Bobby Gonzalez’s team played undisciplined ball while Pat Knight’s squad responded to Pope’s cheap shots by rolling to an easy win.

The early loss of Herb Pope proved to be costly for Seton Hall, as the sophomore forward entered the game as the Pirates’ second-leading scorer behind guard Jeremy Hazell, who averages 20.9 points per game. Perhaps more importantly, Pope averaged double figures in rebounds by pulling down 11.1 boards per game, over five and a half rebounds more than his next-best- rebounding teammate, Jeff Robinson. The Pirates struggled on the boards all game without Pope’s rebounding prowess.

Meanwhile, Pope’s Red Raider counterpart, whom he hit twice below the belt, bounced back for an outstanding first half. Darko Cohadarevic went 6-of-7 from the field for 12 points before halftime. He also dominated on the boards without Pope’s presence, managing 4 first-half rebounds. However, the player of the game for the Red Raiders was John Roberson, who was red hot behind the arc, finishing 4-of-5 from 3-point range en route to 22 points.

Pat Knight clearly outcoached Bobby Gonzalez, slowing Seton Hall’s offense by switching between a man and a zone defense. The Pirates never found a rhythm on offense, and Gonzalez could find no effective adjustments to compensate for the lack of a big man following Pope's ejection. In the end, Seton Hall - by playing an undisciplined, lackluster game - justified the NCAA Selection Committee’s decision to leave the Pirates out of the field of 65. Pat Knight’s bunch showed that a .250 team in the Big XII was far superior to a .500 team in the Big East, perhaps giving some comfort to Big XII stalwarts Kansas, Kansas State, and Baylor before their NCAA Tournament runs begin. Those three teams may each need to beat a strong Big East team to advance to the Elite Eight or Final Four.

WHAT’S NEXT

Texas Tech will play the winner of tonight’s game between the No. 1 seed Arizona State Sun Devils (22-10, 12-6 Pac-10) and the No. 8 seed Jacksonville Dolphins (19-12, 14-6 A-Sun).

NIT First Round - Seton Hall vs Texas Tech

WHAT’S NEXT