Seton Hall is on the verge of an NCAA tournament berth, its first in six seasons but far sooner than even second-year coach Kevin Willard expected.
A win in either of the Pirates’ final two regular-season games likely will punch their ticket to the Big Dance and, naturally, today’s 5 p.m. Senior Day home finale (MSG, WABC 770 AM) comes versus archrival Rutgers.
This series always is fiercely contested with bad blood and hot tempers, no matter if one team is surging and the other struggling. That’s the case now, with the Hall (19-9, 8-8 Big East) coming off a rout of No. 9 Georgetown, and Rutgers (12-16, 4-11) having lost six straight, including Feb. 8 to the Pirates in Piscataway.
“Going against Rutgers is never easy,’’ senior Jordan Theodore said. “For me, Herb Pope, Peter Dill, it’s going to be our last time in this arena. It’s going to mean a lot. I might even shed a tear. It’s going to be a very emotional night for me and my family. I’m looking forward to it.
“We know what we went in there and did to them at the RAC and they’re going to want revenge. We already know what kind of game it’s going to be. It’s going to be a fistfight and we’re ready .”
These in-state rivals know about fights. They nearly saw one in their last meeting when the Hall went into the RAC mired in a six-game skid, but pushed Rutgers around.
Pope head-butted Eli Carter, then hit a huge 3-pointer to key a 59-54 win. Today Pope and Theodore are determined not to let the young Scarlet Knights — led by freshmen Carter and Myles Mack — do unto them as the Pirates did unto RU.
“We’ve got to get off the downhill slide we’re on,’’ said Rutgers coach Mike Rice, anxious to play spoiler.
“They’re going to play hard. We’re going to play hard. It’s what the rivalry dictates. It’s what we do when we play each other.’’
“Hopefully our guys will have that energy and sustain that energy. The fact that we possibly can get a win at their home court after they got one at ours should be all of the motivation you need.”
Seton Hall seems set for its first NCAA bid since 2006 with a win either today or in its regular-season finale a week from today at DePaul. CBSSports.com bracketologist Jerry Palm tabbed the Pirates as a ninth seed in the NCAA’s West Regional yesterday.
“Every game is a big game for us,” Willard said . “I’d rather see [Rutgers] flying high right now, to be honest with you. It’s really hard to play well on Senior Night because the seniors are more jacked-up because you want to do so well. Those two factors — it’s a very good Rutgers team and its Senior Night — make it tough.’’
