Forget the fact that Seton Hall is one of the Big East’s best ballhandling teams; ignore the fact that it’s one of the league’s top 3-point shooting clubs. What the Pirates do best of all, what has lifted them into the Sweet 16 for the first time in eight years, is their ability to

overcome adversity. They do that as well as or better than anyone, and they’re being put to the test yet again.

Senior co-captain Shaheen Holloway — whose coast-to-coast buzzerbeater gave the Hall a first-round upset of Oregon — suffered what was termed a severe sprain of the outer ligaments of his left knee in Sunday’s upset of second-seeded Temple. Backup Ty Shine performed brilliantly, but now comes the hard part for the Pirates; trying to get Holloway and their walking wounded ready to play Oklahoma State at 9:55 p.m. Friday in Syracuse.

“He had X-rays today, more thorough than the ones he had in Buffalo, just to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. They came up negative, which is good news,” said assistant athletic trainer Sheila Noecker. “He had an MRI, but we won’t know about that until [today]. So that’s where we’re at. He’s swollen, he’s sore, so we’re gonna play it [by ear]. We’ll see where he’s at in a couple of days.”

Coach Tommy Amaker and his 10th-seeded Pirates (22-9) will need every minute to recover between now and tipoff, what with co-captain Rimas Kaukenas limping on the same ankle he twisted Feb. 23 against Minnesota and forward Greg Morton playing with a shoulder brace.

The injuries are just the latest in a line of problems the Pirates have overcome, including the tragic Jan. 19 dorm fire that killed three students, the suspension of sixth-man Gary Saunders, and a late-season swoon that saw them lose their last four league games.

“We draw closer in the face of adversity,” Amaker said. “I don’t think anyone could’ve expected us to play the way we did without Holloway. Our whole school drew closer as a result of that tragic fire. Our team has shown a lot of guts and heart to perform under these circumstances. This team has won a lot of close games, and it has a lot to do with their mental toughness.”

They’re clearly tough; otherwise they wouldn’t be a perfect 4-0 in overtime games. And despite having a bench dangerously shortened by the loss of Holloway and Saunders, they survived overtime against both Oregon and Temple, the first team to win consecutive OT games in the NCAA Tournament since Louisville in 1980.

That was the season “Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison led the Cardinals to the national title; and the Pirates are hoping that bit of NCAA history repeats itself. And don’t think Holloway and Shine haven’t noticed the similarities between the Hall and the 1995 champion UCLA Bruins, who got a coast-to-coast buzzerbeater by point guard Tyus Edney and admirable stand-in work by backup Cameron Dollar when Edney went down.

This Tourney is rife with coincidences for the Hall. They’re in their first Sweet 16 since ’92, when they lost to Duke; Amaker was an assistant on that Blue Devil team, and a win by the Pirates and another in the other half of the East bracket by top-seeded Duke would set up a student-teacher showdown on Sunday with Mike Krzyzewski for a Final Four berth. But before they dream of titles or even old Blue Devil reunions, they must get by Oklahoma State.

“I didn’t see them play [in Buffalo], but I’ve seen them play earlier this year,” Amaker said of the third-seeded Cowboys (26-6). “They have a great coach, and I know they have a great team. They’re a great defensive team. I have a lot of respect for them.”

But he has even more for his Pirates.