Seton Hall's NCAA Tournament drought continues

The wait for a return to the NCAA Tournament continues for Seton Hall as the Pirates missed out on the tournament for the sixth consecutive year.

Despite finishing the season with a 20-12 record the Pirates lost three of their final four regular season games, including back to back losses to Rutgers and DePaul. In the Big East Championship the Pirates defeated Providence in the first round before losing to eventual tournament champion Louisville, 61-55 in the second round.

The last time the Hall made the tournament in 2006, the Pirates were a No. 10 seed and were eliminated in the first round by No. 7 Wichita State 86-66.

The last time the Pirates missed the NCCA Tournament after being on the bubble was in 2009 when the team made the National Invitational Tournament. That year the Hall lost to Texas Tech in the first round at home, 87-69.

This season seniors Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope lead the team with 16 and 15.2 points per game respectively. Theodore also leads the team with 6.7 assists per game while Pope pulls down a team high 10.3 rebounds a game. Sophomore Fuquan Edwin is second in the nation with 2.9 steals and has also 6.3 rebounds per game.

The NIT brackets will be announced at 9 p.m. on ESPNU

Stephen Valenti can be reached at Stephen.valenti@student.shu.edu