Excitement, upsets, and under appreciation are all things that seem to happen withing the Big East conference of the NCAA men’s basketball program. How- ever, if there was one thing these teams are not used to, it is one and done basketball players.
If you ask the basketball gods how they would have ended the 74-72 nail-biting victory for Seton Hall over Butler on Wednesday night, it happened exactly like it they would have liked.
No. 10 Seton Hall, once down by as many as 25, stormed back on the road at Providence but saw time run out as the Friars defeated the Pirates 74-68 behind a career-night from Alpha Diallo.
Myles Cale was relegated to riding the pine to start the game on Feb. 5 against Georgetown. For the 6-foot-6 junior, it was the first time that he was not on the floor for the opening tip for Seton Hall since his freshman year – the Round of 32 loss to Kansas that ended the Pirates’ hopeful March run.
When it comes to college hoops, regional rivalries have consistently dominated the minds of local fans and created. In New Jersey, Rutgers and Seton Hall sit just 30 miles from each other and have left New Jersey split. The schools grew a disdain for each other during their 23 years together in the Big East, but conference realignment has stripped the rivalry of the in-conference stakes that the matchups once included. While the Big East provided a framework for Rutgers and Seton Hall to face once, twice, or even three times each season, the split has put each school into a position to make an effort to face the other each year creating a novelty to a once frequent rivalry.
The women’s golf team and coach Natalie Desjardins enter the spring with high expectations. The team is seasoned and experienced, due in large part to the production of its four seniors, Lizzie Win, Maddie Sager, Sammie Staudt and Carolina Ronchel-Salas. Desjardins came to Seton Hall in 2017 from LIU Brooklyn, arriving in South Orange a year after three of her seniors did. Desjardins’ defection from LIU spurred Ronchel- Salas to join the Pirates.
For the four upperclassmen on the men’s golf team, the desire to win more has been brewing for four years.
On a baseball team full of experience, David Festa adds to that despite being only a sophomore. The University’s reigning Freshman Athlete of the Year is one of the pivotal starting pitchers on a team with hopes of capturing the conference crown. Already holding the role of a weekend starter, it is known Festa is one of the most important cogs of the Pirate program after an impressive first season.
As Myles Powell launched up a three with 1.4 seconds left and saw it fall, the usually exuberant superstar looked defeated instead in a clear indication of the effort his team put forth against a steady Creighton team on Wednesday night. Powell finished at an abysmal 3-for-16 overall from the field and 1-for-11 from beyond the arc as Seton Hall fell, 87-82, for the second straight time at the Prudential Center.
Sunday marked National Girls and Women in Sports Day in South Orange, and Walsh Gymnasium was jam-packed with celebratory honors and momentous odes to the sporting world’s best female superstars for a critically important Big East matchup with nationally ranked DePaul.
Before Seton Hall star Myles Powell’s senior year began, he found himself on multiple national award watchlists. From the Wooden Award watchlist for national player of the year to the Jerry West Award for the best shooting guard in the country, Powell was in the running for most of the country’s prominent in awards.
The battle for supremacy in the Big East Conference moves to the Wells Fargo Center this weekend as Seton Hall visits Villanova for the first time this season.
The New York Red Bulls announced former Wolverhampton Wanderers Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell as their new Head of Sport on Monday.
In an effort to make the All-Star game as competitive as it once was, the NBA revamped the selection process and allowed two team captains to select from a 24-player pool.
At West Point this weekend, Seton Hall tennis will get a taste of Big East competition as they compete against Georgetown among other schools.
For most, the transition from high school to being a Division I collegiate athlete is not easy.
Although a young foundation is in place for the women’s basketball team, the three seniors nearing the end of their collegiate careers have been the most influential class on the court this season. Big East Preseason Player of the Year Shadeen Samuels, Alexis Lewis and Barbara Johnson have implemented themselves as key players for the program throughout the year and continue to do so as the team aspires to make a postseason push.
Solutions by The State News
