Six games remain in Seton Hall’s regular season, six games that will tell a lot about the surprising Pirates, six games that will be full of pressure and determine if this is an NCAA Tournament team.
And, according to coach Kevin Willard, his team has the right mentality to handle all that is on the line beginning Wednesday night at Georgetown.
“They’ve always been a loose group of guys,” Willard said. “They like to have fun, they like to tell jokes, so I think their personality really helps. They’re more of a loosey, goosey group of guys since they all know each other [so well], have all been around each other. I think that helps dramatically.”
Time will tell. Seton Hall (17-7, 7-5 Big East) is firmly on the bubble, in the NCAA Tournament at the moment or one of the first teams out, depending on which bracketologist you follow. The Pirates played their way into the tournament picture by winning four straight games before last Wednesday’s disappointing home loss to Butler.
The Pirates’ chances at the NCAA Tournament came up recently at practice, and Willard wanted to make sure his players weren’t looking too heavily into the future, how many games they have to win to get in. He also didn’t want them thinking the recent loss was the end of the world, either. Every game, this time of year, is magnified.
“We’re in a good position,” he told them. “This is what we wanted. This is what we worked for. We have to continue to work and take advantage of our opportunities.”
They have six games left, and four on the road, but the chance for résumé-building wins are there, at the Prudential Center against No. 20 Providence and eighth-ranked Xavier. A strong finish and Seton Hall’s nine-year NCAA Tournament drought will be over, and the Pirates can prove their detractors wrong in the process.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” sophomore point guard Isaiah Whitehead said. “We were [picked] seventh in the preseason [in the Big East]. It’s really about going out and playing your game. There’s no pressure at all.
“I’m real confident. I believe in our team. The way we go after people defensively, it can take us a long way.”