Let everyone else worry about the bubble. Seton Hall is ready to party like it’s 2006.
The Pirates all but punched their first bid to the NCAA Tournament in a decade Sunday afternoon, manhandling fifth-ranked Xavier, 90-81, in front of a raucous sold-out Prudential Center crowd in Newark.
“I remember someone asked me why I came to Seton Hall and I said ‘Just wait,’” star sophomore Isaiah Whitehead said. “There’s no better response than today.”
The Pirates’ fourth straight win and eighth in nine games was by far their most important of this rousing season, a signature victory that put a stamp on their already impressive résumé and clinched no worse than a tie for third place in the Big East. A national ranking could follow on Monday.
And they did so by dominating physical Xavier in the paint, where the Musketeers were outscored 42-36. Seton Hall (21-7, 11-5 Big East) beat up the 13th-best rebounding team in the country on the boards, 44-39, and frustrated Xavier, which was coming off a win over No. 1 Villanova, at each end of the floor.
“It shows, once we play our best basketball, we can beat anybody,” sophomore guard Khadeen Carrington said after Seton Hall’s sixth-ever victory over a top-five team, and the largest margin of victory in any of those instances.
Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, who will likely make his NCAA Tournament debut in his ninth season as a head coach, saw this potential last year.
He shared his optimism with athletic director Pat Lyons when they met shortly after Seton Hall’s second half free fall from the 19th-ranked team in the country in January to out of the postseason entirely was complete. There were questions about his future — Holy Cross offered him its coaching position, sources said — but he was convinced the future at Seton Hall was bright because of the young talent on the roster.
“I tell you one thing, we will win next year,” Willard told Lyons. “There’s not a doubt in my mind that we’re going to win.”
“I give Pat Lyons credit. He could’ve gotten rid of me last year. I told him if you stick with me, I promise we’re going to win.”
It is a good thing they kept him because Carrington told The Post the “everyone would have left” if Willard did not return.
Three days after the year ended, Seton Hall’s sophomore core was working out together. When Derrick Gordon transferred from UMass over the summer, Willard’s expectations went even higher. Gordon added an important dimension for the Pirates, a defensive stopper on the perimeter and willing ball-mover, and his leadership has proven to be invaluable.
“Derrick has sacrificed a lot, playing time, shots, starting. I think his unselfishness and really his maturity has helped all these young guys,” Willard said. “He’s just such a mature young man that he has a calming presence on everybody.”
Unlike Thursday’s rout of Providence, when Whitehead carried the Pirates, Seton Hall’s entire roster contributed to this victory. While Whitehead was sloppy with the ball, committing eight turnovers, he still finished with 22 points, five assists and four blocks. Whitehead made one big play after another down the stretch as Xavier attempted to claw back into the game.
Fellow sophomore Desi Rodriguez, who Xavier coach Chris Mack described as a “freight train in transition,” gave the Musketeers (25-4, 13-4) fits, posting his third double-double of the year with a dominant inside-out performance. He scored a career-high 27 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out three assists.
Angel Delgado was the best big man on the court, notching 17 points and eight rebounds against Xavier’s rugged frontline.
Again, it was the Pirates’ suffocating defense, keyed by Gordon and Ismael Sanogo, that was the difference, holding Xavier to 39 percent shooting from the field. Gordon, honored on Senior Day, frustrated impressive Xavier freshman Edmond Sumner into three points on 1-of-8 shooting and three turnovers.
Seton Hall started fast, racing out to a 9-0 lead just 1:58 in, and closed the first half on a 23-7 run, turning turnovers and long rebounds into easy baskets, and building a 19-point halftime lead that was never truly in jeopardy.
And, now, neither is Seton Hall’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2006.