When the Seton Hall men’s basketball team takes the floor this Saturday it will be attempting to make history.  John “Honey” Russell, the Pirates’ winningest coach couldn’t do it.  P.J. Carlesimo had five attempts, but couldn’t do it.  Louis Orr was 0-for-3 despite once coming within a single point.  Never in the 105-year storied history of the program have the Pirates defeated the #1-ranked team in the nation.  Seton Hall has that rare opportunity Saturday at noon.

Seton Hall has taken the wildest of roller-coaster rides to get to this point.  They opened the BIG EAST season with six consecutive losses which is their worst start to the conference schedule in 23 seasons.  Four of those games featured opponents ranked among the top-18 teams in the nation.  One game was without head coach Bobby Gonzalez.  Three more featured a missing or limited John Garcia.

On Jan. 25, however, the season began its dramatic turnaround.  Against #12 Georgetown, Seton Hall revisited the winning formula that had them victorious in eight of their first nine games this season.  Perhaps a little leftover magic from the 1989 Final Four team that was honored earlier that day rubbed off on this current band of Pirates. 

Five wins later, which includes a season sweep of New Jersey-rival Rutgers, the Pirates are sitting on a 5-6 conference record as the only team in BIG EAST history to start the season 0-6 and follow it up with a five-game win streak.  And now, this scrappy group of bruised and beaten overachievers with only eight scholarship players has a chance to do something that no other Seton Hall team has ever done... defeat the nation’s top team.

Their opponent is familiar, yet formidable.  Connecticut is riding a 12-game win streak and sits atop the nation with a sparkling 23-1 record.  During the streak, the Huskies have outscored their opponents by an average of 15 points, which includes the 76-61 victory over Seton Hall in Hartford on January 18.  Their head coach is a Hall of Famer.  Their center is a 7-foot-3 future NBA first round draft pick and the defending BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year.  Their power forward is the BIG EAST career active leader in double-doubles.  UConn has defeated Seton Hall in eight straight games, 15 of their last 16 and 22 of their last 24 meetings. 

Ten times Seton Hall has faced the nation’s elite and 10 times they’ve been doomed to failure.  Their most recent loss to a #1 team came on Feb. 11, 2006, a 99-57 bruising at the hands of... Connecticut.

This time around however, UConn will be facing a different Seton Hall team.  The Pirates are more battle-tested and have already experienced tremendous highs and devastating lows.  On Saturday before a sell-out crowd at Prudential Center the Seton Hall Pirates will attempt to win their sixth in a row and continue this season’s miraculous turnaround.  In doing so, they’ll accomplish a feat never achieved by their predecessors in blue and white... a victory over the nation’s elite.

#1 CONNECTICUT at SETON HALL

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Noon

SNY

Game Notes