BOX SCORE (.html)

BOX SCORE (.pdf)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Sophomore Herb Pope (Aliquippa, Pa.) notched his 11^th double-double of the season with a career-high 22 points and 18 rebounds as Seton Hall completed a season sweep of their in-state rival Rutgers, 85-74, in Piscataway.

Junior Jeff Robinson (Trenton, N.J.) also recorded a double-double, the first of his career, with 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

Seton Hall entered the game looking to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.  In order to do so, they'd need to win their four straight game against their local rivals and third straight in Piscataway.

Pope opened the scoring with a three-pointer to give Seton Hall a quick lead, but Rutgers charged back immediately with a 6-0 run capped by a dunk from Hamady Ndiaye to make it 6-3, Rutgers, with 17:46 to play in the first half.  Ndiaye, a native of Dakar, Senegal, was honored pre-game as the lone graduating senior.

Rutgers grabbed an 18-14 lead, but Seton Hall scored on back-to-back possessions, a layup by Jordan Theodore (Englewood, N.J.) and a put-back by Jeremy Hazell, to tie the game at 18 with 9:13 remaining in the half.  The points were the first of the game for Hazell who entered Thursday's matchup as the BIG EAST's third-leading scorer at 21.5 points per game.

Rutgers' Jonathan Mitchell connected on a pair of free throws to give the Scarlet Knights a 25-24 lead, but the Pirates answered back immediately with a pair of jumpers by Jeff Robinson to give Seton Hall a 28-25 advantage with 4:31 to go before halftime.

After the Scarlet Knights cut the Pirates' lead to one, at 30-29, Herb Pope hit his second three-pointer of the half to send Seton Hall into halftime with a 33-29 lead.

Pope had a monster half for the Pirates scoring a team-high 18 points, pulling down nine rebounds and blocking three shots.  Hamady Ndiaye and Mike Coburn led Rutgers with six points apiece.

Seton Hall shot 38.9% from the floor in the first half, which saw four ties and four lead changes.  Rutgers shot 29.7% in the first half.

The game got more physical in the second half and both teams dug in on defense.

With the Pirates leading 56-49, Rutgers' Mike Rosario hit a three-pointer to pull the Scarlet Knights to within four.  Seton Hall answered right back, however, with a pair of buckets by the suddenly hot Hazell, his second of which, was his first three-pointer of the game and gave the Pirates their largest lead of the night, 61-52, with 9:19 remaining in regulation.

Rutgers' Dane Miller scored on a layup with 4:21 left to pull Rutgers to within five, 67-62, but that would be as close as the Scarlet Knights would get.  Seton Hall methodically pulled away and Pope's layup with 1:59 to go built the Pirates' lead back to an insurmountable 10 points.

Seton Hall pulled down a season-high 56 rebounds thanks in part to big efforts by Pope and Robinson.  The Pirates out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights, 56-to-41.  The Pirates also out-shot Rutgers, 41.9%-to-36.1%.

Perhaps most notably, after committing nine turnovers in the first half, the Pirates did not turn the ball over in the second.

Mike Rosario led Rutgers with 17 points.

Seton Hall will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, March 6, 2010 when they travel to Providence.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.