Get to know Seton Hall, TCU’s first-round NCAA Tournament opponent
TCU basketball will face Seton Hall for the first time in school history in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night in San Diego.
The only TCU player who had familiarity with Seton Hall was center Eddie Lampkin. Lampkin actually had Seton Hall in his top five during his recruitment coming out of Katy Morton Ranch High School in 2020 but opted to stay in state.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon has plenty of history with Seton Hall, though, going back to his Big East days at Pittsburgh. Dixon is 7-4 all-time against Seton Hall.
Here’s more information on TCU’s opponent —
Seton Hall’s general info
Location: South Orange, New Jersey
Enrollment: 10,000
Founded: 1856
Founder: James Roosevelt Bayley, a Catholic bishop who named the school after his aunt Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
First basketball season: 1903-04
All-time record: 1,571 wins, 1,118 losses, 2 ties
Nickname: Pirates
Colors: Blue and white
Conference: Big East
Basketball facts
2021-22 record: 21-10
Coach: Kevin Willard, 12th season
About the coach: Willard, who is reportedly a strong candidate to become Maryland’s next coach, is the school’s second all-time winningest coach with a career record of 225-160. The all-time winningest coach is John “Honey” Russell, who was 294-129.
Willard’s tournament resume: This will be the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance for Willard. He’s gone 1-4 in the Big Dance during his career, advancing to the second-round in the 2018 tournament. The Pirates were an 8-seed that year, knocking off NC State in the first round before falling to 1-seed Kansas.
Seton Hall’s NCAA Tournament history: This is the 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for Seton Hall. The Pirates have reached the Final Four once in their history with a runner-up finish to Michigan in 1989.
NBA players: The Pirates have had 27 players play in the NBA, including two currently in the league: Myles Powell of the Philadelphia 76ers and Sandro Mamukelashvili of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Notable alum: Samuel Dalembert, a 2001 first-round pick, played the most NBA games of any Seton Hall product. He played in 886 career games during a career that stretched from 2001-15, including a stint with the Dallas Mavericks (2013-14).
Pirates to watch
Seton Hall, which had won six straight before falling to UConn in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, will likely go as far as senior wing Jared Rhoden and sophomore guard Kadary Richmond can carry it.
Rhoden is the team’s leading scorer with 15.9 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. He earned first-team All-Big East honors this season.
Richmond is averaging 9.0 points per game. He’s flashed the ability to go on a scoring streak, evident by putting up 27 points in 27 minutes in an overtime victory over UConn on Jan. 8.
Common opponents
Even though this is the first meeting between Seton Hall and TCU, the programs have faced a couple of common opponents this season.
Trying to use those games to predict how the March Madness game may unfold is foolish — but we’ll do it anyways.
Seton Hall went 3-0 against Georgetown this season. The Pirates won 70-63 at Georgetown; 73-68 at home; and 57-53 in the Big East Tournament. TCU, meanwhile, faced Georgetown in the Big 12 / Big East Challenge. The Frogs won that game, 80-73, in Washington, D.C.
So ... the Frogs and Pirates both have seven-point road victories at Georgetown this season. Surely that means we’re destined for an overtime game on Friday, right?
Along with Georgetown, the other common opponent is Texas. Seton Hall had a 64-60 victory in non-conference play over Texas. TCU’s last victory was rallying from a 20-point deficit to knock off Texas in the Big 12 Tournament. But the Frogs were swept by the Longhorns in the regular-season series.
Again, the common opponents offer little clarity or insight on how this game will go down.
The line
It’s no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have this matchup close to a pick ‘em with Seton Hall listed as a 1/2-point favorite, per VegasInsiders.com on Monday morning. The over/under was set at 129.5.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 1:07 PM.
