3. Seton Hall Pirates (13-9, 10-6 Big East)
Currently on the bubble with an odd NCAA Tournament resume is the Seton Hall Pirates which are currently third in the Big East Conference but have yet to win against a ranked opponent. The Pirates are the only team in the conference to lose five games against AP Top 25 opponents and are 0-5 versus the Top 25.
Seton Hall was swept by both Villanova and Creighton and also lost by 13 to nationally ranked Oregon in early-December.
The reason why the Pirates are still on the bubble and not out of the NCAA Tournament picture is that Seton Hall has won the games that they needed to win in the conference. The Pirates have a road win, 80-73 at UConn and a road win at Xavier by 17 points.
However, on Saturday, Seton Hall’s NCAA Tournament resume took a major hit when they lost at Georgetown 81-75. The Pirates defense has struggled all season long with defending the perimeter and is currently ninth in the conference allowing opponents to shoot 38 percent from three-point range.
On Saturday, the Pirates perimeter defense once again had a tough time defending the Hoyas. Georgetown shot 10-for-16 from three-point range (62.5 percent) despite 18 total turnovers by the Hoyas.
Senior forward, Sandro Mamukelashvili (18.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.2 apg), scored 22 points in the loss on Saturday. Mamukelashvili is currently in the running for the Big East Conference Player of the Year. He is second in the conference in scoring behind Julian Champagnie of St. John’s.
The last three games on the schedule are massive for Seton Hall to take to improve their NCAA Tournament chances. The Pirates cannot afford to lose against on the road at Butler and St. John’s as those two games will hurt their tournament chances the most.
Up next for Seton Hall will be a road matchup at Butler on Wednesday. The Pirates will then host UConn on Wednesday, March 3rd before closing out the conference season at St. John’s on Saturday, March 6th.