Back in the Big Dance for the first time in a decade, the Seton Hall Pirates closed the regular season by winning 12 of their last 14 games, including a scorching performance in the Big East tournament. Kevin Willard's Pirates are young, hungry, and have one of the best players in the country in Isaiah Whitehead. Can the Hall string together a couple of wins and continue its surge into the second weekend?
ESPN Insider has your answers, as Joe Lunardi has enlisted a team of Bracketologists to compile advanced metrics, key scouting intel and best- and worst-case tournament scenarios for all 68 teams to help you make smart picks in your bracket.
TOURNEY PROFILE
Best wins: Wichita State, at Marquette, at Providence, Xavier
Worst losses: Long Beach State
Regular season conference finish: 3rd, Big East
Polls and metrics: Seton Hall has received votes in both Top 25 poll and sits inside the top 40 of the BPI.
All-time tourney record: 15-9, one Final Four and one title game appearance.
Coach's tourney record: Kevin Willard (0-0)
Bracketology chart | BPI information
PERSONNEL
(Note: Player statistics are through games of March 6.)
STARTING LINEUP
F Angel Delgado (10.2 PPG, 9.7 RPG)
F Desi Rodriguez (12.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG)
F Ismael Sanogo (4.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG)
G Khadeen Carrington (13.9 PPG, 2.5 APG)
G Isaiah Whitehead (17.9 PPG, 4.9 APG)
Key Bench Players
G Derrick Gordon (7.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG)
F Michael Nzei (3.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG)
G/F Veer Singh (2.3 PPG, 1.3 RPG
Biggest strength: The Pirates are a ferocious rebounding team led by Delgao, a double-double machine and Big East Rookie of the Year. Seton Hall hits the glass at both ends of the floor and limits the 3-point line for opponents with some of the most aggressive man-to-man in the country. That's all before we mention a well-balanced offense paced by first team All-Big East selection Whitehead.
Biggest weakness: The Pirates don't always take the best care of the basketball and are a below-average foul shooting team. Turnovers and free throw percentage are a good pair of places to look if they happen to make an early exit. Experience also matters. The Hall has one of the top 30 youngest teams in the country in an event that tends to reward teams with talented upperclassmen.
Best player: Whitehead. The explosive sophomore guard rolls into the Big Dance playing perhaps the best basketball of his career. He's the Pirates' top 3-point shooter, is even better from mid-range, and has no problem finishing in traffic. The Brooklyn native and product of Stephon Marbury's high school alma mater -- Lincoln High in Brooklyn -- can also distribute the ball with the best of them. Expect him to embrace the bright lights and big stage.
X factor: Delgado. If you examine the Pirates' losses more closely, you'll see that they're at their best when he's more involved. It's rare that the Hall doesn't win when the former Big East Rookie of the Year posts a double-double. If Seton Hall advances, chances are he's played a big role.
SCOUTING REPORT
Offensive approach: The Pirates use dribble-penetration from the likes of Whitehead and Carrington to help open things up. They like to run when the opportunity presents itself and crash the offensive glass like madmen with two of the best in the country in Delgado and Sanogo.
Defensive approach: Seton Hall plays almost exclusively man-to-man and does a great job forcing turnovers with some of the most efficient defense in all of Division I. Five different players average at least a steal per game including top defender and UMass transfer Gordon.
How they beat you: The offense starts and ends with Whitehead. Delgado and Rodriguez are nice complementary pieces, but the Pirates' success in March comes down to the super sophomore's ability to score consistently. If teams happen to pay too much attention to him, there are plenty of viable options waiting to step up.
How you beat them: Seton Hall doesn't take a ton of 3s, so cutting off its interior presence and forcing the Pirates to knock down shots from the perimeter is a good start. Butler was able to beat the Hall twice by getting to the foul line a ton and capitalizing on its looks from the perimeter. The fact that the Pirates don't shoot well from the foul line also makes them vulnerable in late-game situations.
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY
(Note: All statistics in this section are courtesy of kenpom.com and are accurate through games of March 6.)
NATIONAL RANKS
Offensive efficiency, 68th (110.1)
Defensive efficiency, 14th (94.3)
3-point percentage, 156th (35.0)
3-point percentage D, 35th (31.7)
Free throw rate, 91st (40.0)
Free throw rate D, 100th (33.7)
TO percentage, 234th (19.6)
TO percentage D, 90th (19.4)
Good stat: 94.3 defensive efficiency
Seton Hall does an excellent job of defending both the interior and the perimeter, so much so that the nation's 14th most efficient defense resides in South Orange. The basketball gods seem to reward those who can get stops down the stretch in the dance, a quality that Coach Willard's team certainly possesses.
Bad stat: 19.0 turnover percentage
The Pirates are prone to occasional lapses with the basketball -- so much so that they give it up on one out of every five possessions. It's not terrible but does rank in the bottom half of Division I. Taking care of the basketball is vital to sticking around beyond the first weekend and something the Pirates will have to clean up if they want to do so.
HOW FAR WILL THEY GO?
Best-case scenario: Elite Eight
The Pirates play in a conference where most nights are an all-out war. They've already faced two top-five teams in the Big East, so there isn't much the NCAA field can throw at them that Willard's team hasn't already seen. Their balance and hard-nosed team defense, combined with Whitehead's big-play ability, make them a candidate to seriously bust someone's bracket.
Worst-case scenario: Second-round exit
Willard's guys are playing too well right now to get picked off in their first matchup. The Pirates could, however, run into someone capable of slowing down Whitehead in the next round. If an opponent is able to do that and limit their second-chance opportunities on the glass, the Hall will head home by the end of the opening weekend.