RTC Live returns to North Jersey this evening for some early Big East action, with the Seton Hall Pirates hosting West Virginia.
Game #60. The West Virginia Mountaineers (10-3, 1-0) will look to win their second straight Big East game when they visit the Seton Hall Pirates (11-2, 0-1) at the Prudential Center tonight. West Virginia notched its first Big East win on Wednesday night, beating Villanova 83-69 in Morgantown. Bob Huggins’ team was paced by senior guard Truck Bryant’s career-high 34 points in the win. As for Seton Hall, the Pirates were shellacked by top-ranked Syracuse on Wednesday, 75-49. The Hall shot 31.7% for the game, including a putrid 18% in the first half. Syracuse’s Fab Melo had his way with Seton Hall’s interior players, including Herb Pope, one of the better forwards in the Big East. Averaging a double-double, Pope was held to four points and nine rebounds by the bigger and more athletic Orange front line. Kevin Willard’s team will look to get back on track tonight on their home floor in what is a rather important game for both teams. With Connecticut coming to Newark next week, Seton Hall can’t afford a slow start to conference play if it wants to make a run at the NCAA Tournament. There is a chance West Virginia may end up being a bubble team and winning these types of swing games will end up being important two months from now. There are two high quality matchups to look forward to in this game. The first features the top two rebounders in the Big East going at it on the low block, Pope and Kevin Jones. The second features Bryant up against ex-AAU teammate Jordan Theodore at the point guard position. All four of those players are seniors hoping to lead relatively young teams to the big dance. That mix should make for a terrific night of basketball in New Jersey.
Join us just before the 9:00 PM eastern tip to follow along with RTC Live as you watch the game live on ESPN2.