Isaiah Whitehead puts on a show as Seton Hall moves closer to NCAA Tournament bid
All Rodriguez had to do was lay it in for an easy two points.
“I mean, it’s just basketball instincts, to tell you the truth,” the former McDonald’s All-American from Brooklyn Lincoln High School said. “I saw Desi relocate on the baseline and I just tried to get it to him anyway possible and that was the perfect way.”
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Whitehead’s breathtaking pass — which should make SportsCenter — highlighted a brilliant performance in which he went for 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and just 2 turnovers as Seton Hall handled a depleted Providence team, 70-52 at Prudential Center. Whitehead went 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and was one point short of his career-high.
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According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Pirates (20-7, 10-5 Big East) entered the night as a No. 9 seed and would meet No. 8 UConn in Oklahoma City.
This victory guaranteed them a winning record in the Big East, which is usually a pretty good benchmark for the making the tournament, where Seton Hall hasn’t been since 2006.
Whitehead said he believes his team isn’t getting any respect nationally — and whether that’s true or not it’s fueling the Pirates, who have won three straight and 7-of-8.
“Those guys, they really don’t respect us a lot,” Whitehead said. “As long as we keep winning and winning and winning, there’s no way they can keep us out.”
He added: “We’ve won seven out of the last eight games and we really still didn’t get any big-time respect so our motto is win games and they can’t keep us out.”
Seton Hall remains in sole possession of third place in the Big East, behind only No. 1 Villanova and No. 5 Xavier, which are projected as a 1 and a 2 seed by Lunardi.
Still, Pirates coach Kevin Willard tried to play down the NCAA Tournament talk.
“We don’t talk about it, I don’t think about it,” Willard said. “I’m not on Twitter. We just gotta think about Xavier, Butler and DePaul, we got three tough games. I’m focused on the Big East Tournament and getting the best seed we can get.”
Next up is a monster test against No. 5 Xavier on Sunday. The Musketeers are coming off an upset of No. 1 Villanova on Wednesday night.
If Whitehead keeps playing like this, Seton Hall can dream big both in New York City for the Big East and beyond.
He was coming off a rough game on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, where he shot 1-for-12 for 10 points but did make the winning foul shots in a Seton Hall’s 62-61 win over St. John’s.
Still, in his last nine Big East games, he was averaging 17.7 points, 5.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds.
“Basically just stay confident,” he said. “I had some good big games before that [St. John’s] so it’s about staying confident with your game and keep playing the way I’ve been playing.”
Whitehead credits associate head coach Shaheen Holloway with teaching him about the point guard position after he was a natural two guard in high school.
“I really have to give big things to coach Sha,” he said. “He helped me out a lot and even when I go on the bench he’s telling me what I’m doing wrong, what I need to do more of. I really take that in when I get on the floor and try to fix those errors.”
Whitehead isn’t yet on the DraftExpress.com mock for 2016 or ’17, but if he keeps playing like this he can only help himself.
“He has a unique abilty when he’s playing the way he’s playing, he makes eveybody better but he makes it very simple for them,” Willard said.
Right now the goal for the Pirates is simple: Keep winning so there’s no way they can keep them out.
DUNN AILING, PROVIDENCE STUMBLING
While Seton Hall is peaking at just the right time, Providence has now lost 5-of-6 and fell to 19-9, 7-8 in the league.
Lunardi had the Friars as a 5 seed entering the night.
Kris Dunn, the preseason Big East Player of the Year, and teammate Rodney Bullock both hadn’t practiced in three days due to an illness. Dunn managed just 8 points on 4-for-12 shooting, while Bullock went 0-for-2 for 2 points.
“Him or Rodney haven’t practiced in three days,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “Just look at the way they played, had no energy. They tried. We need them in order to be a good basketball team, they just didn’t have it.
“Throwing up in the locker room, throwing up on the bench, they tried and that’s all I can ask of them.”
Said Willard of Dunn: “I gave him a big hug after the game. Kris Dunn is one of the best players in this conference. For him to go 4-for-12 he obviously wasn’t feeling good, but I’ll take it.”
Dunn’s declining play of late may impact his presumed Player of the Year candidacy.
Isaiah Whitehead, who doesn’t have a vote, said he’d vote for Providence’s Ben Bentil, who went for 31 before being ejected for a Flagant 2 for close-lining Rodriguez.
Willard, meantime, likes Villanova’s Josh Hart as Player of the Year.
“I am such a big Josh Hart fan,” he said. “I love his game.”
