Seton Hall crushes Providence in 1st round

Seton Hall is what college basketball might call a Major Mid, afforded more respect for its power-conference membership than its own Big Dance potential. But, after Tuesday night's thorough 79-47 first-round Big East Tournament victory over Providence, Seton Hall could be one win away from an NCAA Tournament berth.

That win might not seem especially likely Wednesday night at 7 against No. 7 seed Louisville. But if Seton Hall (20-11) can again find the silver-bullet shooting touch it showed Providence -- at one point late in the second half, Seton Hall's field- goal percentage was just under 60 -- there could be room for this team that survived a six-game January swoon.

All Seton Hall had to overcome last night was an immediate 9-0 hole, which it followed by scoring 21 of the next 24 points. Its lead still was growing past 30 points in the final minutes as coach Kevin Willard cleared his bench.

Point guard Jordan Theodore, that rare specimen in modern major-college hoops known as a senior, showed the way for Seton Hall with 13 points and 13 assist; fellow senior Herb Pope and freshman Brandon Mobley scored 16 apiece and sophomore Fuquan Edwin added 12.

A narrow nine-point winner over Providence (15-17) earlier in the season, Seton Hall finished Tuesday night with a fiery 56-percent field-goal percentage, including 9-for-19 on three pointers, while Providence shot 26.8 percent from the field, 4-for-21 on threes. Freshman LaDontae Henton led Providence with 14 points.

So perhaps the worst is over for Seton Hall, which had been rolling along at 15-2, 4-1, when it went into a monthlong tailspin beginning Jan. 13. After briefly righting itself by winning four straight, it had two bad losses to Rutgers and DePaul to end the regular season.

Villanova 70, Rutgers 49: Maalik Wayns scored 28 points and Villanova (13-18) opened the second half with a 12-2 run and limited Rutgers (14-18) to one basket in the final eight minutes.-- AP