WICHITA, Kan. — Fear? Intimidation? Nerves?
Seton Hall laughed off the mere idea of such notions.
Top-seeded Kansas is favored and will be playing a virtual home game Saturday night at Intrust Bank Arena (its campus is a little more than 150 miles away), but the eighth-seeded Pirates have played in hostile environments against top-ranked teams before. They faced No. 1 seeds Xavier and Villanova on the road this year.
Seton Hall won’t be just happy to be there, after winning an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in 14 years, topping No. 9 North Carolina State on Thursday. Kevin Willard’s team believes the Sweet 16 is attainable. Hall of Fame coach Bill Self and National Player of the Year candidate Devonte’ Graham and Kansas’ 14 straight Big 12 regular-season titles don’t scare them.
“I think we match [up] with them really good,” senior forward Angel Delgado said. “We don’t have [anything] to lose.”
“We’ve seen teams like that in the Big East,” fellow senior Desi Rodriguez added.
“We’re just going to come out here and compete and battle, and I feel like if we give it our all, we can come out there and beat them,” defensive-minded senior forward Ismael Sanogo said. “I’m pretty sure a lot of people had North Carolina State winning, too.”
Frequently, the underdog has the crowd’s full support in the NCAA Tournament, but that won’t be the case for senior-heavy Seton Hall.
According to a Vivid Seats spokesman, the state of Kansas has accounted for 71 percent of tickets sold and another 5 percent have come from Missouri. The New York City area has accounted for only 2 ¹/₂ percent of the site traffic and less than 1 percent of ticket sales for the game. The building was basically full when Kansas practiced Wednesday. You can’t go anywhere in Wichita without seeing Jayhawks blue.
“I expect it to be real loud,” senior guard Khadeen Carrington said. “You know the fans are going to be into it. Their team is going to be into it. But we’re going to be into it, also.”
Kansas (28-7) showed Seton Hall (22-11) plenty of respect, comparing the Pirates to Big 12 rival West Virginia, a fifth seed in the East Region, because of their physicality and rebounding acumen. Self said the Pirates would fit in well in the Big 12 and will be a challenge for his perimeter-oriented team. Most of their focus centered on Delgado, the Big East’s all-time leading rebounder. The Big 12 regular season and postseason champions can be hurt in the paint and on the glass — Kansas was ninth in their league in defensive rebounding percentage at 68.8 — especially with stud big man Udoka Azubuike (knee) unlikely to be a difference maker after returning Thursday with three insignificant minutes.
“That’ll be a big key in trying to neutralize them, because on paper that would obviously be a strength for them,” Self said.
Willard, in his eighth season as Seton Hall coach, stressed the importance of hitting the offensive glass, but he also knows it can lead to easy opportunities for Kansas in transition. That’s a concern for the Pirates — containing the explosive Kansas guards, led by Graham, the Big 12 Player of the Year and Naismith Award finalist, and limiting their 3-point looks. They shoot 40.3 percent from 3-point range, tied for the 12th-highest mark in the country, while Seton Hall perimeter defense has been an issue at times.
“They get a lot of 3s in transition,” Delgado said. “If we play good transition defense, I think we’re going to be able to give them a hard time [on Saturday].”
Willard woke his players up early on Friday for a walkthrough and two film sessions before they met the media mid-afternoon. As a result, he had a cranky bunch on his hands, he joked. The idea was to get them ready to play another game right away after having a week off following the Big East Tournament. But it was also a message that there is work left to be done.
It may not have been needed to be sent. Even after the win over N.C. State, the celebration was somewhat tame. The Pirates didn’t travel to Wichita to win just one game. They talked about the excitement of getting a crack at Kansas and leading the program to its first Sweet 16 since 2000.
“This is what March,” Sanogo said, “is all about.”
Seton Hall’s three keys to victory
Force-feed Angel Delgado: Kansas will look to take away the physical senior forward, which should create plenty of opportunities for his teammates. But Seton Hall has to run its offense through him and force the Jayhawks to send extra defenders. With star big man Udoka Azubuike not likely to make an impact on a bad knee, Kansas has no one who can handle the Big East’s all-time leading rebounder in the paint one-on-one. It’s a mismatch the Pirates have to take advantage of.
Get Myles Powell going from deep: Seton Hall likely won’t win without the sophomore finding his stroke from deep. As well as he played against North Carolina State, scoring 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds, the Trenton native went 1-for-7 from deep and is 9-for-45 from 3-point land over the last five games. Powell needs to get going from the outside to extend the Kansas defense, and open up the paint and create driving lanes for his teammates.
Defend the 3: Kansas features three players — Devonte’ Graham, Malik Newman and Sviatoslav “Svi” Mykhailiuk — who shoot over 40 percent from 3-point range. As a team, the Jayhawks make 40.3 of their attempts from deep. Man-to-man defense and staying at home will be key to prevent open looks from the perimeter.