Soft Pretzel Logic

I call it an upset, and listening to Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez I think he thought it was one too.

But the Pirates dominated this game from start to finish, routing Virginia, 74-60, to win the Independence Bracket of the Philly Classic.

Neither team shot well, but it sure seemed like Seton Hall made all the big shots. The Pirates were 25-for-69 from the field (36.2%), 7-for-23 from three-point range (30.4%) and 17-for-25 from the line (68.0%) for an average of 1.09 points per possession. Nine assists to a mere six turnovers, 43 rebounds (19 offensive) and 16 fouls committed.

The Cavaliers shot 20-for-61 from the field (32.8%), 7-for-28 from three (25.0%) and 13-for-18 from the line (72.2%) for an average of 0.92 points per possession. Twelve assists to 16 turnovers, 50 rebounds (20 offensive) and 21 fouls committed.

That three-point percentage tells a lot of the tale, even with all the rebounds. Adrian Joseph, who torched Penn last night, did next to nothing tonight -- six points on 2-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Sean Singletary tried awfully hard to put the team on his back, but I can't help thinking he did too much. He doesn't get the line of the game, but it's worth posting anyway:

Laing does get the line of the game, as well MVP honors for the bracket. The minutes played might be as impressive as the points total:

The play of the game was a bit tough this time, but I think this one sums up the night pretty well. With 14:44 gone in the second half, Virginia's Mamadi Diane knocked Seton Hall's Jeremy Hazell to the floor as Hazell fired up a three-pointer.

The shot hit nothing but net, and although Hazell missed the free throw it was one of those moments where you just figured it wasn't the Cavaliers' game.

Because it's the last game of this tournament, a few more quotes than usual. First from Virginia coach Dave Leitao:

"What I thought might be a game that might be wide open, they decided to make into a little bit of a backyard kind of game and really took the game from being pretty and just came after us on both ends." -- Leitao on Seton Hall's style.

"We played defense over 80 minutes in this tournament for about seven."

And a bunch from Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez:

“Just tell him to call it both ways. He’s going with the chalk. He knows that Virginia’s favored.” -- Gonzalez to the referees with 6:20 left in the first half.

"They’re going to treat him like Michael Jordan. Just stay in front of him.” – Gonzalez gives instructions to Paul Gause on how to guard Sean Singletary.

Finally, this one from after the game. I didn't know until tonight that Gonzalez's wife was pregnant to the point of expecting, but someone asked about it, and Gonzalez replied: "Now that we beat Virginia, I’m going to tell her that it’s okay for her to have the baby."

So that wraps it up from a very long two days of basketball at the Palestra. Thanks to all of you who've read along with the coverage. Time to get some sleep.