Seton Hall

Fed up by his antics on and off the court, Seton Hall fired basketball Coach Bobby Gonzalez on Wednesday after a 19-win season. The dismissal came roughly 12 hours after the coach known as "Gonzo" endured an 87-69 loss in the opening round of the NIT, a game in which Seton Hall forward Herb Pope was ejected for hitting a Texas Tech player below the belt and Gonzalez picked up his seventh technical foul of the season. "Performance and success are not measured solely by wins and losses, but also in the conduct of those associated with the program," said Patrick Hobbs, the university law school dean who has been overseeing the athletic department since July.

The two conferences growing out of the old Big East are moving forward. Butler, Creighton and Xavier will join the so-called Catholic 7 schools in the new basketball conference keeping the Big East name, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement will not take place until Wednesday, when it will be made in conjunction with a news conference on the league's broadcast deal with Fox. Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, Marquette and DePaul left to form a new league for next season.

Svetlana Abrosimova scored 31 points and No. 2 Connecticut rebounded from its first loss of the season to Tennessee three days earlier by routing Seton Hall, 101-41, Wednesday night at Storrs, Conn. It was the second time in eight days the Huskies (14-1, 7-0 Big East) and Pirates (5-10, 2-5) have met. UConn won last week at Seton Hall, 84-56. OTHER GAMES Angie Braziel had 29 points and 17 rebounds and Rene Hanebutt made two free throws in the final seconds to lead No.

Fed up by his antics on and off the court, Seton Hall fired basketball Coach Bobby Gonzalez on Wednesday after a 19-win season. The dismissal came roughly 12 hours after the coach known as "Gonzo" endured an 87-69 loss in the opening round of the NIT, a game in which Seton Hall forward Herb Pope was ejected for hitting a Texas Tech player below the belt and Gonzalez picked up his seventh technical foul of the season. "Performance and success are not measured solely by wins and losses, but also in the conduct of those associated with the program," said Patrick Hobbs, the university law school dean who has been overseeing the athletic department since July.

Donald Copeland scored Seton Hall's last seven points over the final 1:56 and the Pirates ended No. 8 Pittsburgh's 16-game home winning streak with a 65-61 victory Friday night that greatly improved their NCAA tournament chances. Aaron Gray missed two free throws with 8.5 seconds left that would have tied it for Pittsburgh (21-6, 10-6 Big East), and Copeland followed several seconds later with two free throws to deal the Panthers their second consecutive loss and third in four games.

Andre Barrett wouldn't let Seton Hall lose to No. 4 Pittsburgh on Monday night. The senior point guard had 20 points, including the winning free throw with 9.6 seconds left in the second overtime, six assists and no turnovers in 49 minutes in the Pirates' 68-67 victory. Barrett had five of the seven points that Seton Hall, 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the Big East, scored in the second overtime as the Pirates won their fifth of six and improved to 11-1 at home. "I knew he had pushed me.

Seton Hall will not participate in any athletic events the remainder of this week because of the dormitory fire that killed three students in South Orange, N.J. The Big East Conference school said Thursday that among the events postponed were the men's basketball game at No. 6 Syracuse on Saturday and a women's home game Saturday, also against Syracuse. It was not known when they would be rescheduled. * Private negotiations in Hillsborough, N.C.

Seton Hall, coming off its first loss, was primed for an upset, but the No. 9 Pirates scrambled and scratched at the end and beat winless Pennsylvania, 80-78, Wednesday night at East Rutherford, N.J. Samuel Dalembert made a big defensive play with 10 seconds to play, then scored off an alley-oop pass from Ty Shine with 3.9 seconds left to give the Pirates the victory.

Seton Hall center Damian Dawkins will miss the remainder of the season after experiencing dizziness and headaches. The 6-foot-10 freshman hasn't played since fainting during practice Dec. 4, said sports information director Marie Wozniak. Doctors at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York said the problem may be related to an irregular heartbeat or an enlarged heart. Dawkins played in the team's first five games this season, scoring 16 points with 19 rebounds.

Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said he thinks his team won't be awed at playing Big East Conference champion Seton Hall in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Waves (22-8), the West Coast Conference champion and the No. 14 seeded team in the NCAA West Regional, will meet Seton Hall (also 22-8) on Thursday at the Jon Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. Seton Hall may be tough, Asbury said, "but that's all right. I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Rk. Team Rec. Result Next 1. TEXAS 17-2 Did not play Texas Tech, Wednesday 2. KENTUCKY 19-0 Did not play at South Carolina, Tuesday 3. KANSAS 18-1 Did not play Missouri, today 4. VILLANOVA 18-1 Did not play Notre Dame, Wednesday 5. SYRACUSE 19-1 Did not play No. 12 Georgetown, today ...

1. Kansas 11-0 (1): The Jayhawks shot 73.1% in the second half of a victory against California. 2. Texas 11-0 (2): Forward Damion James looked invincible against Michigan State. 3. Kentucky 13-0 (3): All eyes will be on the Bluegrass State on Saturday when Kentucky plays host to Louisville. 4. Syracuse 12-0 (4): The Orange starts Big East Conference play Tuesday at Seton Hall. 5. Purdue 11-0 (5): Coach Matt Painter is enjoying his longest winning streak.

Eric Devendorf scored all but one of his 19 points in a technical-filled second half and No. 18 Syracuse pulled away for an 89-74 victory over Seton Hall on Wednesday night in the second round of the Big East tournament at New York. Jonny Flynn had 19 points and 11 assists for the sixth-seeded Orange (24-8), which will face third-seeded and third-ranked Connecticut in the quarterfinals tonight.

Jeremy Hazell scored 17 points and Eugene Harvey made a free throw with five seconds remaining to help Seton Hall upend No. 19 USC, 63-61, in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament Thursday night. After Harvey missed his second free throw, USC's Daniel Hackett missed a three-pointer at the buzzer to secure the win for Seton Hall Harvey scored 16 and had a team-high five assists for the Pirates (3-0), who overcame a 43-28 halftime deficit to pull off the upset.

Two former roommates who set a dormitory fire that killed three students at Seton Hall University were sentenced to five years in prison in Newark after listening to the victims' relatives reject their apologies and call them murderers and cowards. Joseph T. LePore and Sean Ryan, both 26, pleaded guilty to arson for setting fire to a banner in a lounge on Jan. 19, 2000. The flames spread to a couch, filling the dorm with smoke.

Any search for a soccer guru in the United States invariably ends at Seton Hall in South Orange, N.J., where Coach Manfred Schellscheidt has held sway for 18 years. He's 65 now, but the German-born former U.S. national team and Olympic team coach is as influential as ever. Schellscheidt is the coach other coaches turn to for help and advice. They also turn to him for players. Chivas USA is no exception.

Darius Lane scored 26 points and Eddie Griffin had 21 points and 10 rebounds Sunday as No. 11 Seton Hall beat Central Connecticut State, 84-73, at East Rutherford, N.J. But Seton Hall Coach Tommy Amaker wants to see more intensity from his talented team once the Big East Conference schedule starts. Seton Hall, which opens Big East play against Providence on Wednesday, saw its 18-point lead trimmed to five late in the game.

Seton Hall Coach Tommy Amaker said his team was at a crossroads last week after its loss to Georgetown and Syracuse next on the schedule. With freshman forward Eddie Griffin coming within two blocked shots of a triple-double, the No. 18 Pirates made it through the trouble, defeating the No. 8 Orangemen, 77-65, Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J. "I think the kids sensed it and we saw that kind of effort," Amaker said, referring to how important he thought the game was.

Seton Hall fired coach Louis Orr on Friday, a little more than a week after the Pirates lost by 20 points in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Orr was 80-69 in five seasons and had two years left on his contract. Athletic Director Joe Quinlan cited recruiting and management of the basketball program as two areas of disagreement. Orr had been criticized for not having a better recruiting record in the New York-New Jersey area. Seton Hall has no recruits signed for next season.