# 2015–16 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team represented Seton Hall University in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Pirates played home games in Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center, with one exhibition and one regular season game at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey. They were coached, for the sixth year, by Kevin Willard. They were members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 12–6 in Big East play to finish in third place. They defeated Creighton, Xavier, and the eventual national champion Villanova to become champions of the Big East tournament. They received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Gonzaga.

## Previous season

The Pirates finished the season 16–15, 6-12 in Big East play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the first round of the Big East tournament to Marquette.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Brandon Mobley | 2 | F | 6'9" | 225 | Senior | Savannah, GA | Graduated |
| Sterling Gibbs | 4 | G | 6'2" | 185 | RS Junior | Scotch Plains, NJ | Graduate transferred to Connecticut |
| Haralds Kārlis | 13 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Senior | Riga, Latvia | Graduated |
| Cheir Ajou | 42 | C | 7'1" | 245 | RS Junior | Aweil, South Sudan | Transferred to Texas Wesleyan |
| Stephane Manga | 45 | F | 6'6" | 220 | Senior | Orléans, France | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jevon Thomas | 2 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Junior | Queens, NY | Transferred from Kansas State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Thomas will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Braeden Anderson | 4 | F | 6'9" | 225 | RS Junior | Okotoks, AB | Transferred from Fresno State. Will be eligible to play immediately since Anderson graduated from Fresno State. |
| Derrick Gordon | 32 | G | 6'3" | 205 | RS Senior | Plainfield, NJ | Transferred from Massachusetts. Will be eligible to play immediately since Gordon graduated from Massachusetts. |

## Incoming recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Amarveer Singh SF | New Orleans, LA | Thurgood Marshall High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Mar 2, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Myles Carter SF | Chicago, IL | Saint Rita High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 221 lb (100 kg) | Mar 23, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Dalton Soffer SG | San Diego, CA | Poway High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Nov 12, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 67 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 6, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 31, 2015* 12:00 pm | | Baruch | W 84–79 | | Walsh Gymnasium (1,073) South Orange, NJ |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 13, 2015* 7:00 pm, FSN | | Dartmouth | W 84–67 | 1–0 | Prudential Center (6,114) Newark, NJ |
| Nov 15, 2015* 1:30 pm, FS1 | | Wagner | W 69–59 | 2–0 | Walsh Gymnasium (1,800) South Orange, NJ |
| Nov 19, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Long Beach State Charleston Classic quarterfinals | L 77–80 | 2–1 | TD Arena (3,437) Charleston, SC |
| Nov 20, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Bradley Charleston Classic consolation round | W 67–59 | 3–1 | TD Arena (2,820) Charleston, SC |
| Nov 21, 2015* 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Ole Miss Charleston Classic 5th place game | W 75–63 | 4–1 | TD Arena (1,553) Charleston, SC |
| Nov 28, 2015* 7:30 pm, FS1 | | Georgia | W 69–62 | 5–1 | Prudential Center (6,553) Newark, NJ |
| Dec 2, 2015* 7:00 pm, ASN | | at George Washington | L 64–72 | 5–2 | Charles E. Smith Center (2,280) Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 5, 2015* 12:00 pm, ESPNews | | at Rutgers Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic | W 84–55 | 6–2 | The RAC (5,631) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 10, 2015* 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Troy | W 78–69 | 7–2 | Prudential Center (5,549) Newark, NJ |
| Dec 13, 2015* 2:30 pm, FS1 | | Saint Peter's | W 72–64 | 8–2 | Prudential Center (6,433) Newark, NJ |
| Dec 19, 2015* 12:00 pm, FOX | | Wichita State | W 80–76 $^{OT}$ | 9–2 | Prudential Center (7,596) Newark, NJ |
| Dec 22, 2015* 6:30 pm, FS2 | | South Florida | W 66–49 | 10–2 | Prudential Center (5,700) Newark, NJ |
| Big East Regular Season ||||||
| Dec 30, 2015 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Marquette | W 83–63 | 11–2 (1–0) | BMO Harris Bradley Center (13,314) Milwaukee, WI |
| Jan 2, 2016 11 am, FS1 | | DePaul Big East New Year's Marathon | W 78–74 | 12–2 (2–0) | Prudential Center (8,201) Newark, NJ |
| Jan 6, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at No. 11 Villanova | L 63–72 | 12–3 (2–1) | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA |
| Jan 9, 2016 2:00 pm, FS1 | | Creighton | L 67–82 | 12–4 (2–2) | Prudential Center (8,010) Newark, NJ |
| Jan 16, 2016 4:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 12 Providence | W 81–72 | 13–4 (3–2) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,148) Providence, RI |
| Jan 20, 2016 9:00 pm, CBSSN | | No. 4 Villanova | L 71–72 | 13–5 (3–3) | Prudential Center (8,788) Newark, NJ |
| Jan 23, 2016 2:00 pm, FSN | | at No. 5 Xavier | L 76–84 | 13–6 (3–4) | Cintas Center (10,368) Cincinnati, OH |
| Jan 27, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1 | | St. John's | W 79–60 | 14–6 (4–4) | Prudential Center (6,767) Newark, NJ |
| Jan 30, 2016 8:00 pm, FSN | | at Creighton | W 75–65 | 15–6 (5–4) | CenturyLink Center (17,927) Omaha, NE |
| Feb 3, 2016 8:30 pm, FS1 | | Marquette | W 79–62 | 16–6 (6–4) | Prudential Center (6,008) Newark, NJ |
| Feb 6, 2016 9:05 pm, CBSSN | | Georgetown | W 69–61 | 17–6 (7–4) | Prudential Center (9,167) Newark, NJ |
| Feb 10, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Butler | L 75–81 | 17–7 (7–5) | Prudential Center (7,476) Newark, NJ |
| Feb 17, 2016 9:15 pm, FS1 | | at Georgetown | W 72–64 | 18–7 (8–5) | Verizon Center (5,278) Washington, D.C. |
| Feb 21, 2016 12:00 pm, FS1 | | at St. John's | W 62–61 | 19–7 (9–5) | Madison Square Garden (13,204) New York City, NY |
| Feb 25, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Providence | W 70–52 | 20–7 (10–5) | Prudential Center (8,600) Newark, NJ |
| Feb 28, 2016 12:30 pm, FS1 | | No. 5 Xavier | W 90–81 | 21–7 (11–5) | Prudential Center (10,353) Newark, NJ |
| Mar 2, 2016 8:30 pm, FS1 | | at Butler | L 78–85 | 21–8 (11–6) | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,392) Indianapolis, IN |
| Mar 5, 2016 12:00 pm, FSN | | at DePaul | W 80–66 | 22–8 (12–6) | Allstate Arena (5,954) Rosemont, IL |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 2016 9:30 pm, FS1 | (3) | vs. (6) Creighton Quarterfinals | W 81–73 | 23–8 | Madison Square Garden (13,813) New York City, NY |
| Mar 11, 2016 9:00 pm, FS1 | (3) | vs. (2) No. 5 Xavier Semifinals | W 87–83 | 24–8 | Madison Square Garden (17,130) New York City, NY |
| Mar 12, 2016 5:30 pm, FOX | (3) | vs. (1) No. 3 Villanova Championship | W 69–67 | 25–8 | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York City, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 2016* 9:57 pm, truTV | (6 MW) No. 20 | vs. (11 MW) Gonzaga First Round | L 52–68 | 25–9 | Pepsi Center (19,500) Denver, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV=Received votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | NR | NR | RV | RV | 20 | N/A |
| Coaches | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | NR | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 21 | RV |