# 1988–89 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team

The 1988–89 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team represented Seton Hall University as members of the Big East Conference during the 1988–89 NCAA men's basketball season. The Pirates were led by seventh year head coach P.J. Carlesimo. They played their home games at Walsh Gymnasium and Meadowlands Arena. Unranked to start the season, Seton Hall finished the season as national runner-up with a 31–7 overall record (11–5 in Big East play). As the No. 3 seed in the West Regional of the NCAA tournament, they defeated Southwest Missouri State, Evansville, Indiana, and UNLV to reach the Final Four. In the national semifinals, the Pirates dispatched Duke 95-78. The magical tournament run ended with an 80-79 overtime loss to Michigan in the National Championship Game.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| 11/25/88* 7:30 p.m. | | vs. Utah Great Alaska Shootout quarterfinals | W 86–68 | 1–0 | 22 – Morton | 12 – Ramos | 6 – Morton | Sullivan Arena (4,336) Anchorage, AK |
| 11/26/88* 4:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Kentucky Great Alaska Shootout semifinals | W 63–60 | 2–0 | 13 – Walker | 7 – Tied | 3 – Greene | Sullivan Arena (3,250) Anchorage, AK |
| 11/28/88* 11:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Kansas Great Alaska Shootout finals | W 92–81 | 3–0 | 18 – Gaze | 7 – Cooper | 7 – Wigington | Sullivan Arena (5,372) Anchorage, AK |
| 12/02/88* 6:30 p.m. | | Central Connecticut SHU Tipoff Tournament semifinals | W 81–42 | 4–0 | 22 – Morton | 10 – Ramos | 6 – Greene | Walsh Gymnasium (3,200) South Orange, NJ |
| 12/03/88* 8:30 p.m. | | Mount St. Mary's SHU Tipoff Tournament finals | W 107–75 | 5–0 | 21 – Gaze | 10 – Ramos | 6 – Gaze | Walsh Gymnasium (3,200) South Orange, NJ |
| 12/06/88* 8:00 p.m. | No. 20 | St. Peter's | W 90–63 | 6–0 | 17 – Morton | 9 – Ramos | 6 – Wigington | Walsh Gymnasium (3,200) South Orange, NJ |
| 12/10/88 9:30 p.m., ESPN | No. 20 | St. John's | W 74–63 | 7–0 (1–0) | 17 – Morton | 8 – Gaze | 6 – Greene | Alumni Hall (6,008) Jamaica, NY |
| 12/13/88* 8:00 p.m. | No. 17 | Rutgers | W 96–70 | 8–0 | 22 – Morton | 10 – Morton | 7 – Morton | Walsh Gymnasium (3,200) South Orange, NJ |
| 12/16/88* 8:00 p.m. | No. 17 | at Fordham | W 78–64 | 9–0 | 22 – Greene | 11 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Rose Hill Gym (3,115) Bronx, NY |
| 12/22/88* 8:00 p.m. | No. 15 | Princeton | W 64–46 | 10–0 | 16 – Morton | 8 – Walker | 4 – Greene | Walsh Gymnasium (3,200) South Orange, NJ |
| 12/28/88* 7:30 p.m. | No. 13 | vs. Virginia Sugar Bowl Tournament semifinals | W 84–67 | 11–0 | 18 – Morton | 10 – Ramos | 4 – Gaze | Louisiana Superdome (4,915) New Orleans, LA |
| 12/29/88* 10:00 p.m. | No. 13 | vs. DePaul Sugar Bowl Tournament finals | W 83–60 | 12–0 | 16 – Gaze | 12 – Avent | 6 – Greene | Louisiana Superdome (6,514) New Orleans, LA |
| 01/03/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 10 | No. 5 Georgetown | W 94–86 | 13–0 (2–0) | 20 – Tied | 17 – Walker | 5 – Tied | Meadowlands Arena (19,761) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 01/07/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 10 | at No. 2 Syracuse | L 66–90 | 13–1 (2–1) | 15 – Volcy | 6 – Walker | 6 – Greene | Carrier Dome (32,037) Syracuse, NY |
| 01/11/89* 8:00 p.m. | No. 13 | at Iona | W 74–58 | 14–1 | 18 – Morton | 11 – Walker | 6 – Greene | Westchester County Center (2,629) White Plains, NY |
| 01/14/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 13 | Connecticut | W 76–62 | 15–1 (3–1) | 21 – Walker | 10 – Avent | 4 – Greene | Meadowlands Arena (11,782) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 01/16/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 13 | Villanova | W 78–61 | 16–1 (4–1) | 22 – Morton | 8 – Walker | 5 – Morton | Meadowlands Arena (15,127) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 01/22/89* 1:00 p.m. | No. 12 | New Hampshire | W 108–67 | 17–1 | 20 – Tied | 10 – Avent | 9 – Greene | Walsh Gymnasium (3,200) South Orange, NJ |
| 01/25/89 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 9 | Pittsburgh | L 79–82 | 17–2 (4–2) | 23 – Greene | 9 – Ramos | 6 – Greene | Meadowlands Arena (10,975) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 01/28/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 9 | Boston College | W 103–79 | 18–2 (5–2) | 30 – Morton | 8 – Volcy | 10 – Greene | Meadowlands Arena (10,721) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 02/01/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 10 | at No. 6 Georgetown | L 66–74 | 18–3 (5–3) | 15 – Morton | 11 – Ramos | 7 – Greene | Capital Centre (14,185) Landover, MD |
| 02/04/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 10 | at Boston College | W 105–82 | 19–3 (6–3) | 20 – Morton | 13 – Ramos | 6 – Greene | Conte Forum (8,291) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| 02/06/89 7:30 p.m., ESPN | No. 10 | No. 14 Syracuse | L 79–85 | 19–4 (6–4) | 24 – Ramos | 10 – Ramos | 7 – Gaze | Meadowlands Arena (19,761) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 02/11/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 11 | at Villanova | W 83–77 | 20–4 (7–4) | 23 – Morton | 12 – Ramos | 5 – Greene | du Pont Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA |
| 02/15/89 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 12 | at Connecticut | W 72–69 | 21–4 (8–4) | 27 – Ramos | 8 – Gaze | 7 – Greene | Hartford Civic Center (15,122) Hartford, CT |
| 02/18/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 12 | at Pittsburgh | L 76–82 | 21–5 (8–5) | 25 – Ramos | 8 – Ramos | 6 – Greene | Fitzgerald Field House (6,798) Pittsburgh, PA |
| 02/21/89 8:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 15 | St. John's | W 63–60 | 22–5 (9–5) | 22 – Morton | 11 – Ramos | 3 – Ramos | Meadowlands Arena (13,126) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 02/25/89 1:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | No. 15 | Providence | W 84–80 | 23–5 (10–5) | 26 – Tied | 10 – Tied | 5 – Tied | Meadowlands Arena (14,147) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 03/01/89 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 12 | at Providence | W 80–68 | 24–5 (11–5) | 20 – Walker | 9 – Ramos | 7 – Greene | Providence Civic Center (12,733) Providence, RI |
| 03/05/89* 1:00 p.m. | No. 12 | Brooklyn College | W 88–55 | 25–5 | 15 – Morton | 11 – Ramos | 7 – Greene | Walsh Gymnasium (3,200) South Orange, NJ |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| 03/10/89* 12:00 p.m., Big East TV Network | (2) No. 11 | vs. (7) Connecticut Big East tournament quarterfinals | W 74–66 | 26–5 | 21 – Ramos | 10 – Walker | 8 – Greene | Madison Square Garden (19,591) New York City, NY |
| 03/11/89* 1:30 p.m., CBS | (2) No. 11 | vs. (3) No. 5 Syracuse Big East tournament semifinals | L 78–81 | 26–6 | 27 – Morton | 9 – Gaze | 6 – Greene | Madison Square Garden (19,591) New York City, NY |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| 03/17/89* 4:37 p.m., ESPN NCAA Productions | (W3) No. 11 | vs. (W14) SW Missouri State NCAA first round | W 60–51 | 27–6 | 26 – Morton | 6 – Walker | 4 – Gaze | McKale Center (12,787) Tucson, AZ |
| 03/19/89* 2:25 p.m., CBS | (W3) No. 11 | vs. (W11) Evansville NCAA second round | W 87–73 | 28–6 | 17 – Morton | 7 – Walker | 5 – Tied | McKale Center (13,391) Tucson, AZ |
| 03/23/89* 8:09 p.m., CBS | (W3) No. 11 | (W2) No. 8 Indiana NCAA regional semifinals | W 78–65 | 29–6 | 17 – Morton | 10 – Walker | 4 – Greene | McNichols Arena (16,813) Denver, CO |
| 03/25/89* 4:05 p.m., CBS | (W3) No. 11 | (W4) No. 15 UNLV NCAA Regional Final | W 84–61 | 30–6 | 19 – Gaze | 15 – Walker | 5 – Greene | McNichols Arena (16,813) Denver, CO |
| 04/01/89* 5:42 p.m., CBS | (W3) No. 11 | vs. (E2) No. 9 Duke NCAA National semifinals | W 95–78 | 31–6 | 20 – Gaze | 12 – Ramos | 8 – Greene | Kingdome (39,187) Seattle, WA |
| 04/03/89* 9:12 p.m., CBS | (W3) No. 11 | vs. (SE4) No. 10 Michigan NCAA National Final | L 79–80 | 31–7 | 35 – Morton | 11 – Walker | 5 – Greene | Kingdome (39,187) Seattle, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Eastern Time E=East Region SE=Southeast Region. |||||||||

## 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 | Final |
| AP | NR | NR | NR | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| UPI | NR | NR | 20 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 |

## Player statistics

| Player | G | GS | MIN | FG | FGA | Pct. | 3–FG | 3–FGA | Pct. | FT | FTA | Pct. | REB | PF | AST | TO | BLK | STL | PTS | Avg. |
| John Morton | 38 | 37 | 1082 | 210 | 482 | .436 | 79 | 189 | .418 | 159 | 194 | .820 | 129 | 106 | 95 | 81 | 14 | 49 | 658 | 17.3 |
| Andrew Gaze | 38 | 37 | 1240 | 170 | 334 | .509 | 94 | 221 | .425 | 82 | 113 | .726 | 172 | 108 | 110 | 81 | 19 | 36 | 516 | 13.6 |
| Ramón Ramos | 37 | 36 | 1016 | 161 | 303 | .531 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 119 | 149 | .799 | 283 | 96 | 49 | 63 | 46 | 24 | 441 | 11.9 |
| Daryll Walker | 38 | 38 | 1044 | 147 | 283 | .519 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 144 | 183 | .787 | 272 | 116 | 40 | 79 | 16 | 37 | 438 | 11.5 |
| Gerald Greene | 38 | 38 | 1192 | 91 | 216 | .421 | 33 | 77 | .429 | 129 | 173 | .746 | 106 | 88 | 195 | 108 | 4 | 38 | 344 | 9.1 |
| Frantz Volcy | 37 | 1 | 462 | 72 | 129 | .558 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 47 | 69 | .681 | 100 | 71 | 32 | 30 | 25 | 6 | 191 | 5.2 |
| Mike Cooper | 37 | 1 | 577 | 74 | 136 | .544 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 29 | 48 | .604 | 116 | 71 | 32 | 36 | 16 | 12 | 177 | 4.8 |
| Anthony Avent | 38 | 1 | 395 | 68 | 149 | .456 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 32 | 49 | .653 | 114 | 63 | 12 | 38 | 27 | 6 | 168 | 4.4 |
| Khyiem Long | 12 | 1 | 70 | 11 | 17 | .647 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 6 | 9 | .667 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 2.3 |
| Pookey Wigington | 32 | 0 | 258 | 13 | 38 | .342 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 32 | 41 | .780 | 22 | 33 | 52 | 37 | 1 | 13 | 59 | 1.8 |
| Nick Katsikis | 31 | 0 | 142 | 18 | 35 | .514 | 11 | 22 | .500 | 2 | 4 | .500 | 19 | 19 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 49 | 1.6 |
| Trevor Crowley | 21 | 0 | 81 | 10 | 32 | .313 | 6 | 20 | .300 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 26 | 1.2 |
| Rene Monteserin | 15 | 0 | 29 | 3 | 8 | .375 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.5 |
| Jose Rebimbas | 16 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 3 | 5 | .600 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Seton Hall | 38 | | 7625 | 1049 | 2166 | .484 | 224 | 535 | .419 | 785 | 1039 | .756 | 1513 | 795 | 632 | 586 | 173 | 234 | 3107 | 81.8 |
| Opponents | 38 | | 7625 | 934 | 2265 | .412 | 150 | 455 | .330 | 613 | 881 | .696 | 1252 | 840 | 470 | 523 | 128 | 259 | 2631 | 69.2 |
* Deadball rebounds: SHU 83, Opponents 104
* Team Rebounds: SHU 150, Opponents 158

## Awards and honors

* P. J. Carlesimo – Big East Coach of the Year
* John Morton – Third-team All-Big East, AP Honorable Mention All-American
* Ramón Ramos – First-team All-Big East, AP Honorable Mention All-American

## Local Radio

| Station | Play–by–play | Color analyst | Studio host |
| WPAT–AM 930 | | | |
* –Some games broadcast on WPAT-FM 93.1 because of broadcast conflict with the New York Knicks of the (NBA) and the New York Rangers of the (NHL).