Sunday, March 9th, 2:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Prudential Center (18,000) -- Newark, New Jersey. Television: Local. Home Record: Rutgers 8-10, Seton Hall 11-5. Away Record: Rutgers 2-10, Seton Hall 4-8. Neutral Record: Rutgers 0-0, Seton Hall 2-0. Conference Record: Rutgers 2-15, Seton Hall 7-10. Series Record: Seton Hall leads, 29-23.

GAME NOTES: Making the cut for the impending Big East Conference Tournament, the Seton Hall Pirates now focus on closing out the regular season this afternoon as they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Prudential Center. The Pirates have been roughed up since the start of February, winning just two games against the likes of DePaul and South Florida by a combined six points. More recently, the team hosted Syracuse on Wednesday night and was treated to an 85-73 setback. As for the Scarlet Knights, they've been watching from the sidelines for more than a week, following their 54-52 loss to USF at home on the first of the month. The defeat was the ninth in a row for Rutgers, which is just 2-15 in Big East play this season and will have to wait until 2009 to take part in the expanding conference tournament. Seton Hall won the first meeting between these two schools earlier this season with an 84-71 overtime triumph on the road, which means the Pirates now lead the all-time series by a count of 29-23.

Anthony Farmer was the only double-digit scorer for the Scarlet Knights in their last game eight days ago, as he tallied 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field in the loss to USF at home. The squad shot just 35.8 percent from the field and 3-of-15 beyond the arc in the decision. Farmer, who has started all but one of the team's games this season, is third on the roster with regards to scoring with his 10.4 ppg, but he's also one of the most accurate three-point shooters for the group at 40 percent. JR Inman is pacing the program in both scoring and rebounding with averages of 12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, but both of those numbers take a hit in conference play, as does his already awkward free-throw shooting (.612) which drops to 48.6 percent in league outings.

Hosting Syracuse at the new Prudential Center for the very first time, Seton Hall knew it was in for a fight because of where the Orange stood in relation to the so-called 'bubble' leading up to the NCAA Tournament. Utilizing just two players off the bench, the Hall struggled to shoot 36.5 percent from the floor and 9-of-34 behind the three-point line. Brian Laing made just five of his 15 field goal attempts, yet still finished with a team-best 20 points, followed by Jamar Nutter and Jeremy Hazell with 15 and 14 points, respectively. One of the top scorers in the conference this season, Laing checks in with 19.1 ppg and is also second on the unit both on the glass (6.9 rpg) and in the passing department (60 assists). Eugene Harvey is in for 13.6 ppg and has directed traffic well enough to register a team-best 147 assists thus far. Working against the Pirates is a defense that is allowing opponents to capture almost 40 rpg and score 78 ppg.

Giving the hometown faithful something to cheer about in the final game of the season at the Prudential Center would be a nice offering by Seton Hall as it closes out the regular season with a victory.

Predicted Outcome

Seton Hall 77, Rutgers 70