It was a game Seton Hall couldn’t lose....and they didn’t.

The Pirates couldn’t afford to fall to lowly Rutgers on their home court in the Garden State Hardwood Classic and they lived up to the moment, knocking off the Scarlet Knights, 81-59 at Prudential Center, to finish the non-conference at 10-1.

The only other Big East team with as good a record in the non-conference is Connecticut, a team with Final Four potential.

A year ago, Seton Hall won just seven games all season and finished the non-conference 5-6. Now they are No. 39 in the NET Rankings used to determine the the NCAA Tournament field, the fourth-highest Big East team.

“Sha’s a really good coach,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said of Shaheen Holloway . “The guy can flat-out coach. They have a confident group and he’s

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