Saint Joseph’s Has the Look of a No. 1

As it turns out, Phil Martelli knew enough about history not to let it repeat.

Wake Forest beat Saint Joseph’s in 1962 NCAA Tournament, as Billy Packer reminded Martelli and the country during their overheated debate about who deserved a No. 1 seeding in 2004. (And did you know Packer made eight of 14 shots and scored 17 points for Wake Forest in that one? Packer surely did.)

Martelli needs to learn his basketball history, Packer said.

Packer needs to chill out, the country countered.

There’s nothing stopping Packer now, with Saint Joseph’s having defeated Wake Forest, 84-80, Thursday night to advance to the Elite Eight, which is where No. 1-seeded teams are supposed to wind up, if Packer remembered his math.

Having defended its top seeding in the East Rutherford Regional with victories over Liberty, Texas Tech and Wake Forest, Saint Joseph’s will next play No. 2-seeded Oklahoma State, a 63-51 winner over Pittsburgh, in Saturday’s regional final.

“You know what is really interesting the way this is all working out?” Packer said on CBS shortly before the start of the Saint Joseph’s-Wake Forest game. “Oklahoma State -- that was the team that I thought belonged on the 1 line. If St. Joe’s were to win this game, we’ll find out exactly who belongs on that line.

“But,” Packer added with a touch of skepticism, “there’s a lot to be done before we get to that point.”

Saint Joseph’s did all the necessary work. The Hawks played to their strength, their starting backcourt of Jameer Nelson and Delonte West, who delivered as advertised, scoring 24 points apiece. That enabled the Hawks to improve their record to 30-1, still the best won-lost record left in the tournament.

Packer seemed to be impressed. Brought together with Martelli for a quick postgame interview, Packer congratulated the Saint Joseph’s coach and shook his hand.

Earlier, Packer went out of his way to bury the hatchet, praising Martelli’s Hawks as “a beautifully coached basketball team,” even offering to Martelli a free meal.

Before the game, CBS aired a clip of Martelli approaching Packer during Wednesday’s practice session to shake the broadcaster’s hand and tease him in front of the cameras. “I made your career,” Martelli jokingly told Packer. “You owe me a Papa John’s.”

Packer, who plugs the brand in a current television commercial, watched the clip and then quipped, “I can sure find him some.”

Maybe he can talk Martelli into sharing a slice. For Packer, it’s either that, or eat crow.

Meanwhile, in the other game at East Rutherford, Pittsburgh took the other approach to a perceived slight. Dissed and dismissed -- that’s the official terminology for it.

Pittsburgh finished the regular season 29-4, which the Panthers believed entitled them to something more than the No. 3 seeding in the regional and a second-round matchup against Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Sure, Pittsburgh was dealt a difficult hand, but, really, who had it tougher?

The Panthers?

Or everyone who had to watch that Pitt-Wisconsin game?

Pitt, put upon, had t-shirts printed. “We All We Got” they said. Some Panther players wore them during warmups before their regional semifinal against Oklahoma State.

We All We Got?

Thursday, the Panthers were missing a verb ... and a jump shot.

Pittsburgh shot 37% from the field in its loss to Oklahoma State. That was for the game. In the first half, the Panthers shot 36.7%. Their shooting might have been lousy, but at least it was no fluke.

Is bad shooting contagious? For more than a half, Oklahoma State had to wonder.

During the regular season, the Cowboys led the nation in field-goal percentage at 51.7%.

During the first half against Pittsburgh, the Cowboys shot 30%.

This was Pitt Ball at its so-called finest. Nasty. Gnarly. Fit for a junkyard.

The Panthers entered the locker room at halftime thinking they had the Cowboys right where they wanted them. Yet, despite shooting nearly 22% below their season average, the Cowboys ended the half trailing by only a basket, 28-26.

That’s one inherent problem with Pitt Ball. Because the whole idea is to suck the air out of the basketball, dragging down everybody on the floor with you, it is not only possible to hold your opponents to 30% for a half and outscore them by only two points, it’s not surprising when it happens.

Oklahoma State was having no fun, but the Cowboys had been through worse. Early in the season, when Coach Eddie Sutton believed his players needed some toughening up, he made the Cowboys practice in football pads and helmets, just to drive home the point.

Fortunately, Sutton’s workouts also include field-goal practice. Unlike the Panthers, in the second half, the Cowboys remembered how. Oklahoma State shot 64% over the last 20 minutes, Pitt couldn’t keep up and Sutton was a troublesome step closer in his bid for a first NCAA championship.

Meanwhile, all the way across the country in Phoenix, Vanderbilt lost to Connecticut, 73-53, when Vanderbilt’s best player, Matt Freije, channeling the forces from Pittsburgh, made only three of 18 field-goal attempts and finished with eight points.

If bad shooting isn’t contagious, in this tournament, it’s definitely growing in popularity.