Seton Hall beats UMass 86-68 Eds: APNewsNow. Seton Hall 86, Massachusetts 68.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Herb Pope scored 22 points, 16 coming in the first half, and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Seton Hall to an 86-68 rout of Massachusetts on Monday night.

Jeremy Hazell added 21 points with 15 coming in the first half for the Pirates (7-0), who have opened a season with seven wins for the first time since 1988-89. It was that Seton Hall team that went to the NCAA Championship game and lost to Michigan.

It was also the fourth time this season that Pope, a transfer from New Mexico State, registered double figures in points and rebounds.

The Pirates traded baskets with the Minutemen (4-5) for the first 5 minutes, before going on a 9-2 run to take a 13-6 lead with 13:15 remaining in the opening half.

The Pirates then put the game away with another 13-2 run over a 2:32 span and led 44-19 at the half.

Ricky Harris and Anthony Gurley paced UMass with 15 points each.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 12-07-09 2022CST | save this article / add to your favorites list