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It ended with an embarrassing below-the-belt punch by sophomore forward Herb Pope, chants of "Fire Bob-by" from the student section and an 87-69 blowout loss to Texas Tech in the first round of the NIT at the Prudential Center.

The game -- and incident -- was broadcast on national television on ESPN2, but only 1,829 fans attended the contest in person.

Pope was ejected early in the first half after repeatedly punching 6-foot-9 Texas Tech senior Darko Cohadarevic below the belt. The first incident occurred under the Seton Hall basket as the two jostled for a rebound. On the ensuing possession, as Cohadarevic jogged upcourt toward the Texas Tech basket, Pope stuck out his fist and punched Cohadarevic in the private parts a second time, sending the Texas Tech big man sprawling to the floor outside the 3-point line in front of the Seton Hall bench.

"Man, I never got someone even knee me that hard in a practice by accident. He just took a swing," said Cohadarevic, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. "I just couldn't breathe for a second. When I was on the ground the second time, the referee kept saying, 'Stop faking it, stop faking it.' I'm like, 'I'm not faking it.' I couldn't even breathe."

With 14:20 left in the first half, Pope was given a flagrant foul and ejected. The 6-8 Pope, a transfer from New Mexico State, was averaging a double-double of 11.8 points and 11.1 rebounds.

Pope did not address the media after the game. Fifth-year senior John Garcia, however, said Pope was "very somber, very apologetic" when he addressed his teammates in the locker room after the game to apologize.

"Herb, you know, he's got to keep his cool, and at the end of the day, it ended up hurting our team, but I could never fault Herb," said Garcia, who played his final game in a Seton Hall uniform. "He's been that one guy this whole season that's been a rock, and when it comes to effort and heart on the court, he's been that guy that's always been there since day one. I'm a little upset at him, disappointed that he got himself thrown out of the game, but at end of the day, I've got nothing but respect for Herb."

Said Gonzalez: "I didn't see it, but clearly, I'm sure he must've deserved to go out with how adamant they were about it."

Added Seton Hall Athletic Director Joe Quinlan: "I think Herb Pope's a good player, I think he's a thoughtful player, I think he got a little frustrated and I don't have a huge amount of concern about it. He's not a player who you have seen do things like that."

Without Pope to score, rebound and defend, Texas Tech raced out to a 45-32 halftime lead behind 10 points apiece from Cohadarevic, who repeatedly hit soft jumpers off the glass, and junior forward Mike Singletary.

"When [Pope] went out of the game, we had to regroup and change the game plan a little bit because he was the focal point of their team," said John Roberson, who paced the Raiders with a team-high 22 points, making 4-of-5 3-pointers. "We kinda focused on [Jeremy] Hazell and shutting him down tonight."

Hazell, the team's leading scorer, was bothered by a bad back and his previous hand injury and managed just six points on 3-for-10 shooting. Jeff Robinson was about the only bright spot for the Pirates, finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Looking uninspired, Seton Hall (19-13) never made a run in the second half and trailed by as many as 24 points. Texas Tech (18-15) led 62-45 by the time Gonzalez was given his seventh technical foul of the season midway through the second half, prompting chants of "Fire Bob-by" from a segment of the students.

Asked later if the chants bothered him, Gonzalez said, "No, no, no."

The Pope incident was the latest, and last, in a bizarre year for Seton Hall. Junior forward Robert "Stix" Mitchell was booted from the team two days before the NIT after he criticized Gonzalez's substitution patterns in the Bergen Record during last week's Big East Tournament. Mitchell, a Brooklyn native, has a year of eligibility remaining but Gonzalez ended his career early, saying he didn't "want any malcontent or cancerous type stuff."

Junior guard Keon Lawrence was suspended on Nov. 9 following his involvement in a wrong-way car crash on the Garden State Parkway. He was reinstated Dec. 19., but never quite lived up to his potential, averaging 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds

Asked to sum up the year, Garcia, who hopes to play professionally in the Dominican Republic, used the phrase "missed opportunities."

"The Marquette game at home, the Notre Dame game in the Big East Tournament, we had a lot of chances and it's just missed opportunity after missed opportunity," he said.

"In order for a program to take the next step, you have to go through stuff like that," Garcia added. "You gotta go through that disappointment. And I think what's going to happen is it's gonna make these guys hungrier for next year. I think the sky's the limit for our team next year."