NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : SHORT STOPPER : He’s Small at 5-3, but Pookey Wigington Is Big Help to Seton Hall

NEW YORK —  The smallest player on the Madison Square Garden floor played a big role last week as Seton Hall upset Georgetown, 61-58, a victory that helped the upstart Pirates earn their first trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball tournament.

Just as the Pirates seemed ready to buckle under Georgetown’s swarming, suffocating defensive pressure--they were in the midst of losing a 14-point second-half lead--Coach P.J. Carlesimo called on Leland (Pookey) Wigington.

And Wigington, a 5-foot 3-inch reserve point guard from Ventura College and Morningside High School in Inglewood, steadied the rattled Pirates, calmly guiding them through the second half.

He scored only two points and had no assists, but his ballhandling and floor leadership during a 21-minute stint helped neutralize the Hoyas’ pressure, which had threatened to consume Seton Hall.

The Pirates made just 3 of their 14 turnovers after Wigington entered the game with 13 minutes 48 seconds left.

“We don’t beat Georgetown without Pookey,” Carlesimo said.

Said Wigington: “Coach just told me to go in and stabilize things, and to get everybody’s head in the game. I went in and talked to the guys, and gave them a little lift.”

It was exactly the type of situation in which Wigington had hoped to find himself when he transferred from Ventura, where last season he led the Pirates to the state community college championship, averaging 11 points, 8 assists and 5 steals a game.

Wigington said he has followed the careers of two other famous little guys, 5-7 Spud Webb of the Atlanta Hawks and 5-3 Tyrone (Mugsy) Bogues of the Washington Bullets.

“I look at their games and see a lot of similarities,” he said. “But as far as them providing motivation, it just didn’t happen that way.”

All but ignored when he came out of Morningside three years before, Wigington was heavily recruited last spring.

He eventually chose Seton Hall over Kansas. Or, as he put it: “I chose the Big East over the Big Eight. I’d always wanted to play in the Big East or the ACC.”

Of course, he also wanted to play in the NCAA tournament. He’ll get that chance today when Seton Hall meets Texas El Paso in a first-round game at Pauley Pavilion.

The season, though, has been personally disappointing to Wigington. Slowed by a knee injury that required surgery last September, he hasn’t played a major role for the Pirates. He averages 10 minutes, 2 points and 2 assists.

“It’s been very frustrating,” he said. “I’ve been very up and down. Sometimes my knee bothers me, sometimes it doesn’t. I have contributed, but not as much as I would have liked to.”

At times, though, “We kind of just give him the ball and let him run things,” Carlesimo said. “He’s handled his role extremely well.”