MBB Visits Providence for BIG EAST Opener
12/30/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2013
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - BIG EAST play has arrived for the Seton Hall men's basketball team.
The Pirates wrapped up the non-conference portion of their schedule on Friday in South Orange, never trailing in a 90-58 blowout of Lafayette that moved the team to 9-4 on the season.
Seton Hall will visit longtime rival Providence on Tuesday looking for its first conference road win since last year's BIG EAST opener at DePaul; a 73-72 victory that went down to the final buzzer.
Injuries slowed The Hall last season as head coach Kevin Willard's was often left with six or seven scholarship players at his disposal, leading to a 3-15 finish in the final year before conference realignment reshaped the league.
The Pirates recently saw three key players in Patrik Auda (Brno, Czech Republic), Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) and Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) all return to action after missing a combined total of 10 games. The team will be far from full strength against the Friars as the precession of injuries continued against Lafayette, dealing another blow to the Seton Hall frontcourt.
Center Eugene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) dominated down low, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in 19 minutes before being forced to leave after a hard fall on a layup attempt. Teague now has five double-doubles in the last six games - a stretch in which the Pirates are 5-1 - and was named to the most recent BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
The 6-foot-9 red-shirt senior stepped up for The Hall in a huge way while Auda and Edwin were confined to the sidelines for an extended period of time. He shot 75 percent from the floor and averaged 15.3 points per game while rising to second in the conference in rebounding by grabbing 12.8 boards per contest during the six-game stretch. A vital cog in the Pirates' game plan on both ends of the floor, Teague is the only common denominator between the team's 10 most efficient lineup combinations this season. The Pirates have outscored opponents by a total of 96 points in his 335 minutes on the floor this season.
With the injury, Teague joins fellow senior center Aaron Geramipoor (Manchester, England) who has not played since exiting with an ankle injury during the second half of an overtime loss against Saint Peter's on December 14.
Junior forward Brandon Mobley (Savannah, Ga.) posted a season-high 11 rebounds versus Lafayette. With at least seven boards in the last three contests, Mobley has climbed into the top-10 in the league with 4.4 defensive rebounds per game. Mobley and company will be tasked with filling the void that Teague's absence leaves on the boards, a stiff challenge against a Providence team that stands second in the conference with over 13 offensive rebounds per game. The Friars have allowed the second-fewest rebounds against among the 10 teams in the league.
While the Pirates are slightly thinner up front, the return of Gibbs has restored the backcourt to full strength. The Hall will benefit from the extended playing time that Haralds Karlis (Riga, Latvia) and Jaren Sina (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) saw due to injuries and departures. Senior Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.) has emerged as one of the premier deep threats in the conference.
If Seton Hall can regain the outside touch after shooting a season-low 20.8 percent (5-for-24) from downtown against Lafayette, it could spell victory against a Providence team that ranks last in the league at 72.2 points per game.
The Hall has been on a bit of a scoring binge of late, topping 90 points in the last two games and averaging 87.3 points per game over the last three. However, the Pirates managed just 60.5 points in two losses against the Friars last season. The two wins gave Providence a 47-45 advantage in the all-time series after Seton Hall had won seven-of-eight prior to last year.
A last-second put-back in overtime by UMass forward Derrick Gordon gave the #23/#22 Minutemen a 69-67 win on Saturday that dropped Ed Cooley's Friars squad to 10-3 on the season. Providence is a perfect 7-0 at home in 2013-14 and has won 11-straight at the Dunkin Donuts Center dating back to last season.
Bryce Cotton led all scorers with 24 points, but shot just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc as Providence connected on 2-of-13 3-pointers as a team. A Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST selection, Cotton leads the conference with 5.6 assists per game and is tied for second in scoring at 19.5 points per game. The senior guard recorded 38 points in Providence's two victories over Seton Hall a season ago. The Pirates also struggled to slow the frontcourt duo of Kadeem Batts and LaDontae Henton in the two games, as well.
Batts poured in a game-high 27 points in the most recent meeting, a 77-66 win for Providence on March 5, while Henton recorded a double-double in both games. The return of Edwin who has totaled 14 steals in the last two outings and now stands just six away from tying the all-time Seton Hall record of 260 held by Dan Callandrillo, has strengthened the Pirates' defensive efforts but without Teague in the middle. An extra onus will be placed on perimeter defense and limiting the Friars' forays into the painted area.
Seton Hall and Providence will tip-off at 2:30 p.m. as part of a day-long BIG EAST New Year's Eve Marathon on FOX Sports 1. A radio broadcast will also be available on 970 AM WNYM and through SHUPirates.com.
