Pirates Carry Momentum into Matchup with NJIT
12/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2013
Buy Tickets | FOX Sports 1 | Game Notes | | Live Audio| Interviews
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Following a hard-fought, emotional win at longtime rival Rutgers on Sunday night, the Seton Hall men's basketball team will look to overcome an improving NJIT team and a quick turnaround when the Pirates and Highlanders square off in a cross-town affair on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center.
Both squads will be looking to notch their seventh win of the season and a third in-a-row as NJIT is set to visit The Hall for the fifth time in as many years. Seton Hall moved to 6-3 on the young season with a 77-71 triumph in Piscataway while the Highlanders (6-4) also scored their sixth victory of 2013-14 over the weekend, downing UMass-Lowell, 55-44, at home on Saturday. Prior to the Rutgers game, the Pirates posted their highest point total of the year in a 92-81 defeat of LIU-Brooklyn while NJIT snapped a recent two-game slide by downing Maine, 81-72, last Wednesday in Newark.
Red-shirt sophomore Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) poured in a career-high 27 points and handed out four assists in his first appearance in the Seton Hall-Rutgers rivalry, helping the team end a three-game losing streak to the Scarlet Knights and come out on top for the third time in The Hall's last four trips to The RAC. Gibbs averaged 21.5 points and 4.5 assists in the two wins, playing his way into a spot on the most recent BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. A former Seton Hall Prep standout who transferred from the University of Texas following his freshman campaign, he has burst back onto the Garden State scene in his first nine appearances for Seton Hall. He currently ranks as the Pirates' top scorer at 16.0 points per game and assists man with 4.3 helpers per contest; and over his last four games, a stretch in which head coach Kevin Willard's team has posted a 3-1 record, Gibbs has totaled 16 assists and four turnovers.
The RU game was the sixth in which Gibbs has contributed at least 16 points and four assists, helping Willard earn his 54th win at Seton Hall and the 100th of his head coaching career which is now in its seventh season.
While it was Gibbs who took home the weekly award from the conference, it was center Gene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) who claimed the Joe Calabrese Award as the Most Valuable Player of the clash between the Pirates and Scarlet Knights. Teague played like a man possessed last week, registering double-doubles against both the Blackbirds and Rutgers. On Sunday, he followed up a 17-point, 16-rebound night vs. LIU-Brooklyn by torching a deep RU frontcourt for 16 points and 16 rebounds. He used the added attention he was drawing to set up his teammates, matching a career-high with four assists while also coming up with personal-best five steals.
Teague's boarding binge saw him shoot up to second in the BIG EAST rankings at 8.6 rebounds per game and given the absence of Patrik Auda (Brno, Czech Republic) and Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) up front for Seton Hall, his recent effectiveness is all the more impressive upon closer examination. He logged more than 30 minutes in both games and each time, pulled down 16 of an available 69 rebounds or better than 23 percent (.231) of all misses in the contest. 15 of his 32 rebounds during the two-game swing came on the offensive end and he now leads the conference with an average of 3.8 offensive boards/game.
Shooting from the free-throw line and from behind the arc propelled the Pirates in Piscataway, as they often have this season. The Hall knocked down nine 3-pointers on RU's home floor and also shot 22-of-27 (81.5 percent) from the stripe as a team to help create separation in a back-and-forth affair. In its last five victories, The Hall has averaged 8.3 treys and 23 made foul shots.
Another common theme when Seton Hall has prevailed has been a fast start for the Pirates as the squad has taken a lead into the locker room in each one of its wins. Last season, The Hall shot out to a 10-point halftime edge over the Highlanders but NJIT bounced back tally one more point than the home team in the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Pirates in a half for the first time in series history.
Seton Hall came away with a 68-59 win last December behind a double-double from Edwin and eight assists from Tom Maayan (Galil, Israel) but the game which was as close as four points in the final two minutes was a far departure from the lopsided affairs that transpired in the first three meetings.
Veteran coach Jim Engles continues to lead a developing NJIT program that has seemingly been undeterred by its transition back to the status of the lone independent Division I basketball program in the nation. Engles and the Highlanders had been gaining momentum as a charter member of the now defunct Great West Conference but with a deep rotation that features eight underclassmen that average 16 minutes per game, the Newark-based University poses a real threat on the court.
Despite his diminutive stature, 5-foot-11 freshman and Union Catholic product Damon Lynn has come on and proven to be one of the most dynamic first-year players in the nation. A speedy guard with an even quicker trigger, Lynn ranks in the top-five among all freshmen with 35 3-pointers made (second) and a scoring average of 18.9 points per game (t-fifth). He has attempted 93 treys, more than half of the team's total of 181, and more than 25 percent of the Highlanders' shots overall.
As is usually the case with freshmen of any kind, Lynn is subject to his ups and downs as evidenced by his 3-for-13 (0-for-7 3FG) effort last time out against UMass-Lowell. NJIT was able to compensate with a 28-to-0 advantage in bench points, picking up an all-underclassmen starting five that collectively scored only 27 points.
The Highlanders have proven to be a proficient shooting team, hitting 45.8 percent of their field goals through 10 games and boasting a 39.2 percent success rate from long distance. In the front court, 6-foot-6 sophomore Terrence Smith provides the interior presence, converting on 54.7 percent of his field goals while scoring 13.6 points and pulling down six rebounds per game. Smith combines with newcomer Tim Coleman (8.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg) to handle much of the heavy lifting up front while Lynn and Winfield Willis currently lead the contingent of guards that has helped the Highlanders pour in nearly 80 points per game in their six wins.
While the Pirates have succeeded when scoring early and often in 2013-14, there may be opportunities to put the game away late on Tuesday night at "The Rock" as NJIT is giving up an average of almost nine points more in the second half than the first.
Seton Hall will look to move to 7-3 on the season when the Pirates and Highlanders tip-off at 9:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Fans are invited to come out and participate in Seton Hall Athletics' "Pay What You Want" promotion that lets you name your price for your seat. The offer is being made as part of a partnership with the University's Division of Volunteer Efforts (D.O.V.E.) and all proceeds will go towards supporting D.O.V.E. initiatives in El Salvador and Haiti.
For those unable to attend, FOX Sports 1 will carry a live national telecast from Newark while the Seton Hall radio team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin can be heard on 970 AM and through SHUPirates.com.
