MBB Begins Three Game Road Swing at Marquette
1/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2014
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Saturday will mark the first stop on a three-game road swing for the Seton Hall men's basketball team. The Pirates will look to earn their second conference road win in as many tries when they take on preseason BIG EAST favorite Marquette (9-7, 1-2) in Milwaukee. MSG+ and 570 AM (WMCA) will carry a live broadcast locally.
A shorthanded Seton Hall (10-6, 1-2) squad earned a double-overtime victory at Providence in the conference opener on New Year's Eve, but has since dropped two consecutive games at home to Creighton and #8/#10 Villanova; the top-two scoring teams in the league.
With only seven scholarship players available for action, The Hall struggled to keep pace with the surging Wildcats on Wednesday at the Prudential Center, falling 83-67.
Senior Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.) continued to display the shooting prowess that has made him one of the team's go-to options on the offensive end, knocking down six 3-pointers as part of a 20-point effort that led all scorers. Oliver's consistent presence has been key for a Seton Hall offense that ranks third in the conference at 77.5 points per game despite a myriad of injuries. The 6-foot-6 guard has played in all 16 contests and has started the last six - a stretch in which he has averaged 17.2 points and 4.0 treys per outing.
The starting backcourt tandem of Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and Jaren Sina (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) also combined for 14 of the team's season-high 17 assists as the Pirates found success against the Villanova defense when they were able to avoid giveaways. Seton Hall was plagued by turnovers in its comeback effort, but Gibbs doled out a career-high eight helpers to go along with 13 points and six rebounds. Sina totaled six assists against only two turnovers.
In the end, the absence of the senior trio of Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.), Aaron Geramipoor (Manchester, England) and Eugene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) was too much for the Pirates to overcome as Villanova connected on 12 3-pointers and limited The Hall to a season-low 24 rebounds in the win.
Edwin and Geramipoor each missed their fourth game of the season. The Hall has been forced to play without Teague, the second-leading rebounder in the conference, for all three BIG EAST games after the big man sustained a concussion in the non-conference finale against Lafayette on December 27.
When Seton Hall traveled to the BMO Harris Bradley Center last January, head coach Kevin Willard was in a similar position with only seven scholarship players at his disposal. This year's squad features a distinctly different look however as junior Haralds Karlis (Riga, Latvia) is the only player who saw the floor on Wednesday that played in a 69-62 defeat at Marquette last season; the Pirates' second seven-point loss in Milwaukee in as many years.
Marquette is facing a quick turnaround after sliding to 9-7 on the season and 1-2 in conference play with a 86-79 loss at Xavier on Thursday. The Golden Eagles are 7-1 at home with their only loss coming at the hands of Ohio State. Marquette enters the contest with Seton Hall on a five-game home winning streak.
Senior big man Davante Gardner has been inserted in the starting lineup in the last two games and currently leads Marquette with 14.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Gardner and classmate Jamil Wilson (11.3 ppg) are the only Golden Eagles who average in double-figures as Marquette ranks last in the league with a team average of 71.4 points per game. Despite their offensive struggles, head coach Buzz Williams' squad ranks among the stingiest defensive units in the conference, limiting opponents to a league best 63.1 points per game. That number drops even lower at home as visitors to the Bradley Center have managed to post just 52.5 points/game with Grambling State standing as the lone team to top the 60-point mark at Marquette this season.
With several players still sidelined, a lower scoring game may work in the Pirates favor on Saturday. Marquette ranks near the bottom of the conference in both free-throw (66.7 percent, 10th) and 3-point (31.7 percent, t-ninth) shooting; two areas in which Seton Hall has exceled through the first half of the season.
Look for Gibbs to attack the rim and open up opportunities for the likes of Oliver and Sina. Versatile forwards Patrik Auda (Brno, Czech Republic) and Brandon Mobley (Savannah, Ga.) - who attended prep school in Wisconsin - also pose matchup problems for Marquette's more traditional post players in Gardner and the 6-foot-11 Chris Otule with their ability to step away from the basket and challenge the Golden Eagles from the perimeter.
Seton Hall will look for its first win in seven trips to Marquette when the teams tip-off tomorrow at 2 p.m. eastern time. A live telecast courtesy of FOX Sports Networks can be seen locally on MSG+. Seton Hall's radio team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the call for 570 AM (WMCA) with a web stream available on SHUPirates.com .
