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Hall, RU to Meet in Garden State Hardwood Classic
12/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team stands as one of two squads in the BIG EAST without a blemish on its early-season ledger but records rarely matter when the Pirates square off with in-state rival Rutgers (4-3) who will visit the Prudential Center on Saturday for the inaugural installment of the "Garden State Hardwood Classic."
Seton Hall improved to 6-0 on Tuesday with its third win over an opponent that reached the 2014 NCAA Tournament, trouncing Mount Saint Mary's, 78-55. The Pirates never trailed and finished with their most prolific shooting performance since the turn of the millennium, knocking down 33 of their 51 attempts (.647) after opening the contest with three makes in their first nine attempts.
The effort marked the fourth time that a Kevin Willard-led SHU team has shot better than 60 percent but was the first time the Pirates have topped the mark since routing Georgetown, 73-55, in February of 2012.
Freshman Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) spurred the offensive surge, coming off the bench to post a game-high 16 points while connecting on all eight of his attempts. Carrington was a force on both ends of the floor, coming up with three steals - two of which he turned into highlight-reel dunks.
Such transition baskets came steadily for The Hall against The Mount as Seton Hall tallied 26 points on the break; a key aspect of the Pirates' impressive shooting percentage. The Pirates also dominated the interior in the half-court, finishing with a season-high 52 points in the paint.
One of the top 3-point shooting units in the league, SHU rarely ventured outside the arc and in fact did not try a single trey in the second half. The Hall finished 3-for-8 from long distance, attempting fewer than 10 threes for just the third time under Willard and matching the program's lowest total in 3-point attempts since the 2005-06 opener.
Newcomer Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) continued to thrive in the post, sinking six of his eight shots and narrowly missing a second consecutive double-double in a 13-point, nine-rebound effort. The BIG EAST co-leader at 9.7 boards/game, Delgado ranks second among all Division I freshmen in rebounding and stands 13th in the nation overall with a conference-best 4.0 offensive rebounds per contest.
As a team, Seton Hall is atop the BIG EAST with over 13 offensive rebounds per game, corralling 40 percent of their own misses to this point in the year.
Together, Carrington, Delgado and fellow rookies Isaiah Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) (12 points, 4-of-7 FG) and Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) (six points, 3-of-3 FG) combined for 47 points on 21-of-26 from the floor (.807) to help overwhelm a Mount Saint Mary's team that was forced into 34 3-point attempts on the night.
The new Pirates have certainly made their impact felt through the first six contests and now they will get their first taste of the definitive Garden State college basketball rivalry. Last season, his first in action for The Hall, Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) poured in 27 points in his Seton Hall-Rutgers debut; helping SHU halt a three-game slide in the series with a 77-71 win at The RAC.
Big man Eugene Teague took home Joe Calabrese MVP honors with 16 points and 16 rebounds but it was Gibbs who converted four-straight free throws in the final 90 seconds to help seal the win after the Scarlet Knights had pulled to within one at 72-71 with 1:23 to play.
Seton Hall owns a 35-29 advantage in 65 previous meetings between the two programs and has won over 69 percent of the games it has hosted in the series (18-8). Rutgers has been victorious in its last three trips to The Rock however and the Pirates will look to end another skid and put the Seton Hall name on the recently unveiled Garden State Hardwood Classic trophy first.
In order to do so, containing dynamo guard Myles Mack will be vital as he is the engine behind the Rutgers offense. Mack is logging more than 14 points for a Scarlet Knights attack that ranks last in the 14-team Big Ten at 57.6 ppg. The Paterson native has scored or assisted on nearly 46 percent of RU's baskets and registered team-highs of 20 points and four assists against the Pirates last season.
Red-shirt senior Kadeem Jack and sophomore Junior Etou anchor the forward positions and are coming off a performance in which they combined for 35 points in a 69-64 victory at Clemson last time out. The victory was the second for Rutgers over a high major opponent this season - both of which have come away from home - after RU downed Vanderbilt at Barclays Center on November 28 (68-65).
Expect a tightly-contested game when these two face off on Saturday as 18 of the last 20 installments have been decided by six points or less or in overtime.
Tip-off is slated for Noon with a live national telecast on the FOX Sports Networks that will be carried locally by the MSG Network. The Seton Hall radio team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the call for AM970 and the Pirate Sports Network on SHUPirates.com.
A limited amount of tickets remain available and can be purchased online or in-person as doors to the Prudential Center Box Office will open at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.
