MBB Hosts Xavier on Senior Night
3/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2014
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team will make its final home appearance of the regular season on Monday as The Hall is set to host the third-place Xavier Musketeers for the first time since 1956. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. with a live national telecast scheduled on FOX Sports 1. A radio broadcast featuring the team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will also be available on 970 AM (WNYM) and the Pirate Sports Network through SHUPirates.com.
Seton Hall (14-15, 5-11) aims to kick-off March just as it did February, with a win over Xavier (20-9, 10-6). The Pirates bested the Musketeers, 68-60, in the first meeting between the two teams; stopping the Musketeers' 13-game winning streak at the Cintas Center.
The Hall is coming off a five-point loss to Providence on Friday, but has its sights set on a second win in its last three home appearances. Prior to the setback against the Friars, Seton Hall completed the season sweep over Georgetown with a convincing 82-67 victory.
Senior Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) delivered a game-high 21 points against the Hoyas, but was absent from Friday's contest due to a hand injury sustained in a loss at DePaul on Feb. 25.
With Edwin sidelined, the two other standouts from the win over Georgetown continued to shoulder the load against Providence, as Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and Eugene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) helped keep the Pirates within striking distance.
Gibbs tallied a team-high 20 points in his return to the starting lineup during the matchup with the Friars while Teague powered his way to 17 points and 12 boards, recording his conference-leading eighth double-double of the season.
Jaren Sina (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) added 11 points in the contest as the freshman continues to occupy a starting role. Sina has been a part of the starting five in four-straight games, but came off the bench against the Musketeers to chip in 12 points and four assists. The Garden State product combined with forward Brandon Mobley (Savannah, Ga.) (11 points, four rebounds) to key a bench effort that outscored the Xavier reserves 25-to-7.
The Pirates also knocked down eight 3-pointers in the contest, while allowing only two for the Musketeers. However, Xavier is coming off a statement win over first-place Creighton in which they neutralized the conference's top long range shooting squad.
Xavier hung on to top the Bluejays, 75-69, on Saturday and did so in part to its effectiveness on the perimeter on both ends of the floor. The Musketeers sank 9-of-16 (.563) 3-point attempts as a team, including a 4-for-5 effort from lead guard Dee Davis, while limiting Creighton to just 29.4 percent (10-of-34) from beyond the arc.
Junior Justin Martin, the team's second-leading scorer at 11.4 points per game, exploded for 19 points and 16 rebounds against the Bluejays. Sophomore standout Semaj Christon led the squad with 21 points and Davis added 15, but Xavier again got just seven points from its bench despite an extended rotation that included 10 players.
In the first matchup, Seton Hall held Davis and Martin to a combined eight points while Christon and big man Matt Stainbrook accounted for 37 of the team's 60 points.
Another important factor as The Hall handed Xavier its only home loss of the season was the ball pressure applied to Christon and Davis, disrupting their efforts to initiate the offense. Davis and Christon totaled five giveaways apiece, leading to a 21-to-7 advantage in points off turnovers for The Hall.
Head coach Kevin Willard's squad thrives when playing a fast-paced style, as evidenced by its 9-1 record when scoring 70 points or more at home. If the Pirates can succeed in forcing one of the league's most efficient squads out of its rhythm and get out on the break, the Pirates could be looking at completing a second season sweep in a two-week span.
Fans are encouraged to get to Prudential Center early as Edwin, Teague and classmates Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.), Aaron Geramipoor (Manchester, England) and Kevin Lynch (Canton, Mass.) will be honored for their contributions to the program in a pregame ceremony. The team's three senior student managers Frank DeVito, Aedan Doyle and Alex Wenke will also be recognized.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting www.halltix.com or calling the Seton Hall Athletic ticket Office at (973) 275-HALL (4255). For those unable to attend, a live web stream will also be available through the FOX Sports Go mobile app.
