Hall Squares Off with Xavier at The Rock Sat.
1/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Coming off one of their best shooting performances of the season, the Seton Hall men's basketball team returns to the Prudential Center on Saturday afternoon, hosting Xavier in what will be the final meeting between the two squads during the regular season.
The Hall (14-6, 4-4 BIG EAST) has excelled on Saturday this season, winning all five of their games on the opening day of the weekend and out-scoring opponents by an average margin of 69.2-to-53.0 in four Saturday home appearances.
Xavier (14-7, 5-4 BIG EAST) will be making its fifth-ever trip to visit the Pirates but just its second in the last 50 years. The Musketeers have come up short in the first four - including a 71-62 loss that was part of a Seton Hall sweep last season. XU is riding some momentum as well however; having downed #21 Georgetown, 66-53, last time out to stop a five-game road losing streak in conference play that began with their most recent trip to The Rock.
In order to avoid their third consecutive home loss, the Pirates will need to disrupt what has been one of the most balanced and efficient attacks in the league this season. Xavier shot 50.0 percent from the floor (23-56) to power a 69-58 victory in the first meeting with SHU, a stellar mark that was just a shade above their league-leading average of 48.9 percent for the season.
The Musketeers succeeded in turning the contest into a half-court battle and thrived inside where they recorded 20 of their 26 field goals in the paint. The Pirates were limited to five points on the fast break, nullifying advantages in second chance (18-to-12) and bench points (26-to-21) that were engineered by a 12-point, six-rebound performance from Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) who did not start the game.
Getting out on the break is a basic tenet of head coach Kevin Willard's approach and the Pirates are averaging over eight more fast break points per game in 14 wins (12.4) than they are in six losses (4.3).
On Wednesday, The Hall recorded 22 points on the break but was propelled for the most part by timely ball movement that helped the team emerge from a difficult shooting stretch. Seton Hall recorded 23 assists in what was their first-ever road win over Marquette, matching the program's highest total in four-plus seasons under Willard (vs. St. John's, 2/14/12).
Junior Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) set a new career-high by doling out 10 helpers in the effort and was also at the forefront of a long-range barrage that saw the Pirates regain an outside shooting touch that had been missing in recent outings.
Gibbs went 6-of-9 from deep - his fourth game with at least 5 3FGM this season - spearheading a 13-of-26 performance that equaled the team's output from the previous three games.
Freshman Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) reached the 20-point mark for the second time this year, knocking down 3-of-4 from beyond the arc after totaling two 3-pointers in the first seven BIG EAST games of his career.
Gibbs and Carrington combined with Jaren Sina (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) to account for 12 of the team's 13 treys and Sina's 11-point, six-assist night marked the second time in his career that he has finished with 10+ points and at least five dimes.
An uptick from Sina was a welcome infusion for The Hall as the sophomore is contributing six more points per game in victories than he is in losses thus far in 2014-15.
He, Gibbs and Carrington will contend with a Xavier backcourt that is led by a pair of Davises in Dee and Myles who each play a vital role for an offense that has topped the 80-point mark eight times this year.
Myles has led the team in scoring in each of the last two and is leading the squad with 12.9 ppg in conference play but the Plainfield native was just 1-of-6 from the floor when the teams squared off in Cincinnati. Dee delivered a game-high 14 points in the win over SHU and ranks second in the BIG EAST with 6.4 assists/game against conference foes.
Down low, Xavier boasts two of the five players shooting over 60 percent from the field in league action in Jalen Reynolds (.620) and Matt Stainbrook (.623) with Seton Hall's Delgado (.603) being one of the other three along with Daniel Ochefu of Villanova (.600) and league-leader Josh Smith of Georgetown (.667).
Opponents have not found much success at The Rock this season though, shooting 36.2 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from deep and if the Pirates can limit Xavier with similar effectiveness on Saturday, they will have five BIG EAST wins in their first nine conference games for the first time since 2007-08.
Tip-off is slated for Noon and the game can be seen live nationally on FOX Sports 1 or through the FOX Sports Go app. The Seton Hall radio team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the call locally on AM970 (WNYM) and can also be heard around the country on Sirius channel 134, XM channel 202 and the Pirate Sports Network on SHUPirates.com.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased online here or at the Prudential Center box office on Saturday morning.
