Unbeaten Pirates Open Gildan Charleston Classic vs. The Beach Thursday
11/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| Game 3 - Neutral Game 1 - Gildan Charleston Classic Quarterfinal | |
| Seton Hall (2-0) vs. Long Beach State (2-0) | |
| Date | Thurs., Nov. 19 | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| Location | TD Arena | Charleston, S.C. |
| Tune in | ESPNU (national) | WatchESPN (stream) |
| Links | | Seton Hall Radio (PSN) | @SetonHallMBB on Twitter |
| Notes | Media Central | Seton Hall Notes |
The Tip:
After sweeping a pair of opening weekend matchups with Dartmouth and Wagner at home, the Seton Hall men's basketball team will hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to take part in the eight-team Gilddan Charleston Classic.
The Hall (2-0) will meet Long Beach State (2-0) in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, November 19 before squaring off with either no. 6 Virginia or Bradley on Friday. Play at the tournament will conclude on Sunday, November 20 with Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, George Mason and Towson waiting as potential final round opponents for the Pirates.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selection Isaiah Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) leads SHU into its quest for a second tournament title in as many seasons as a young squad looks to follow up a championship run at last year's Paradise Jam.
Whitehead averaged 18.0 points and 5.5 assists in the first two outings of 2015-16 and is at the controls for an all-sophomore Seton Hall starting five that has shone brightly in the early going.
Tune In:
A live national broadcast is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. with Doug Sherman and Dino Gaudio handling commentary duties for ESPNU. A live stream will also be available online and through mobile devices on the WatchESPN app. The Seton Hall radio team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin can be heard locally on AM970 (WNYM) The Answer as well as online at PirateSportsNet.tv
Follow Us:
For exclusive content and coverage throughout the season and especially on gameday, be sure to follow@SetonHallMBB on Twitter
All-Time Series:
Seton Hall and Long Beach State will be meeting for the first time in the history of the respective programs
Pirate Points:
- Sophomore Isaiah Whitehead was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll Monday after scoring a team,-high 18 points for the second straight game on Sunday as the Pirates secured their second double-digit victory of the season with a 69-59 win over Wagner. Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) (13 pts), Derrick Gordon (Plainfield, N.J.) (11 pts) and Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) (10 pts) also finished in double-figures and the Pirates have finished each of the first two games with four players scoring 10 or more
- Delgado's 10 points went along with 10 rebounds as the sophomore recorded his first double-double of the season after leading the BIG EAST with 10 en route to Rookie of the Year honors last year when he became the second Pirate ever to earn the honor (Eddie Griffin, 2001). The Hall is 7-4 when Delgado notches a double-double, including a 4-0 mark when he does so against non-conference foes (+14.7 average win margin)
- SHU was on the mark from the free-throw line in the win over the Seahawks, connecting on 24-of-28 (.857) from the stripe after going just 22-of-43 (.512) in a season-opening win over Dartmouth. The Hall knocked down 17-of-19 freebies in the second half against Wagner, helping seal the win despite 5-of-23 (.217) shooting in the final period. The team's 5 FGM in the second half matched the lowest total for the team in any half of a victory during the Kevin Willard era (vs. Stony Brook - W, 60-59, 12/28/12)
- Whitehead, Delgado and Rodriguez joined Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Ismael Sanogo (Newark, N.J.) in an all-sophomore starting lineup for The Hall for the second-straight game. Together, the quintet has combined to post totals of 59 and 58 points respectively in each of the first two games. Whitehead (19 GS - missed nine games due to injury) and Delgado (30 GS) were regulars in the starting lineup as freshmen while Carrington (8), Rodriguez (2) and Sanogo (1) totaled 11 starts between them as rookies. Despite serving primarily as reserves however, Rodriguez and Carrington joined Delgado as the only three Pirates to appear in all 31 games last season.
- With 11 assists and 10 FGM, Isaiah Whitehead has directly factored into over 40 percent of Seton Hall's made shots (21/49, .428) in his first two games as the primary point guard. The former McDonald's All-American has been on the floor for all but six of the Pirates' made field goals over the first two contests and has assisted on 41.1 percent of his teammate's made shots while in the game. The sophomore standout enters the Charleston Classic with nearly a 2.0 assist/turnover ratio (11/6) while averaging 30.0 minutes per game
- Sanogo has made the largest leap from year one to year two, logging 60 minutes in the first two games after playing 96 total as a freshman. The Newark native has already surpassed last season's totals for points (15/9) and rebounds (19/18) while continuing to establish himself as a force defensively with five blocks. In four career games with 15+ minutes played, Sanogo has swatted 10 shots for an average of one block per every 9.7 minutes.
- The new all-sophomore starting five has accounted for over 75 percent of the team's scoring (117/153, .764) and rebounding (62/82, .756) in the first two contests after combining to account for 49 percent of the team's scoring and 60 percent of its rebounding as freshmen. Delgado (3), Carrington (2) and Whitehead (2) took home seven BIG EAST Rookie of the Week awards during the year, a single-season school record
- The Hall returns to the Gildan Charleston Classic for the second time in school history - both of which have come under Kevin Willard. In 2011, Herb Pope was named to the All-Tournament Team after capping a runner-up showing that featured wins over VCU and Saint Joseph's with 32 points (14-of-17 FG) and nine rebounds in the championship round loss to Northwestern. Last season, Willard guided the Pirates to a tournament title at the Paradise Jam (U.S. Virgin Islands) with wins over Nevada, Gardner Webb and Illinois State - the program's first tournament title since downing Virginia, a potential semifinal opponent this week, to capture the Philly Hoop Group Classic in 2007. It was also SHU's first title at a traditional eight-team tournament since the 1988 Great Alaska Shootout, a year that saw The Hall appear in the Final Four and finish as the national runner-up under PJ Carlesimo
- Senior transfer and Garden State product Derrick Gordon has made an immediate impact at The Hall, scoring 10+ points off the bench in each of his first two appearances. Gordon, who began his career at Western Kentucky before playing two seasons at UMass, is no stranger to the Charleston Classic having appeared in the event with the Hilltoppers as a freshman in 2011 before helping to guide the Minutemen to the 2013 title with victories over Nebraska, New Mexico and Clemson
Scouting Long Beach State
- Freshman Noah Blackwell delivered a team-high 11 points off the bench as the 49ers held on for a late-night win over BYU (66-65) on Monday. Blackwell led an effort in which the LBSU reserves combined for 34 points to power the victory
- The Beach shot just 31.0 percent from the field against the Cougars but similar to the Pirates' win over Wagner, LBSU capitalized on an advantage from the free-throw line; finishing with a 15-to-8 edge from the stripe
- Maryland transfer Nick Faust has made an immediate impact at The Beach, averaging 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds while joining Blackwell as the only 49ers with 10+ points in each of the first two games. Faust is shooting only 7-of-27 (.259) from the field however and 3-for-12 from downtown. Faust averaged nearly 4.0 3FGA/game in his final two seasons in College Park, shooting 32.5 percent
- LBSU has forced 43 turnovers in its first two contests and turned them into a total of 37 points.
- There has been a total of one lead change in The Beach's first two games as the 49ers led wire-to-wire against BYU-Hawaii and moved ahead of BYU for good at the 13:05 mark of the first half on Monday
- LBSU has four wins over high-major opponents away from home in the last four seasons; two of which came in a runner-up showing at the 2011 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu (Xavier, Auburn). That same season, LBSU won at no. 9 Pittsburgh. The 49ers also bested Xavier at last season's DirecTV Wooden Legacy in California
- All five of LBSU's starters are in their first or second year competing for the program (three transfers (Faust, Gabe Levin (Loyola-Marymount), Roschon Prince (USC)), one JuCo product (A.J. Spencer) and one sophomore (Justin Bibbins))
