Hall, Marquette Meet at The Rock Saturday
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CBS Sports Network | Game Notes | Live Audio |
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team will open a two-game homestand on Saturday as the Pirates will look to complete their first-ever season sweep of Marquette when the Golden Eagles visit the Prudential Center for a matinee affair.
After a setback at DePaul on Tuesday, The Hall (15-7, 5-5 BIG EAST) returns home where they registered a season-high 90 points in an eight-point win over Xavier last Saturday; adding to the success the team has earned on the opening day of the weekend.
In six Saturday appearances to this point in the campaign the Pirates are a perfect 6-0 with five of those victories coming at The Rock.
The offensive outburst against the Musketeers followed an 80-70 road win over Marquette (10-12, 2-8 BIG EAST) that marked the first time Seton Hall had prevailed in Milwaukee in a series that dates back to 1956.
All five Seton Hall starters scored in double-figures to fuel the win - the third time in BIG EAST play that five SHU players have scored at least 10 points in the same game. Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) recorded his first career double-double on the night, delivering 24 points and 10 assists as The Hall carved through a Golden Eagles defense that has only allowed 68.3 points per game against league opposition.
The effort ignited a current run of three-straight 20+ point efforts for Gibbs who knocked down six treys as the Pirates lit up the scoreboard with a season-high 13 triples.
BIG EAST Rookie of the Year candidate Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) helped balance out the attack with his work on the interior; collecting his seventh double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow newcomer Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) turned in perhaps the most well-rounded performance of his debut season, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-4 from downtown in his second 20-point game of the year.
Delgado and Carrington have each taken home two BIG EAST Rookie of the Week awards in 2014-15; as has Isaiah Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) whose return has injected yet another versatile option into the squad, one that was not in action when The Hall dished out a season-best 23 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field in the previous meeting between the two teams.
The contest in Milwaukee was effectively decided in the opening stages of the second half as Seton Hall scored on its first eight possessions in the final period during a 22-to-3 run that saw their advantage balloon to as large as 24 points.
At home, the Pirates have typically come out of the gates strong this year - outscoring opponents by an average of more than nine points in the first half. When going into the break with an advantage, the Pirates have been nearly automatic, posting 14 victories in 15 games in which they have led at halftime.
Home court advantage could be an important factor on the day as Seton Hall owns a 9-2 home record through 11 appearances at The Rock while Marquette has fallen in all six of its true road games, scoring under 60 points in all five of its away games against league foes.
Against Marquette, the focus is often on standout transfer Matt Carlino who has come over from BYU and emerged as one of the top shooters in the league, racking up 17.3 points per contest during the conference season. Duane Wilson leads all BIG EAST freshmen with 11.9 ppg in conference games.
Carlino connected on four triples against SHU but Wilson was held to nine points in a game where four Golden Eagles scored in double-figures, including Sandy Cohen III who came off the bench to score 11 points in the second half.
The MU reserves out-scored the Seton Hall bench 22-to-0 in the game but in the two outings since, SHU freshman Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) has totaled 25 points in 18.0 mpg off the bench - highlighted by a career-high 16 against Xavier - and grabbed six rebounds in each of the two contests.
Tip-off between the two teams is slated for 12:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen live nationally on the CBS Sports Network. The Seton Hall radio team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the call for AM970 (WNYM) and can be heard around the country on Sirius channel 108, XM channel 201 and the Pirate Sports Network on SHUPirates.com.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased online or at the Prudential Center Box Office beginning at 10:00 a.m.
