Seton Hall University
Columbia
Players Mentioned
Pirates Back at Prudential Center Thu. vs. Columbia
11/30/2016 2:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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| Game 7 // Home Game 3 Columbia Lions (3-3) at Seton Hall Pirates (4-2) |
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| Date/Time/Location | Thursday, Dec. 1 | 7 p.m. | Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.) |
| Television Broadcast | FS1Â | FOX Sports GO |
| Radio Broadcast | AM970 The Answer | Pirate Sports Network (FREE) | Â Sirius 84, XM 84 |
| Game Notes | Seton Hall |
| Links | Live Stats |  Twitter |  Facebook |  Tickets |
For the first time in nearly three weeks, the Pirates will be back at the friendly confines of Prudential Center Thursday as they host the Columbia Lions in non-conference action at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on FS1 (streamed on FOX Sports GO) with Rich Ackerman and Jim Spanarkel calling the action. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the radio broadcast on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network (both at SHUPirates.com and the SHU Pirates Mobile App), Sirius Channel 84 and XM Channel 84.
Pirate Points
>> The Pirates fell to 4-2 after a 66-52 setback to Stanford on Sunday night in the fifth-place game of the AdvoCare Invitational at HP Field House in Kissimmee, Fla. SHU led 24-14 with 7:23 to go in the opening half before the Cardinal used a 12-2 run to tie the game at 26-26 heading into the break. A 15-1 Stanford run in the second half put the game out of reach as the Cardinal defense stifled the Pirates. Junior guard Khadeen Carrington poured in 20 points for the fourth time this season, but the Hall was limited to season-lows of 38.0 percent from the field and 11.8 percent (2-of-17) from three-point range. Entering the game, SHU was shooting 51.0 percent overall and 37.8 percent from beyond the arc. Sunday marked the first time the Pirates lost a contest in which they had at least a seven-point lead since March 4, 2015, a string of 29 straight victories.
>> The Hall will look to get its stroke back against Columbia, who is the only Ivy League institution with a winning record over the Pirates with an all-time series lead of 11-8. However, SHU has won six of the last seven meetings, the first eight games between the teams were all home victories for the Lions spanning 1928-78, and the teams have not met since 2008.
>> SHU has largely dominated play against Ivy League opponents, and is 38-20 all-time with a 12.7 average margin of victory. The Pirates have a 12-game winning streak dating back to 1987, and are 9-0 in the 21st century. Additionally, head coach Kevin Willard is 3-0 versus Ivy League opposition while leading the Pirates.
>> Since his arrival to South Orange in 2010-11, Willard is 60-19 (.759) in non-league games. The Pirates are riding a 17- game home winning streak over non-conference opponents with an average scoring margin of +17.8. SHU has played 75 consecutive regular season non-conference games without losing two in a row, a streak that dates back to December 2010.
>> The impressive offensive outburst of 80.3 points per game for the Hall to open the season is due in large part to the versitility and craftiness of Carrington, who is second in the BIG EAST with 21.7 points per game. He has scored 17 or more points and connected on six or more field goals in all six games thus far. He is shooting 56.8 percent (50-of-88) from the field and 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from three-point range. His three-point percentage is good for sixth in the league and 16th in the country.
>> Carrington scored a career-best 28 points against Florida last weekend, and is inching closer to the 1,000-point threshold. He currently has a team-high 882 career points (53rd all-time in school history), just one point behind former teammate and current NBA player with the Brooklyn Nets, Isaiah Whitehead. Carrington has the chance to become Seton Hall's 41st 1,000-point scorer later this season.
>> Highly-touted freshman guard Myles Powell has shown flashes of brilliance through the first six games of his career. The three-point threat posted an impressive 26 points in SHU's victory at Iowa (11/17) to snap the Hawkeyes 41-game home winning streak over non-conference foes. He went 9-for-14 from the field and 5-for-7 from beyond the arc, and was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Nov. 21.
>> The Trenton native is one of three true freshmen to rank in the top-25 in scoring among BIG EAST schools. His 13.2 points per game is behind only Shamorie Ponds (St. John's, 15.8 ppg).
>> Powell's 26-point outburst proved to be notable in recent Seton Hall history. He is one of only three Pirates freshmen since 2008 to score at least 25 points in a game, joining Jeremy Hazell, who did it four times in 2008, and Isaiah Whitehead, who accomplished it vs. Rutgers in December 2014. Hazell's 25+ point games as a freshman:
- Jan. 3, 2008 vs. Connecticut – 28 points
- Jan. 19, 2008 vs. Louisville – 29 points
- Feb. 6, 2008 vs. Notre Dame – 26 points
- Feb. 17, 2008 at West Virginia – 30 points
>> Another valuable addition in the back court this season is graduate transfer from Wake Forest, Madison Jones, who leads the team with 3.8 assists per game. In his debut with the Pirates he dished out a career-high 10 helpers en route to a 91-70 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. He ranks seventh in the BIG EAST with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio.
>> Junior swingman Desi Rodriguez is an invaluable asset to the Pirates and is 15th in the BIG EAST with 14.7 points per game and third with 7.8 rebounds per game (second with 6.2 defensive rebounds per game). He has had two 20-point games and two double-doubles this season including a 23-point, 11-rebound performance in last weekend's 82-58 victory over Quinnipiac. Last season, he was one of only two BIG EAST student-athletes to shoot at least 50 percent from the field and 35 percent from three-point range.
>> Rodriguez was named to the weekly BIG EAST Honor Roll earlier this season after totaling 25 points, nine rebounds and three steals at Iowa. He scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half while shooting 7-for-8 from the field.
>> The reigning BIG EAST offensive rebounding champion, Angel Delgado, is back at the top of the leaderboard with 4.3 offensive boards per game, good for seventh in the country. No one else in the league has more than 2.8 per game to this point. The 6-foot-10 big man also leads the league with 10.2 total rebounds per game. According to KenPom, he is grabbing 17.6 percent of all available offensive rebounds, which is 14th-best in the nation.
>> Delgado has been a difficult matchup through the first six games this season, shooting 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field. In the season opener vs. FDU, he scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 14 boards while shooting 11-for-15 (73.3 percent). Against CCSU, he finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds to collect his 25th career double-double. In limited minutes due to foul trouble at Iowa he posted nine points and 11 rebounds.
>> With 683 career boards, Delgado is on pace to become Seton Hall's leading rebounder during the BIG EAST era. Herb Pope grabbed 922 boards from 2009-12 (he is the fifth overall in program history). Delgado is the BIG EAST's active leader in double-doubles, and when he delivers a double-double, good things happen for The Hall, which was 13-0 last season in those occurrences. During his career, the Pirates are 21-4 when he double-dips.
>> SHU has seen consistent scoring from Carrington, Rodriguez, Powell and Delgado, and is one of two teams (Creighton) to have four different players in the top-25 in scoring in the BIG EAST. The quartet has combined to post 76.3 percent of the total scoring output for the Pirates.
>> Filling in for Ismael Sanogo at the AdvoCare Invitational last weekend, junior Michael Nzei proved he can be a significant contributor in the post. He averaged 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in two starts and put up career highs of 19 points and 12 rebounds against Quinnipiac. For the season, he is 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) from the field.
>> The Hall has been dominant in the paint all season and is outscoring opponents 248-154. The Pirates have held a 10-point or more advantage in the paint over their opponent in five of six games. SHU outscored FDU 52-18, and Iowa, 50-24, in the paint.
>> The Pirates have one of the toughest out-of-conference schedules in the country this season. Out of the 12 games, seven matchups are against teams that advanced to postseason play in 2015-16, including four NCAA Tournament squads (Fairleigh Dickinson, Iowa, Hawaii, California). Five of the games are against opponents with KenPom/RPI rating in the top-75 (Iowa, Florida, Stanford, California, South Carolina). Seton Hall itself was a top 25 team last season in the RPI and KenPom ratings as well as the final Associated Press poll of the year.Â
