Pirates Host DePaul Sunday at The Rock

2017-18 BIG EAST Game Seton Hall Pirates (17-9, 6-7 BIG EAST) vs. DePaul Blue Demons (10-15, 3-10 BIG EAST)
Date/Time/Location	Sunday, February 18 \| 1 p.m. \| Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.)
Tickets	Ticketmaster.com \| Prudential Center Box Office
Television Broadcast	FS1 \| FOX Sports GO
Radio Broadcast	AM970 The Answer \| Pirate Sports Network
Game Notes	Seton Hall \| DePaul
Links	Live Stats \| Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram
Promotions	Kids Day (First 500 children to the Kids Zone receive a free growth chart)
Sell Out Senior Day	SHUSeniorDay.com

Relax.

Yes, Seton Hall enters Sunday's game on a four-game losing streak, but the Pirates are not done yet. Oklahoma and Kentucky have also lost four in a row; West Virginia had lost five of six; Baylor dropped eight of 11; Butler has had two three-game losing streaks this season. Remember, Xavier lost six in a row last season only to get hot and advance to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

These things happen, especially when playing in the BIG EAST Conference, rated the third-best in the nation according to KenPom and named the Best #OffBroadway production in the country.

The Pirates need a win Sunday, but they've been here before, and they have an opportunity to right the ship with a strong performance against DePaul, which despite its record, is very talented and is tied for third in the league in conference road wins (3).

Over the last two seasons, Seton Hall's final five conference games have resulted in a combined 8-2 record.

Sunday's game will be nationally televised on FS1 with Dave Sims and Jim Spanarkel on the call, tip-off at 1 p.m. As always, the dynamic duo of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will deliver the radio broadcast on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on Sirius 83, XM 83 and the Pirate Sports Network.

With Kids Day Sunday at @SetonHallMBB game vs. DePaul, check out some portraits the talented students at the Elmora School No. 12 in Elizabeth drew! https://t.co/OsqC0Qtbf0 #HALLin pic.twitter.com/l2jdWURLHw
— Seton Hall Athletics (@SHUAthletics) February 16, 2018

THINGS TO KNOW

Seton Hall looks to make it a regular-season sweep of DePaul on Sunday afternoon as the Pirates return home to Prudential Center following a two-game roadstand at Georgetown and Xavier.
On Wednesday, Myles Powell scored a career-high 30 points, but Seton Hall was overwhelmed by No. 4 Xavier's three-point shooting as the Musketeers made 14-of-29 shots from beyond the arc to earn a 102-90 win over the Pirates at Cintas Center.
Seton Hall was resilient the entire game, scoring 65 second-half points, the most in any half this season, to whittle a 25-point deficit down to six. Powell scored 24 of the 65 points in the final frame. Sandro Mamukelashvili also had a breakout game with a career-high 17 points, while Desi Rodriguez finished with his fourth-consecutive 20-point game.
At home, Rodriguez averages a team-high 17.6 points while shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from three-point range. Khadeen Carrington averages 15.4 points in home games, has a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, and is 53-of-61 (86.9 percent) from the free throw line.
The core four offensive contributors for the Pirates - Delgado, Carrington, Rodriguez and Powell - have scored 61.9 points per game during BIG EAST play - 79.7 percent of the team's total points.
Sunday marks the 22nd all-time meeting between Seton Hall and DePaul, with the Pirates holding a 15-6 lead in the series. Each of the last five meetings have gone to Seton Hall, including a 86-70 victory in Chicago on Jan. 28, and an 87-56 blowout win for the Pirates in Newark on Jan. 7 last season. Seton Hall has won the last five matchups by an average of 13.6 points:
- 01/02/16 - W, 78-74 (H)
- 03/05/16 - W, 80-66 (A)
- 01/07/17 - W, 87-56 (H)
- 02/25/17 - W, 82-79 (A)
- 01/28/18 - W, 86-70 (A)
At Wintrust Arena on Jan. 28, the Pirates led for the entire game, but used a 10-0 run late in the first half to take a 15-point lead into the break. They kept the Blue Demons at arm's length throughout the second half as Angel Delgado picked up his 702nd BIG EAST rebound to become the conference's all-time leader. Powell led four Pirates in double-figures with 21 points while Delgado finished with a season-high 19 rebounds.
In last season's blowout victory over DePaul at Prudential Center, Rodriguez and Delgado shot a combined 18-of-22 from the field for 45 points, while the defense held the Blue Demons to 28 percent shooting in the second half. Rodriguez scored 23 of his game-high 25 points in the first half alone. Delgado finished with 20 points and 12 boards.
Head coach Kevin Willard is 9-4 all-time against DePaul.

#PiratePursuit

Seton Hall has flourished in the program's previous two seasons to the likes of which the program has not seen in over 20 years, and they are in pursuit of a truly special 2017-18 campaign.

The Pirates concluded non-conference play with a handful of resume-boosting victories including four over teams currently in the KenPom Top-100. Seton Hall also has three wins over ranked opponents this season.

In the Polls

The Pirates head into Sunday receiving votes in USA Today Coaches Poll.

It is the fourth time this season the Pirates have not been ranked in either poll.

Earlier this season Seton Hall was No. 13 in the rankings, the highest since Jan. 2, 2001.

Seton Hall has been in the weekly national rankings 111 times in program history, and 11 times this season.

Building a Resume

The Pirates have already notched several key wins that will loom large down the road, including victories over nine teams currently in the KenPom Top-100:

Indiana - 74 (W, 84-68)

Vanderbilt - 92 (W, 72-59)

Texas Tech - 7 (W, 89-79)

Louisville - 29 (W, 79-77)

Creighton - 22 (W, 90-84)

St. John's - 72 (W, 75-70)

Butler - 26 (W, 90-87)

Georgetown - 86 (W, 74-61)

Providence - 67 (W, 73-57)

Home is Whenever I'm at Pru

Seton Hall is very difficult to beat at Prudential Center. It is 12-2 this season, and has won 14 of the last 16 home games overall. Furthermore, the Pirates have won 13 of their last 17 BIG EAST games and six of the last eight at The Rock.

02/25/16 - Providence (W, 70-52)

02/28/16 - #5 Xavier (W, 90-81)

01/01/17 - Marquette (W, 69-66)

01/07/17 - DePaul (W, 87-56)

01/22/17 - St. John's (W, 86-73)

02/08/17 - Providence (W, 72-70 OT)

02/15/17 - #20 Creighton (W, 87-81)

02/22/17 - Xavier (W, 71-64)

02/28/17 - Georgetown (W, 62-59)

12/28/17 - #25 Creighton (W, 90-84)

12/31/17 - St. John's (W, 75-70)

01/13/18 - Georgetown (W, 74-61)

01/31/18 - Providence (W, 73-57)

Down the Stretch We Go

There is no question that games this time of year simply mean more. In the past, there has been a direct correlation between Seton Hall's success in February and March, and reaching the NCAA Tournament. During these two months, the Pirates have an incredible 70-32 combined record in the 11 seasons the program reached the NCAA Tournament.

1987-88: 6-2

1988-89: 6-3

1990-91: 4-3

1991-92: 9-2

1992-93: 9-1

1993-94: 4-4

1999-00: 5-4

2003-04: 7-4

2005-06: 6-4

2015-16: 7-2

2016-17: 7-3

Trio of Veteran Scorers

Between Rodriguez, Carrington and Delgado, the Pirates have an incredible trio of experienced scorers - the three have a combined 4,731 career points.

All three are Top-20 all-time scorers in the history of the program, with Carrington leading the trio (11th), followed by Rodriguez (16th) and Delgado (20th).

No other class in program history has more than one player on the Top-20 all-time scoring list

Each also has significant experience scoring in double-figures:

Delgado - 83 times

Carrington - 80 times

Rodriguez - 76 times

We Go As He Goes

Seton Hall is 35-14 all-time and 8-1 this season when Carrington connects on two or more three-pointers.

Big MAMU

Freshman big man Sandro Mamukelashvili had his breakout collegiate game on Wednesday night at Xavier.

He scored a career-best 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, and went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. He also added seven rebounds including five on the offensive end, and added a pair of blocks in his 21 minutes of action.

Sanogo Stepping Up

Although widely regarded as the team's top defender, Ismael Sanogo has shown the ability to step in and contribute on the offensive end and on the glass.

Over his last 10 games, Sanogo has averaged 7.5 points and 6.2 rebounds. In his previous 15 games this season, he had averaged 3.7 points and 4.1 boards.

He has gone 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from three-point range over the last 10 games. Entering the season, he was 1-for-6 in his career from long range. He also began the season 0-for-7 from deep.

At Marquette on Jan. 9, he scored a career-high 14 points to go along with six boards and a pair of three-point buckets to spark the stretch of elevated play.

Delgado Can Swing It

Angel Delgado's ability to distribute the ball and find the open man has been one of the most important aspects of his game, and has allowed the Pirates offense to click.

He is averaging 2.9 assists per game this season, the most among any non-guard in the BIG EAST.

During league play, he has already had four games with five or more assists, and is tied for 13th in the BIG EAST with 3.2 per game.

A New King

Angel Delgado had already cemented his name in the BIG EAST record book entering the season. But at DePaul on Jan. 28, with his second rebound, BIG EAST career rebound No. 702, he broke Syracuse's Derrick Coleman's (1986-90) all-time BIG EAST career rebound record that had stood for 28 years.

The big man is also second on the BIG EAST's all-time rebounding average list (11.45) behind only Michael Smith (Providence, 1991-94, 11.66 rpg).

Delgado is comfortable putting up eye-popping rebounding numbers. In 2016-17, he recorded over 200 more rebounds than any other player in the BIG EAST, and set the conference's single-season conference-games only rebounding record (253). He also set the BIG EAST single season conference-games only record for rebounding average (14.1).

Dependable Desi

Desi Rodriguez has been the most consistent offensive contributor, and an outright stud all season.

He has scored 20 or more in the last four games, averaging 21.3 points, shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from long range, and has turned the ball over just four times while dishing out 12 assists.

Last week, Rodriguez was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the third time this season after averaging 18.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists against Villanova and Providence. He was 56.0 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from long range.

He is averaging a team-best 17.9 points per game, good for eighth in the BIG EAST. He is shooting 50.1 percent (176-for-351) from the field and 37.9 percent (47-for-124) from long range.

The Pirates are 10-3 this season when Rodriguez is the team's leading scorer, and 34-14 all-time when he scores at least 15 points.

In seven career games against DePaul, Rodriguez is averaging 12.9 points and shooting 54.8 percent from the field.

Finish Strong

The Pirates pride themselves on defense, and have proven the ability to hold off late pushes by the opposition.

In fact, Seton Hall is 59-6 in its last 65 games (dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season) when holding a lead of seven or more at any point in the contest.

Shooters Shoot

The Pirates have shot 50.0 percent or better in eight games and 40.0 percent or better in 25 of 26 games this season.

Limiting Turnovers

The Pirates have done a great job of protecting the basketball over the last four games, averaging just 8.5 turnovers.

For the year, the Pirates average 13.2 giveaways, and have 422 assists to 342 turnovers (1.2 ratio).

Against Marquette on Feb. 7, Seton Hall totaled 15 assists and had just four turnovers, the fewest number of giveaways in at least the last 10 years. In the last 10 years, Seton Hall has only had two other games in which it committed five or fewer turnovers:

5 vs. Saint Peter's (11/29/10 - W, 69-49)

5 vs. Connecticut (02/14/09 - L, 54-62)

Rebounding on Both Ends

Delgado's ability to rebound on both ends of the floor has earned him national attention.

Last week he was named a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, as well as the Senior CLASS Award.

He was named to the 2018 Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List after earning a spot on the 2018 John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top-25 list three weeks ago.

Delgado's 4.1 offensive boards per game so far this season is good for sixth in the country. Overall, Delgado's 11.5 rebounds per game are also fifth-best in the nation.

Against Vanderbilt earlier this season, Delgado was held without an offensive rebound, snapping a streak of 71 games with one or more offensive boards.

He has grabbed one or more offensive rebounds in 121 of 124 career games and 91 of the last 92.

Bullies in the Backcourt

Against Providence on Jan. 31, Carrington and Powell held two of the best guards in the BIG EAST, Kyron Cartwright and Jalen Lindsey, SCORELESS on a combined 0-for-13 effort from the field.

Entering the game and during BIG EAST play, Cartwright was averaging 16.1 points, a league-best 7.5 assists, was shooting 51.8 from the floor, and had a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.

On top of being held without a point, Cartwright turned it over four times and dished out just two assists in 27 minutes.

Lindsey was averaging 12.7 points in conference games and shooting 47.8 percent from deep overall. He was shut out and limited to 0-for-4 from long range.

Getting to the Line is Key

The Pirates are 28-4 over the last 32 games and 13-2 this season with they have more free-throw attempts than their opponent.

Block You Like A Hurricane

As a team, the Pirates already have more blocks this season (104) than they did in all of 2016-17 (83).

Ismael Sanogo leads the way with 26 blocks, and has recorded three or more on four occasions.

Angel Delgado has blocked 22 shots so far, and finished with a career-best four against Xavier on Jan. 20.

Second-Half Heroics

On Dec. 28 the Pirates pulled off a 13-point second half comeback win over Creighton, and an 11-point second half comeback win at Butler on Jan. 6. Seton Hall also trailed Georgetown by 10 in the first half on Jan. 13, but won by 13 points. It has been stellar in the second half all season.

Over the final 20 minutes, Seton Hall is shooting 47.3 percent while holding opponents to 42.5 percent shooting from the field.

One of the main reasons the Pirates have been able to create separation during the second half this season has been their three-point field goal defense. Opponents are shooting just 34.2 percent (94-for-275) from long range over the final 20 minutes.

One of the All-Timers

Carrington has a natural scoring ability that ranks him among the all-time greats at The Hall.

Currently, Carrington is 11th on the all-time scoring leaderboard with 1,669 career points.

He also ranks 15th on the all-time assists leaderboard with 356.

The Brooklyn native has scored 20 or more points 22 times in his career.

Carrington has found his stroke at the free throw line, and is shooting 84.9 percent (45-of-53) during BIG EAST play, up from 79.2 percent in 11 non-conference games this year.

Carrington is two points away from breaking into the Top-10 on the all-time scoring list. He would be the first Pirate to crack the Top-10 scoring list since Jeremy Hazell (2007-11). Before Hazell, no one had broken into the Top-10 since 1988 (Mark Bryant).

Against Xavier on Wednesday night, he also passed Fuquan Edwin (2010-14) for 10th in program history for made three-point field goals.

Owning the Glass

It helps to have the best rebounder in the country, but rebounding is truly a team effort, and the Pirates have proven the ability to dominate.

The Pirates have had a positive margin in 23 of the last 31 games dating back to last season.

The Pirates score an average of 36.6 points in the paint and allow just 29.6 per game.

Some Wine With That?

Myles Powell, AKA "Cheese", has had a tremendous sophomore campaign, and is shooting 41.9 percent (75-of-179) from three-point range.

He scored a career-high 30 points against Xavier on Wednesday on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor.

Against Georgetown on Jan. 13, Cheese filled the box score with a game-high 19 points, five rebounds, and a career-high six steals.

Earlier this season against Texas Tech, Powell also took control when it mattered most. With 2:05 to go in the game, Cheese banged a three to push the lead to nine. He later made an acrobatic layup, then stole the ball on the ensuing possession and converted a layup while being fouled with 1:20 left. In all, he finished with eight of the team's final 10 points.

Cheese has scored in double-figures in 23 of 26 games this year.

He is already 12th all-time in school history with 143 career three-point field goals.

Powell has connected on a three-point bucket in 53 of 59 career games and has made five or more on six occasions including each of the last two games.

In three career games against DePaul, he is averaging 16.3 points, 2.3 steals, is 50.0 percent from the field and 44.0 percent (11-for-25) from deep.

Sharing is Caring

Against St. John's on Dec. 31, the Pirates assisted on 19 of their 24 made field goals, the highest percentage of assists to field goals this season.

A total of four different Pirates have recorded five assists or more in a single game this season (Carrington, Delgado, Powell, Rodriguez).

The Pirates have won 17 of 22 games when they register a positive assist-to-turnover ratio and 22 of the last 28.

Seton Hall has finished with an even or positive assist-to-turnover ratio in 20 of 26 games this year.

Filling the Box Score

Ismael Sanogo is one of the most well-rounded players in the BIG EAST, and although not all of his skills are reflected in the statistics, he does an outstanding job of checking the boxes.

He has had six games this season with at least one point, rebound, block, assist and steal, including two of the last three contests.

At Villanova on Feb. 4, he totaled four points, five rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a steal.

At Georgetown on Saturday, the Newark native finished with six points, 10 rebounds, one assist, one block and two steals.

Over the last 10 games, he has 11 blocks, nine steals and nine assists while averaging 26.0 minutes.