3 Things About Monday's BIG EAST Opener at DePaul

2019-20 BIG EAST Game Seton Hall Pirates (8-4, 0-0 BIG EAST) at DePaul Blue Demons (12-1, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Date/Time/Location	Monday, Dec. 30 \| 8:30 p.m. \| Wintrust Arena (Chicago, Ill.)
Television Broadcast	FS1 \| FOXSportsGO
Radio Broadcast	AM970 \| Pirate Sports Network
Game Notes	Seton Hall \| DePaul
Links	Live Stats \| Twitter \| Instagram

The old adage is "it's not how you start, it's how you finish," but is there any correlation between winning your first conference game and going on to win the league's regular season title, tournament title or both?

In the new BIG EAST (since 2013-14), each regular season champion started the season 1-0 and only Providence in 2014 started the season 0-1 before going on to win the tournament crown. In the old BIG EAST, Georgetown was the last regular season champion to start the year 0-1, occurring in 2012-13.

For Seton Hall all-time in the BIG EAST, the Pirates are 19-21 in league openers, but 7-2 under Kevin Willard. In the 19 years that the Pirates won their league opener, they went on to post a .500 or better conference record and advance to the NCAA Tournament 10 times.

So does winning the first game of an 18-game grind matter in the long run? Maybe yes, maybe no. But trust us, these Pirates want to win the first game badly.

Monday's game will air on FS1 with Lisa Byington and Steve Lavin on the telecast. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will be your radio crew as usual on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network.

Three Things to Know About Monday's BIG EAST Opener at DePaul

1. How Will the Pirates Stop Paul Reed?
DePaul's junior power forward and the league's 2019 Most Improved Player is having a monster start to the season with 10 double-doubles, including four in a row. Last season, he torched the Pirates at Prudential Center with 21 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. Will Romaro Gill or Jared Rhoden be asked to defend the budding Blue Demons star? Whomever it is will need to blanket Reed, stay in front of him and have high hands.

2. What About Charlie Moore?
Even though this is Charlie Moore's first season at DePaul, can you believe this will be the third time he crosses paths with Seton Hall? He played against the Pirates as a member of the Cal Bears in 2016, when the two teams matched up in Pearl Harbor. Moore had 12 points in the game. Then Moore transferred to Kansas and was in his sit-out year when the Pirates played the Jayhawks in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Now he's transferred to DePaul, and enjoying a heck of a start to the season, averaging 16.5 points with 87 assists against 40 turnovers. He's coming off a 25-point, 10-assist, 0-turnover performance in a win over Northwestern. Paging Quincy McKnight.

3. Rebounding Will Be Key
The Pirates have struggled to shoot the basketball, but grabbing some offensive rebounds and generating some second chance opportunities can narrow the gap against a DePaul team ranked 271st in the nation in offensive rebound percentage allowed (30.8%). The Blue Demons have allowed as many as 21 offensive rebounds in a game this season.