The Hall Squares Off With Memphis Thursday At ESPN Events Invitational

Game 5: Seton Hall Pirates (3-1) vs. Memphis Tigers (2-1)
Thursday, Nov. 24 • State Farm Fieldhouse (Orlando Fla.) • 7:30 p.m.
TV: ESPNews • Mark Neely & Randolph Childress
Web: WatchESPN
Radio: SHU Pirates Mobile App / Pirate Sports Network / SXM 383, SXM app 973 / Dave Popkin & Matt Ambrose
Game Notes: Seton Hall | Memphis
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NOTES YOU NEED TO KNOW

Seton Hall will face another early season test this week as the Pirates get set to take on Memphis on Thursday in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
In its fifth game of the season, Seton Hall will have already played three NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
The Pirates are 31-13 in in-season tournaments and showcase games since 2010-11 with two tournament titles in that span (2014 Paradise Jam; 2018 Wooden Legacy).
Thursday's game pits two standouts as players coaching at their alma maters in Memphis' Penny Hardaway and Seton Hall's Shaheen Holloway.
Both scored 1,000 career points (Holloway, 1,588; Hardaway, 1,319), racked up 350+ assists (Holloway, 681; Hardaway, 392) and 150+ steals (Holloway, 231; Hardaway, 162).
Both were a part of teams that advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament as players with Holloway on Seton Hall's Sweet 16 team in 2000 and Hardaway with Memphis' Elite Eight squad in 1992.
Holloway is the first Seton Hall graduate to lead the men's basketball program since all-time great Richie Regan '53 led the Pirates from 1960-70.
Holloway was previously on the Seton Hall bench as associate head coach from 2010-18.
In that time span, the Pirates registered four 20-win seasons, three NCAA Tournament appearances and won the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament title.
Seton Hall is one of only eight Division I programs and the only BIG EAST school with at least four alumni serving as active head coaches (Holloway; Copeland; Dan Hurley, UConn; Levell Sanders, Binghamton).
Through four games, four Pirates are averaging double figures, nine Pirates are averaging at least five points per game and 10 Pirates are averaging at least 13 minutes per contest.
The Hall's bench production leads the BIG EAST and ranks 17th nationally with 36.3 points per game.
In Holloway's last 14 games as a head coach, his teams have allowed just 56.5 points per game.
Seton Hall ranks fifth nationally and leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage defense (32.8 percent) and three-point field goal defense (21.2 percent).
The Pirates' defensive efficiency ranks 27th in the country by KenPom.
KC Ndefo (Elmont, N.Y.) is the NCAA's active career leader in blocks with 313.
Coming off of the bench the first three games, junior Dre Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) ranks second on the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game on 50 percent shooting from three (3-of-6) and 45 percent shooting from the floor.
Senior Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J.) posted his first career double-double with a 13-point, 10-rebound performance against Saint Peter's and he leads the Pirates in scoring with 12 points per game.
Seton Hall is 5-1 all-time when senior Tray Jackson (Detroit, Mich.) makes at least three three-point baskets.
Dawes is the first Pirates newcomer to score in double figures in his first two games in the Blue & White since Derrick Gordon in 2015-16.
Reunited are juniors Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Femi Odukale (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who were high school teammates at South Shore High School in Brooklyn.
With the Davis' (Dre and Tae) and the Harris' (Jamir and JaQuan), Seton Hall is one of three schools in DI (Clemson and Kansas City) that has two sets of brothers on the same team.
The Hall is 134-20 (.870) since 2015-16 when its lead gets to seven points.