By JP Pelzman
The MRI taken on Quincy McKnight’s left knee was negative, Seton Hall announced late Monday afternoon. He is listed as day-to-day.
That result means there has been no structural damage to McKnight’s knee. Nor to Seton Hall’s dream season.
Still, it is unclear if he will be able to suit up for the 12th-ranked Pirates’ contest at Georgetown (13-9, 3-6 Big East) on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. Then again, it is equally uncertain if star Georgetown guard Mac McClung will play.
McClung missed the Hoyas’ 73-72 road victory over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Sunday with a foot injury and he too was scheduled for an MRI. McClung’s absence would make an already thin Georgetown roster that much more vulnerable to fatigue.
Now if McKnight cannot play against the Hoyas, or is, at the very least, limited in terms of minutes, there are options for Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard. The most obvious one is to start backup Antony Nelson at point guard, as Willard did for two games in December when star shooting guard Myles Powell was sidelined with a concussion.
Nelson started both games while Powell was out. In the victory over Maryland that began the 10-game winning streak for Seton Hall (16-5, 8-1), Nelson had four assists and three turnovers. But despite those perhaps unimpressive numbers, Nelson did a good job of getting the Pirates into their halfcourt offense at the right time.
If McKnight can give the Pirates some quality minutes in D.C., so much the better. If not, then Willard might occasionally have Powell or Shavar Reynolds run the point. It’s possible, as Willard himself indicated on the post-game radio interview, of forward Myles Cale seeing some time in the backcourt if McKnight indeed is out.
Then again, Cale is struggling mightily since back-to-back 16-point efforts against DePaul and Georgetown in the first two Big East contests. Since then, he has averaged 4.6 points in seven games in 26.2 minutes per.
As for Powell, perhaps going to Washington will help him shake his slump. He scored 35 points in a double-OT loss there last season.
It also will be interesting to see how much Sandro Mamukelashvili can contribute. He looked much better against Xavier in his second game back from injury. His offense near the basket will be important now that Big East opponents seem to have figured out the pick-and-rolls to Romaro Gill.
As for Georgetown, it benefited from shaky decision-making Sunday by both St. John’s point guard Rasheem Dunn and coach Mike Anderson, who inexplicably pressed the short-handed Hoyas in the waning seconds, leading to the go-ahead basket.
Georgetown trailed by 17 points with 16 minutes left, yet somehow rallied, despite its five starters playing 186 off a possible 200 minutes in McClung’s absence. Pressure defense was the key, as the Johnnies had 12 turnovers, all in the second half.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
The MRI taken on Quincy McKnight’s left knee was negative, Seton Hall announced late Monday afternoon. He is listed as day-to-day.
That result means there has been no structural damage to McKnight’s knee. Nor to Seton Hall’s dream season.
Still, it is unclear if he will be able to suit up for the 12th-ranked Pirates’ contest at Georgetown (13-9, 3-6 Big East) on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. Then again, it is equally uncertain if star Georgetown guard Mac McClung will play.
McClung missed the Hoyas’ 73-72 road victory over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Sunday with a foot injury and he too was scheduled for an MRI. McClung’s absence would make an already thin Georgetown roster that much more vulnerable to fatigue.
Now if McKnight cannot play against the Hoyas, or is, at the very least, limited in terms of minutes, there are options for Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard. The most obvious one is to start backup Antony Nelson at point guard, as Willard did for two games in December when star shooting guard Myles Powell was sidelined with a concussion.
Nelson started both games while Powell was out. In the victory over Maryland that began the 10-game winning streak for Seton Hall (16-5, 8-1), Nelson had four assists and three turnovers. But despite those perhaps unimpressive numbers, Nelson did a good job of getting the Pirates into their halfcourt offense at the right time.
If McKnight can give the Pirates some quality minutes in D.C., so much the better. If not, then Willard might occasionally have Powell or Shavar Reynolds run the point. It’s possible, as Willard himself indicated on the post-game radio interview, of forward Myles Cale seeing some time in the backcourt if McKnight indeed is out.
Then again, Cale is struggling mightily since back-to-back 16-point efforts against DePaul and Georgetown in the first two Big East contests. Since then, he has averaged 4.6 points in seven games in 26.2 minutes per.
As for Powell, perhaps going to Washington will help him shake his slump. He scored 35 points in a double-OT loss there last season.
It also will be interesting to see how much Sandro Mamukelashvili can contribute. He looked much better against Xavier in his second game back from injury. His offense near the basket will be important now that Big East opponents seem to have figured out the pick-and-rolls to Romaro Gill.
As for Georgetown, it benefited from shaky decision-making Sunday by both St. John’s point guard Rasheem Dunn and coach Mike Anderson, who inexplicably pressed the short-handed Hoyas in the waning seconds, leading to the go-ahead basket.
Georgetown trailed by 17 points with 16 minutes left, yet somehow rallied, despite its five starters playing 186 off a possible 200 minutes in McClung’s absence. Pressure defense was the key, as the Johnnies had 12 turnovers, all in the second half.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
