Game notes - St Peter's at SHU

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Seton Hall plays Saint Peter’s for the 87th time in history Sunday at Prudential Center


Saint Peter's (3-4, 0-0 MAAC) at Seton Hall (7-2, 0-0 BIG EAST)

Dec. 13 · Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.) · 2:30 p.m.

TV: FS1 with Dave Sims & Jim Spanarkel

Radio: WMCA 570 AM with Gary Cohen & Dave Popkin

What to Know About The Hall:

• The Pirates improved to 7-2 on the season by flying past Troy on Thursday at the Prudential Center; improving to 4-0 at home this season with a 78-69 victory. Isaiah Whitehead tallied 20 points and seven assists while fellow sophomores Angel Delgado (12 pts, 11 reb) and Desi Rodriguez (18 pts, 11 reb) each finished with a double-double. Khadeen Carrington (11) and Michael Nzei (10) rounded out an effort in which all five Pirates’ starters scored in double- figures as SHU finished with five players with 10+ points for the first time since a 90-82 home victory over Xavier on January 31, 2015 (19 games).
• The win leads SHU into what has long been an annual fixture on the schedule as Seton Hall and Saint Peter’s are set to meet for the 87th time and extend a streak that has seen the two sides square off in every season since 1949-50. The Hall’s 62 victories over the Peacocks represents the program’s highest total against a single opponent and Saint Peter’s is fifth most common opponent in Seton Hall history behind only long-time BIG EAST foes Villanova (107), Georgetown (99), Providence (97) and St. John’s (93).
• SHU has historically controlled its series with its Jersey City rivals, dropping only three games to the Peacocks in the last 30 years. The dominance has not been exclusive to the series as Seton Hall has asserted, itself as the premier college basketball program in New Jersey by amassing a 94-25 (.790) record against the seven other current Division I programs in the state since the joining the BIG EAST as a founding member. Most recently, the Pirates throttled Rutgers, 84-55, on the road to claim their second-straight Garden State Hardwood Classic.
• The convincing victory over Rutgers capped a stretch in which the Pirates played five of six games away from home. The Hall registered a 4-2 record in that span with a pair of wins over Power 5 opponents (Ole Miss - Charleston Classic, at RU) on the road or at a neutral site and downed another one in Georgia in its lone home appearance during the stretch. On Thursday, SHU opened a four-game homestand that will lead into BIG EAST play with its 12th consecutive home victory over a non-conference opponent; running the program’s record to an impressive 32-4 (.889) at home against non-league foes under head coach Kevin Willard. The consistency has powered several strong starts during the Willard era as a win on Sunday would mark the fourth time in the last five years that Seton Hall has won at least eight of its first 10 games.
• This year’s early-season surge has been fueled primarily by The Hall’s exciting core of underclassmen which is currently being led by the former McDonald’s All-American Whitehead. The Brooklyn native has now scored in double-figures in seven of nine contests to open his sophomore campaign and 14 of 20 appearances since his return from an injury that forced him out of nine games a season ago. While settling into the role of primary point guard, Whitehead has scored or assisted on 80 FG through the team’s first nine games, just nine less than the total posted by Providence’s Kris Dunn in the Friars’ first nine games of his sophomore season a year ago.
• Fellow Brooklyn native Khadeen Carrington has helped shoulder the offensive load from the backcourt by scoring at least 10 points in eight of nine games - including seven-straight - after posting 13 such efforts in 331 appearances as a rookie. Even with SHU’s variety of offensive options, Carrington has shown a penchant for taking over late in games; averaging a team-best 8.8 points on 46.3 percent shooting from the field in the second half to this point in the year.
• Whitehead and Carrington have also helped a developing Seton Hall squad dramatically cut down on the turnovers that were prevalent throughout the first two games. The Pirates finished with a season-low nine giveaways vs. Troy while recording 15 assists as the Brooklyn backcourt duo combined for 11 dimes and just four turnovers. After totaling 43 giveaways in the first two outings of the season, SHU has not turned the ball over more than 14 times in a game since; finishing with 12 or less on five occasions.
• Also at the center of the Seton Hall attack is the dramatically improved arsenal of Desi Rodriguez who has thrived in his transition to the wing. After primarily playing down low as a freshman, the 6-foot-6 Bronx native ranks third on the team with 12.7 ppg and has shot 50 percent or better from the field in seven of nine contests, with at least five attempts in each game. The efficiency has remained despite the fact that he has already made nearly as many 3-pointers (11) this season as he attempted all of last year (12) and he has continued to produce on the glass (5.3 rpg) and in generating easy opportunities (1.8 spg) at a rate that places him among the BIG EAST leaders.
• Back atop the BIG EAST leaderboard, on the boards, is last year’s conference rebounding champion Angel Delgado who has hauled down at least 10 rebounds in six games - including each of the last five - and has finished with nine boards in two others. Delgado’s offense is also on an uptick as the sophomore has scored 26 points while posting consecutive double-doubles heading into Sunday after scoring 24 total points in the previous four games.
• Last season, nine of Delgado’s 12 rebounds against the Peacocks came on the offensive end and Sunday could produce a similar showing. Seton Hall has grabbed at least 13 offensive rebounds in five consecutive games with Delgado averaging 4.0 offensive boards over that stretch. In the last three games, the Pirates have created 53 second chance opportunities and currently rank third in the BIG EAST with a .375 offensive rebound percentage.
• The Pirates’ ability to corral their own misses has played a role in the team’s continued dominance from in close. On Thursday, The Hall out-scored Troy, 38-to-28, in the paint marking the fifth-straight game that the team has finished with a double-digit advantage in the category and the seventh time this season overall. SHU is averaging 37.1 points in the paint through nine games and 334 of the squad’s of 521 points from the field have come from inside the lane (.641).

Tweetables:

• Whitehead of @SetonHallMBB has scored/assisted on 80 FG in team’s first 9 games of soph. yr.-9 lessthan @PCFriarsmbb’s Kris Dunn last yr
• Angel Delgado of @SetonHallMBB leads the @BIGEAST with 9.9 rpg and is one of seven underclassmen who rank in top-25 of Division I #HALLin
• .@SetonHallMBB aims for its 13th-straight non-conference home win Sunday vs. Saint Peter’s, a team SHU holds a 27-3 edge over since 1985