Hall Heads to the Capital to Meet Georgetown Wed. (FS1, 9PM)

[Halldan1]

Pirates go for season sweep of the Hoyas in second meeting between the squads in an 11-day span

Feb. 16, 2016

Game 25 // BIG EAST Game 13 // Away Game 8
Seton Hall (17-7, 7-5 BIG EAST) at Georgetown (14-12, 7-6 BIG EAST)

Date Wednesday, Feb. 17 | 9:00 p.m. ET
Location Verizon Center | Washington, D.C.
Tickets Upcoming Home Games | Pre-Paid Parking
Tune in FS1 | FOX Sports GO
Links Live Stats | Seton Hall Radio (PSN) | @SetonHallMBB on Twitter | #HALLin
Notes Media Central | Seton Hall Notes

The Tip

The Seton Hall Pirates hit the road Wednesday, traveling to the nation's capital to close the season series with Georgetown.

The Hall (17-7, 7-5 BIG EAST) has won four of its last five - including a 69-61 victory over the Hoyas in the first meeting between the two squads - due in part to stellar play from sophomores Isaiah Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) who have netted three combined BIG EAST weekly awards since the beginning of the stretch.

Whitehead was named to the Weekly Honor Roll for the fourth time on Monday after delivering career-highs of 26 points and 10 assists as SHU came up just short of a fifth-straight victory last time out against Butler. With a recent statistical surge, Whitehead has climbed into the top-three in the conference in both scoring and assists and stands as one of three power conference student-athletes who rank among the top-three in their respective league in both categories.

The Pirates will turn the page and look to start a new streak on Wednesday by completing their second season sweep of the Hoyas in the last three years.

Georgetown (14-12, 7-6 BIG EAST) remains close to the top-half of the conference standings despite having dropped four of five, most recently coming up short in a comeback bid at No. 20 Providence on Saturday.

Center Bradley Hayes sustained a broken hand and is sidelined indefinitely after starting the first 25 games of the season. A young group including freshmen Marcus Derrickson and Jesse Govan along with sophomores Isaac Copeland and LJ Peak has been looked to to provide support for senior standout D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera but the veteran floor general remains the focal point of the Hoyas' offense, as he is averaging 20.4 ppg in the team's seven league wins.

SHU limited Smith-Rivera to 11 points and held Georgetown to 33.9 percent shooting from the field in the first meeting, extending a run in which the Pirates have held GU to 67 points or less in their last six wins in the series.

The Buzz

Tune In:Scott Graham and Donny Marshall will be on hand to call the action for the live national broadcast on FS1. A stream of the contest will also be available online and through mobile devices via the FOX Sports GO app.
The Seton Hall radio team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin can be heard on 570AM (WMCA) with a simulcast available online at PirateSportsNet.tv as well as the Seton Hall Gameday App.

Follow Us:

For exclusive content and coverage throughout the season and especially on gameday, be sure to follow @SetonHallMBB on Twitter

Tickets
Tickets to upcoming home games are available and can be purchased online through Ticketmaster, by calling the Seton Hall Athletics Ticket Office at (973) 275-HALL (4255) or visiting the Prudential Center Box Office on gameday.

Pirate Points
- Sophomore Isaiah Whitehead continued his torrid run through conference play, scoring a career-high 26 points and matching a personal best with 10 assists against Butler last Wednesday but the Bulldogs came away with an 81-75 victory that halted The Hall’s four-game winning streak. The double-double was the first of Whitehead’s career and he joined Angel Delgado (12), Desi Rodriguez (2), Khadeen Carrington (1) and Michael Nzei (1) in a group of five Pirates who have notched a double-double this season.

- Whitehead exploded for 23 points in the first half against Butler, connecting on all eight of his field goal attempts in the opening frame - seven of which came from downtown. The Brooklyn native went on to dish out nine helpers in the second half alone, assisting on the Pirates’ final eight field goals of the night. His 26 points were the most by a Pirate that also recorded 10+ ast since Jordan Theodore ‘12 finished with 26 points and 11 helpers in a 94-73 win over DePaul on January 10, 2012. For the game, Whitehead scored or assisted on 18 of SHU’s 28 made shots (.643) and led the squad in both scoring and assists for the ninth time this season - five of which have come in the team’s 12 BIG EAST outings.

- The Brooklyn native has scored in double-figures in every game since the start of the conference slate and posted at least five assists eight times against league foes. A recent surge that has seen him help the Pirates to a 4-1 record over the last five with averages of 20.8 ppg and 6.2 apg has placed him among the top-three in the BIG EAST in scoring (16.6 ppg, 3rd) and ast (4.9 apg, 3rd) for the season. Providence’s Kris Dunn (17.1 ppg, 2nd / 6.6 apg, 1st) also holds a top-three spot in each but among the five other power basketball conferences, Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine is the only other player who rates among the top-three in his league in both categories (19.5 ppg, 1st), (7.1 apg, 1st)

- One aspect of Whitehead’s game that has improved markedly over the recent stretch is his free throw shooting. Over the last eight games, the sophomore has knocked down 34-of-39 attempts from the stripe (.872), a figure that includes a 9-of-10 performance in the win over Georgetown

- A victory Wednesday would complete the Pirates’ second season sweep of the Hoyas in the last three years after The Hall took the first meeting of the season and 100th in the long-standing series, 69-61, on February 6 behind 19 points and 13 rebounds from Angel Delgado. Two seasons ago, The Hall doubled up with its first road victory and season sweep over the Hoyas since 2002-03, winning 67-57 in Washington, D.C. before returning home to post an 82-67 victory.

- The Hall trailed by as many as six in the first half of the first meeting with the Hoyas but battled back to take a one-point edge into halftime. SHU went on to improve to 13-0 when leading at the break, building an advantage as large as nine points late in the second half. Through 24 games this season, Seton Hall is 17-0 when leading by as many as seven at any point during the action

- The Pirates with just eight turnovers in the win over Georgetown while forcing the Hoyas to commit 15. The effort matched SHU’s second-lowest amount of giveaways this season and marked the fifth time that the squad has recorded 10 turnovers or less this season (5-0 record). Last season, Seton Hall posted 10 turnovers or less nine times during the regular season, amassing a 6-3 record in those games.

- Seton Hall was held under the 30-rebound mark for the first time in conference play during the setback against Butler but will still head into the matchup with Georgetown averaging a league-best 41.2 rebounds against BIG EAST opposition. In seven road outings this year, the Pirates have owned the glass, twice reaching the 50-rebound mark - including a victory at No. 12 Providence - and posting a +9.2 average advantage on the boards (45.3/36.1). In all four of The Hall’s away wins, the team has recorded a rebounding margin of +14 or better highlighted by a +21 edge in a Garden State Hardwood Classic victory over Rutgers on December 5. Angel Delgado has pulled down 11.8 rpg in the four road wins to headline the efforts

 

[Halldan1]

SETON HALL REBOUNDING IN ROAD WINS
at Rutgers - W, 84-55 (12/5/15): 53/32 +21 advantage
at Marquette - W, 83-63 (12/30/15): 49/33 +16 advantage
at Providence - W, 81-72 (1/16/16): 50/36 +14 advantage
at Creighton - W, 75-65 (1/30/16): 46/27 +19 advantage

- Delgado, who was huge in the Pirates’ victory in the series opener with the Hoyas has been a vital part of Seton Hall’s success through the first two-thirds of the conference slate. In seven conference wins, the reigning BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and rebounding champion is averaging 13.9 ppg, 12.7 rpg and shooting 63.9 percent from the floor (39-of-61). In all other conference games, Delgado has averaged 8.4 ppg and 5.6 rpg.

- Completing the sweep would help The Hall create separation in the crowded conference standings and strengthen the Pirates’ position to make a push for the program’s 10th all-time NCAA Tournament berth and its first since 2006. Seton Hall currently ranks as one of the top-50 teams in the nation according to the latest RPI (49) and KenPom (36) ratings. For the season, The Hall owns wins over an RPI top-40 team in Providence (39) as well as six RPI Top-100 teams overall (Wichita State-52, Georgia-67, Georgetown-79, Creighton-81 and Ole Miss-86). SHU is 7-2 against the teams it leads in the BIG EAST standings and three of the squad’s’ five losses over the last 10 weeks have come to teams among the top-seven in RPI (Villanova, 2x - 3 / Xavier - 7). All seven of the Pirates’ losses overall have been against RPI Top-100 opponents

- By virtue of a victory at Creighton to close the month of January, the Pirates reached the 15-win plateau for the fifth consecutive season. This marks the first time since 1990-95 that The Hall has posted 15+ victories in five-straight years. SHU Athletics Hall of Famer PJ Carlesimo led the Pirates for the first four years of the stretch while George Blaney took over prior to the 1994-95 campaign. Sixth-year head coach Kevin Willard is the first Seton Hall coach to be at the helm for five consecutive 15+ win seasons in the BIG EAST era and is the first SHU head man to accomplish the feat since Bill Raftery did so in six-straight years from 1973-79. Including Raftery and Willard, eight different coaches have led SHU during that span.

- With the Pirates sitting at 17-7 for the season, Willard is now just one victory shy of becoming the sixth head coach every to record 100 wins at The Hall. No Seton Hall coach has reached the 100-win mark since SHU Athletics Hall of Famer PJ Carlesimo did so during a 31-win 1988-89 campaign that culminated in a national championship game appearance. With a win, Willard would join John “Honey” Russell (294 wins), Carlesimo (212), Frank Hill (178), Bill Raftery (154) and Richie Regan (112) in the exclusive group

- Seton Hall Athletics announced that in the fall, student-athlete academic performance reached a new all-time high for the 11th-straight semester. Head coach Kevin Willard’s squad boasts six Dean’s List honorees from the fall (Angel Delgado, Derrick Gordon, Michael Nzei, Desi Rodriguez, Veer Singh, Isaiah Whitehead) and increased its cumulative GPA to 3.18. The Willard-led Pirates earned an NCAA Public Recognition Award over the summer for posting a multiyear APR that ranks among the top-10 percent among all men’s basketball teams and are part of a collection of 14 varsity programs at The Hall that all own a cumulative GPA over 3.1.


Scouting Georgetown- The Hoyas dropped their fourth game in the last five outings on Sunday, coming up just short in a bid to erase a 20-point halftime deficit at No. 20 Providence in a 75-72 loss. Freshman Marcus Derrickson led the way with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Fellow newcomer Jesse Govan added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting in his first career start but fouled out in 17 minutes of action

- Govan made his way into the starting lineup due to an injury sustained by Bradley Hayes who had started the first 25 contests for Georgetown. Hayes is out indefinitely with a broken hand and ranks fourth on the team with 8.5 ppg to go with a team-best 6.8 rpg during what had been a breakout season after totaling just 69 minutes as a junior. Hayes was limited to five points and six boards before fouling out of the first meeting with the Pirates.

- Defense played a large role in the Hoyas’ comeback bid against the Friars on Saturday as Providence sank just 5-of-16 (.313) field goal attempts in the second half. Derrickson and LJ Peak each scored 10 points in the second half alone, helping pick up the slack for standout senior D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera who finished with a season-low three points (1-of-8 FG), failing to reach double-figures in scoring for just the third time in 26 games this season. Smith-Rivera, who is now averaging 16.2 ppg for the year, has posted six 20-point efforts this season with his 21-point performance at Butler marking the lone time he has reached the 20-point mark in a loss

- Smith-Rivera’s lone connection against Providence came from long distance as the Hoyas finished 8-of-28 (.286) from beyond the arc in the contest. The 3-ball has been a central part of Georgetown’s offense this season as GU has connected on 8.4 triples/game in conference play; nearly 1.0 more than Villanova (7.5) who ranks second in the category. Since the start of the league schedule, the Hoyas have attempted 20 or more 3-pointers in 10 of 13 games including each of the last four.

- Georgetown will enter Wednesday as one of only two BIG EAST teams holding its opponents under 40 percent from the field for the season, joining top-ranked Villanova (.384). The Hoyas’ 39.6 FG% against ranks among the top-30 marks in the nation and in the first meeting with SHU, G’Town held the Pirates to 23-of-62 (.371) from the floor. Seton Hall matched the defensive intensity however as Georgetown knocked down 19-of-56 (.339) attempts - its second-lowest total of made shots since the start of conference play (17, vs. Villanova - 1/16/16)

- The Hoyas are opening a three-game home stand with the matchup against The Hall and have posted a 4-2 record at home in BIG EAST play to this point in the year. The only losses have come to nationally- ranked Villanova (1/16) and Providence (1/30) teams by margins of five and four respectively. In the six conference home games, Georgetown has allowed an average of 66.8 points



The Last Meeting

Georgetown 61
Seton Hall 69
February 6, 2016
Newark, N.J.

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