Media release
- Seton Hall has won four-straight and five of its last seven games entering Sunday’s contest against Providence.
- The Pirates are coming off of a 70-63 win at Marquette in its first BIG EAST road game of the season.
- In the win, senior Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) led all scorers with 17 points and dished out a career-high seven assists, including one to
- Shavar Reynolds, Jr. (Manchester, N.J.), who buried a go-ahead three-pointer with 42.1 seconds remaining.
- The win moved The Hall to 2-0 in the BIG EAST for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time in the last seven seasons.
- Of Seton Hall’s nine previous 2-0 BIG EAST starts, seven resulted in NCAA Tournament appearances.
- The Pirates are now 105-13 (.890) since 2015-16 when its lead grows to seven points or more at any point in the contest.
- Senior Bryce Aiken (Randolph, N.J.) returned from injury to play 12 minutes and score three points.
- Seton Hall has started BIG EAST play 3-0 on four occasions in program history: 2019-20, 2017-18, 1998-99, 1992-93.
- The Hall’s game against Providence will be the team’s third BIG EAST game in December, matching the 1998-99 season for the most conference games played in December in program history.
- Mamukelashvili ranks third in the BIG EAST with 20.4 points per game and ninth with 7.4 rebounds per game. Tied with him in the latter category is junior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.).
- Senior Shavar Reynolds, Jr. (Manchester, N.J.) ranks third in the conference with 5.6 assists per game.
- The BIG EAST announced on Thursday that Seton Hall’s road game at Xavier has been rescheduled to Wednesday, Dec. 30, at 7 p.m.
- Sunday’s game will be the 108th all-time meeting between Seton Hall and Providence.
- The Pirates have won seven of their last 10 games against the Friars and eight contests in that span have been decided by single digits.
- The Pirates have won their last five games against PC at the Prudential Center.
- Seton Hall is 31-21 all-time at home against the Friars.
- Willard and Providence head coach Ed Cooley have crossed paths many times going back to their days as head coaches at Iona and Fairfield, respectively.
- Willard is 13-12 all-time against Cooley, including a 10-9 record with the Pirates.
- The Pirates are 36-31 vs. Providence in BIG EAST regular season games.
- In the early goings of his senior season, Sandro Mamukelashvili is living up to the preseason accolades and expectations bestowed upon him.
- “Mamu”, as he’s affectionately known, was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST first team and watch lists for the Naismith Trophy and the Karl Malone Award in the preseason.
- He was named to the BIG EAST’s Weekly Honor Roll for the second consecutive week after scoring a career-high 32 points with nine rebounds in the win over St. John’s on Dec. 11.
- Mamukelashvili dished out a career-high seven assists to go along with 17 points and six rebounds in the Pirates’ gritty 70-63 road victory at Maruqette on Dec. 17.
- In the comeback win at Penn State, Mamukelashvili dropped a career-high 30 points – 22 of which came in the second half – to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
- Mamukelashvili is Seton Hall’s first power forward/center to register multiple 30-point performances in a season since Arturas Karnisovas in 1993-94.
- He kicked the season off the right way against Louisville where he led the Pirates with 22 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth career double-double.
- His second double-double in three games came against Rhode Island where he put up 25 points and 10 rebounds.
- Mamukelashvili’s strong start follows a difficult 2019-20 season that saw him lose 10 games due to a wrist injury and go through the NBA Draft process over the summer before electing to return for his senior year.
- He averaged 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from three over the final eight games of 2019-20.
- Shavar Reynolds, Jr.’s Seton Hall career began as a scrappy role player. He’s since turned himself into the Pirates’ starting point guard and a go-to shot maker in big spots.
- His propensity to hit big shots started with his game-winning three-pointer vs. St. John’s in 2018-19. It returned on Dec. 6 at Penn State when he hit a three with under 50 seconds left in overtime to put the Pirates ahead for good.
- Reynolds, Jr. buried a go-ahead three-pointer for the second time this season at Marquette with 42.1 seconds left in The Hall’s 70-63 victory.
- Reynolds, Jr. ranks third in the BIG EAST in assists (5.4 assists per game), second in free throw percentage (86.4 pct.) and fifth in steals (1.8 spg).
- His 56.3 three-point shooting percentage (9-of-16) ranks second in the BIG EAST.
- In the win over Iona, Reynolds, Jr. dished out a career best eight assists to go along with five steals and five points.
- Reynolds, Jr. posted a career-high 17 points, shot 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and dished out eight assists against No. 21 Oregon.
- Reynolds, Jr.’s workmanlike nature can be credited to his upbringing – his mother, Teekemia, is a social worker and his father, Shavar, Sr., is a retired U.S. Navy Master at Arms who served for 21 years.
- Through the first month and a half of the season, the grit and stick-to-itiveness of last year’s Pirates as the visiting team has worn off on this year’s squad.
- Seton Hall is 8-2 in its last 10 BIG EAST road games dating back to last season and following a triumphant 70-63 victory at Marquette on Dec. 17.
- The Hall also picked up a big win at Penn State on Dec. 6 where they trailed by 19 points, scored 50 points in the second half and came back to defeat the Nittany Lions, 98-82.
- The Pirates were playing their fourth game in seven days.
- It was the largest deficit Seton Hall had overcome in a game since coming back from down 23 to beat Robert Morris on Nov. 18, 2007.
- It was the largest road comeback since at least 2007-08 when the Pirates pieced together a 15-point comeback at Providence on Jan. 24, 2008.
- It was The Hall’s first true road non-conference overtime victory since a 76-75 win over Stanford on Nov. 22, 1985.
