Seton Hall ranks 46th in KenPom, has a NET ranking of 57 and has played eight games against “Quad 1” opponents, which is most in the BIG EAST and tied for seventh most in the nation.
The Pirates are projected to play 10”Q1” games this season, tied for the most in the BIG EAST.
The Hall’s 18 projected “Q1” and “Q2” games are tied for most in the conference.
The Pirates boast the 16th toughest schedule among Power Six programs so far, according to KenPom, and the most difficult in the BIG EAST.
The Hall’s NET non-conference strength of schedule ranks 14th in the nation and first among major conference teams.
Seton Hall looks to snap its skid on Wednesday evening as the Pirates travel to the Ocean State to take on Providence at 7 p.m. on FS1.
Providence will be the first team that Seton Hall has faced that isn’t ranked in the top 20 nationally since a 76-68 win at DePaul on Jan. 9.
Seton Hall is 23-15 in the month of February over the last five seasons.
The Pirates have won their last 15 BIG EAST games when holding their opponent under 70 points.
The Pirates rank second in the BIG EAST in free throw percentage (74.3) and lead the conference in free throw attempts (370 FTA) and free throws made (275).
The Hall ranks 20th in the country and third in the BIG EAST behind only Villanova and Creighton in adjusted offensive efficency (113.9), according to KenPom.
Junior Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) ranks in the top 15 in the BIG EAST in scoring (8th, 15.4 ppg), rebounding (12th, 6.6), free throw percentage (5th, 84.4) and minutes (7th, 34.2 mpg).
Senior Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (17.6 ppg), tied for seventh in rebounding (7.1 rpg) and 13th in assists (3.2 apg).
Junior Ike Obiagu (Abuja, Nigeria) ranks seventh in the country with 47 total blocked shots and ranks 14th with 2.8 blocks per game.
Wednesday’s game will be the 109th all-time meeting between Seton Hall and Providence.
The Pirates have won seven of their last 11 games against the Friars and eight contests in that span have been decided by single digits.
Seton Hall is 1-0 in BIG EAST games at Providence’s Alumni Hall. The final 13:03 of the 2018 meeting was played at Alumni Hall after the game was suspended the night before due to unsafe court conditions at Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Jared Rhoden is averaging 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in his last three games vs. Providence.
Kevin 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 13-13 all-time against Cooley, including a 10-10 record with the Pirates.
The Pirates are 36-32 vs. Providence in BIG EAST regular season games.
While the narrative among outsiders has been that Seton Hall struggles with free throws, the numbers show how the Pirates rank among the top teams in the conference in that area.
They currently rank second in the BIG EAST in free throw shooting at 74.3 percent (first among teams that have played at least 15 games), and five of the team’s returners from last season are all shooting a higher percentage this season than their career average.
Seton Hall ranks in the top 30 nationally and leads the BIG EAST in both free throw attempts (370) and free throws made (275).
Since 2015-16, The Pirates are 90-15 (.857) in games where they have more FT attempts than their opponents.
Three Pirates own free throw shooting percentages over 75 percent; Shavar Reynolds, Jr. (86.8), Jared Rhoden (84.4) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (75.0).
Currently, the most marked improvement belongs to Myles Cale, who at 74.4 percent is shooting more than 20 percent better at the line than he did last season and more than 12 percent better than his career average.
Big man Ike Obiagu is shooting at a 59.5 percent clip from the line after shooting just 31.6 percent from the stripe as a freshman at Florida State.
Through the first two months 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 10-4 in its last 14 BIG EAST road games dating back to last season.
The Pirates are 3-2 in BIG EAST road games this season with wins at Marquette (70-63, 12/17/20), Xavier (85-68, 12/30/20) and DePaul (76-68, 1/9/21).
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 are tied for third in the BIG EAST since 2015-16 with 25 wins in conference road games.
1. Villanova – 35
2. Xavier – 26
3. Seton Hall – 25
Creighton – 25
5. Providence – 23
6. Marquette – 22
7. Butler – 20
8. Georgetown – 14
9. St. John’s – 11
10. DePaul – 9
Through 17 games in 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.
On Jan. 28, he was named one of the final 10 candidates for the Karl Malone Award, given to the nation’s top collegiate power forward.
The Georgian is one of only seven players in the Power Six conferences to register multiple 30-point games this season.
Mamukelashvili is the only player that ranks in the BIG EAST top 15 in scoring (4th, 17.6 PPG), rebounding (t-7th, 7.1 RPG) and assists (13th, 3.2 APG)
At No. 3 Villanova on Jan. 19, he finished one rebound shy of a double-double in a night where he posted nine boards, 23 points and five assists.
Mamukelashvili picked up BIG EAST Player of the Week honors, his fourth conference accolade of the season, on Jan. 4 after leading the Pirates with 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals in the win at Xavier (Dec. 30) and had game highs of 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the win over Butler (Jan. 2).
He was named to the BIG EAST’s Weekly Honor Roll for the third consecutive week on Dec. 21 after averaging 18.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists in two conference games.
Mamukelashvili he’s been getting it done in the assist column this season as he dished out a career-high seven assists in the Pirates’ gritty 70-63 road victory at Marquette on Dec. 17 and six dimes against Providence.
St. John’s didn’t have an answer for Mamukelashvili on Dec. 11 when he scored a career-high 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor and pulled down nine rebounds
In the comeback win at Penn State on Dec. 6, Mamukelashvili dropped 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.
