By JP Pelzman
NEWARK – The University of New Hampshire and the University of Kentucky share the same basic school colors, blue and white, although UNH’s is a deeper shade. They also are both nicknamed the Wildcats. Other than that, there are few similarities between the two teams on the basketball court.
And that’s why a Seton Hall performance that was good enough for a 20-point victory Tuesday night over New Hampshire’s Wildcats at the Prudential Center won’t be nearly sufficient when the Pirates (5-3) take on Kentucky and a much different breed of ’Cat on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
“Kentucky is an amazing team. We've been waiting for that (game) since Day One,” Seton Hall forward Sandro Mamukelashvili said after the Pirates ground out a 77-57 victory Tuesday. “As soon as we saw our schedule and we saw Kentucky, we were looking forward to the game. … We can’t wait for the game. It will be an amazing experience. We’re just trying to go there and get the W.”
To do that, Seton Hall will have to play much more crisply on offense than it did against the group of over-matched Wildcats it faced before Kentucky. New Hampshire came in with a misleading 2-6 record, because both of its wins are against non-Division I opponents. Surprisingly, The Hall during one stretch scored only five points in a span of seven-plus minutes, as a junk defense used by veteran UNH coach Bill Herrion against Myles Powell stifled the Pirates’ offense.
“I feel like we had better energy in the second half,” Mamukalashvili said, but he added, “the first half was good too, but I don’t know, it was kind of weird. Every time we would set a screen, they would go under (it). We were not expecting that.”
Still, Seton Hall led 31-19 at halftime by holding UNH to 30.4 percent shooting.
“I thought our defense was good in the first half,” coach Kevin Willard said. As for the offense, he noted, “we got off to a good start, then the ball started sticking a little bit,” i.e., the Pirates weren’t making enough good passes.
The Hall shot 17-for-31 (54.8 percent) in the second half so it eventually could pull away and start thinking in earnest about a much more talented group of Wildcats. Kentucky (7-1) has won seven straight games against inferior opponents since a shocking opening-night blowout loss to Duke in Indianapolis.
“You’re at the Garden and you’re playing Kentucky on a Saturday on FOX,” said Quincy McKnight, who scored a game-high 18 points. “The atmosphere is going to be great. We’re all hyped. We’re ready. This is a game everybody’s been looking forward to since we saw it come out on the schedule.
“We’re going to prepare ourselves the next three days,” he added, “practice to the best of our ability and just come out and compete.”
Kentucky is allowing opponents to convert a shocking 39.7 percent from long distance, so this would be as good a time as any to get Powell going. He was 2-for-6 from three-point range Tuesday after going 2-for-12 in the loss to Louisville.
Mamukalashvili said that against Kentucky, the Pirates must “get into our offensive flow a little bit, because we've been getting stuck in a lot of positions. (On defense), they have great guards, so we've got to be able to guard pick-and-rolls and switch.”
“We have to work offensively on being more fluid at times,” Willard said. “We have stretches of playing good defensively, but we aren’t taking advantage of certain opportunities on the break.”
Willard added, “I think the biggest thing is I'm excited to get this group into Madison Square Garden. … I think it's a great opportunity for those guys to kind of get--before you go into the Big East tournament--to kind of get a feel for playing in probably one of the best places to play basketball. It's a great opportunity for us, but I think it's also another stepping stone for this team to kind of mature and get better and learn.”
Myles Cale said the Pirates cannot get caught up in the mystique of the Kentucky program.
“Don’t let the name on their jerseys scare you or anything like that,” he said. “Do what you’ve got to do. Play your game.”
And also play it better than Seton Hall did against yesterday's Wildcats.
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https://setonhall.rivals.com/
NEWARK – The University of New Hampshire and the University of Kentucky share the same basic school colors, blue and white, although UNH’s is a deeper shade. They also are both nicknamed the Wildcats. Other than that, there are few similarities between the two teams on the basketball court.
And that’s why a Seton Hall performance that was good enough for a 20-point victory Tuesday night over New Hampshire’s Wildcats at the Prudential Center won’t be nearly sufficient when the Pirates (5-3) take on Kentucky and a much different breed of ’Cat on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
“Kentucky is an amazing team. We've been waiting for that (game) since Day One,” Seton Hall forward Sandro Mamukelashvili said after the Pirates ground out a 77-57 victory Tuesday. “As soon as we saw our schedule and we saw Kentucky, we were looking forward to the game. … We can’t wait for the game. It will be an amazing experience. We’re just trying to go there and get the W.”
To do that, Seton Hall will have to play much more crisply on offense than it did against the group of over-matched Wildcats it faced before Kentucky. New Hampshire came in with a misleading 2-6 record, because both of its wins are against non-Division I opponents. Surprisingly, The Hall during one stretch scored only five points in a span of seven-plus minutes, as a junk defense used by veteran UNH coach Bill Herrion against Myles Powell stifled the Pirates’ offense.
“I feel like we had better energy in the second half,” Mamukalashvili said, but he added, “the first half was good too, but I don’t know, it was kind of weird. Every time we would set a screen, they would go under (it). We were not expecting that.”
Still, Seton Hall led 31-19 at halftime by holding UNH to 30.4 percent shooting.
“I thought our defense was good in the first half,” coach Kevin Willard said. As for the offense, he noted, “we got off to a good start, then the ball started sticking a little bit,” i.e., the Pirates weren’t making enough good passes.
The Hall shot 17-for-31 (54.8 percent) in the second half so it eventually could pull away and start thinking in earnest about a much more talented group of Wildcats. Kentucky (7-1) has won seven straight games against inferior opponents since a shocking opening-night blowout loss to Duke in Indianapolis.
“You’re at the Garden and you’re playing Kentucky on a Saturday on FOX,” said Quincy McKnight, who scored a game-high 18 points. “The atmosphere is going to be great. We’re all hyped. We’re ready. This is a game everybody’s been looking forward to since we saw it come out on the schedule.
“We’re going to prepare ourselves the next three days,” he added, “practice to the best of our ability and just come out and compete.”
Kentucky is allowing opponents to convert a shocking 39.7 percent from long distance, so this would be as good a time as any to get Powell going. He was 2-for-6 from three-point range Tuesday after going 2-for-12 in the loss to Louisville.
Mamukalashvili said that against Kentucky, the Pirates must “get into our offensive flow a little bit, because we've been getting stuck in a lot of positions. (On defense), they have great guards, so we've got to be able to guard pick-and-rolls and switch.”
“We have to work offensively on being more fluid at times,” Willard said. “We have stretches of playing good defensively, but we aren’t taking advantage of certain opportunities on the break.”
Willard added, “I think the biggest thing is I'm excited to get this group into Madison Square Garden. … I think it's a great opportunity for those guys to kind of get--before you go into the Big East tournament--to kind of get a feel for playing in probably one of the best places to play basketball. It's a great opportunity for us, but I think it's also another stepping stone for this team to kind of mature and get better and learn.”
Myles Cale said the Pirates cannot get caught up in the mystique of the Kentucky program.
“Don’t let the name on their jerseys scare you or anything like that,” he said. “Do what you’ve got to do. Play your game.”
And also play it better than Seton Hall did against yesterday's Wildcats.
Comments
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
