Seton Hall
Game Preview: Men's basketball faces #9 Kentucky at MSG (12/8/18)
Date: December 7, 2018By Frank Frasco
The Seton Hall Men’s basketball team (5-3) will be back inside Madison Square Garden tomorrow when they host #9 Kentucky (7-1) in what will be the biggest game of the season so far.
Entering “The World’s Most Famous Arena”, the Pirates have a chance to snap the Wildcats seven game winning streak, a streak that began ever since their early November blowout loss to juggernaut Duke. Since then, the Wildcats have had convincing wins leading up to their matchup against the Pirates, with their most recent win over UNC Greensboro last Saturday.
Kentucky has had a full week to prep for this big SEC-Big East matchup, a meeting that hasn’t happened in 30 years. The last time the Pirates and Wildcats faced off was November 26, 1988 in the Great Alaska Shootout semifinal that featured a close Seton Hall victory. The Pirates are 1-1 against the Wildcats and look to get the edge in the all-time series Saturday afternoon.
Seton Hall is coming off of a confidence-building home win on Tuesday in their victory over an unchallenging New Hampshire squad, 77-57. In this game, fans were able to see the highly anticipated scoring threat of Quincy McKnight, who led the team with a season-high 18 points. He will have to continue his offensive dominance when facing the Wildcats.
In the past 11 games played at MSG, the Pirates have an 8-3 record, which includes four wins over nationally ranked teams. Myles Powell, the leader for this Pirates team, now has a chance to add on to this legacy in the Garden, as his numbers of 14 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in seven career games at MSG proves that “The Mecca” is truly a second home for the junior standout.
The Garden will be rocking tomorrow afternoon, as tipoff is set for 12 noon. Be sure to tune in live to 89.5 FM WSOU as Matt Ambrose and Bob Towey have the call for the game.
Frank Frasco can be reached at frank.frasco@student.shu.edu.
Posted in: Game Previews, Sports
