Game Preview: Pirates put their winning streak on the line at DePaul (1/6/19)

Date: January 6, 2019

By Wilnir Louis

The Seton Hall men’s basketball team (11-3 Overall, 2-0 Conf.) looks to keep their win streak alive when they enter the windy city of Chicago to take on the DePaul Blue Demons (8-5 Overall, 0-2 Conf.) at Wintrust Arena.

After defeating St. John’s in spectacular comeback fashion, the Pirates had another comeback victory in Cincinnati when they defeated the Xavier Musketeers 80-70 on Jan. 2. After a sloppy first half, Seton Hall found themselves down 42-38. Myles Powell was perfect in the first half, scoring 12 points on 5-5 shooting. However, the Pirates turned the ball over four more times than the Musketeers and the Musketeers also had 10 more points in the paint.

In the second half, to combat the points in the paint, head coach Kevin Willard decided to play Romaro Gill for 12 minutes in the second half, and he was able to get four rebounds, three blocks, and three steals to spark a 34-14 run in the second half and defeat Xavier.

As for DePaul, they are coming off two tough conferences losses to Xavier and Villanova. Against Xavier, the Blue Demons were able to come back from a 12-point deficit and they lead at one point by six points in the second half, but the Musketeers went on a late run to defeat DePaul 74-65. Meanwhile, against Villanova, DePaul lead by 14 points before the Wildcats crept back and pulled away.

In their two conference games, the Blue Demons have had four players average double figures. Those four players are Eli Cain (15.0ppg), Max Strus (13.0ppg), Paul Reed (12.5ppg), and Jaylen Butz (11.0ppg). Reed has also lead the team in rebounding throughout their two conference games, averaging seven boards.

DePaul, on the season, is 8-2 when playing at Wintrust Arena, with their two losses coming at the hands of Xavier and Boston College, which was their last two home games. Meanwhile, Seton Hall has a small samples size of away games. In their true road games, they are 2-1 on the season, with their only loss being against Nebraska early on in the season.

The game between Seton Hall and DePaul will be broadcasted live with Frank Frasco and Bob Towey giving you all of the action in Chicago. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 P.M, with pregame scheduled for 12:45 on 89.5 FM WSOU.

Wilnir Louis can be reached at wilnir.louis@student.shu.edu.

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