Seton Hall
Game Preview: Pirates seek victory against Georgetown in D.C (3/2/19)
Date: March 1, 2019By Michael Daly
The Seton Hall men’s basketball team starts off the month of March on the road in Washington, D.C. against the Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday night in Capital One Arena.
To keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, the Pirates will need to avoid a potential three-game skid on Saturday evening. The Pirates are coming off of a 78-70 defeat to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden last Saturday. The Red Storm went off on a 17-2 run over the first 4:29 and Seton Hall did not score in the double digits until the 9:15 mark of the first half.
The Hall shot 28% from the field in the opening 20 minutes and did not connect on any of their eight attempts from beyond the arc. The leading scorer for the Hall in the first was Michael Nzei with six points. Conversely, St. John’s had two players in double figures, Shamorie Ponds (13 points) and Marvin Clark II (11 points).
The Pirates finished the game with a 40.4 field goal percentage and drained 5/20 attempts from downtown. Despite trailing for the entirety of the matchup, Seton Hall managed to outrebound St. John’s by 14, 41-27. Seton Hall was unable to match their season average in points-per-game (73.7), as they scored 70 points in Madison Square Garden. Their opponent for this upcoming Saturday, Georgetown, is the top team in conference scoring, averaging 81.0 points-per-game.
On the season, Seton Hall’s average of 45.0% from the field ranks seventh in the Big East and Georgetown sits at the sixth spot with a 45.2 field goal percentage. In terms of the three-point field goal percentage leaders, Georgetown is fourth in the conference shooting 36.5%. The Hall stands in the 9th position in deep-ball percentage shooting 33.0%.
The Hoyas and Pirates are currently tied for the fifth spot in the conference’s standings. Each team sports a 7-8 conference record; however Georgetown has a 17-11 overall record compared to Seton Hall’s 16-11 record.
Georgetown comes into Saturday night’s matchup hoping to secure three consecutive home victories. The Hoyas’ latest home victory came on Wednesday night, in an 82-73 win over DePaul. Georgetown shot 49.2% from the field against DePaul and connected on 7/20 attempts from deep. The Hoyas had three players in double-figures, those players were Jessie Govan (26 points), Mac McClung (15 points), and James Akinjo (13 points).
Govan is the team leader in points with 18.2 points-per-game and in rebounds, 7.7 rebounds-per-game. McClung and Akinjo round out the double-digit scorers, with 13.2 and 12.8 points-per-game, respectively. Akinjo, is the leader in assists averaging 5.2 per game.
The previous time Seton Hall and Georgetown squared off was on Feb. 13th in the Prudential Center. The Pirates came out on top in that contest by defeating Georgetown 90-75. Four Pirates were in double-figures, those players were Myles Powell (30 points), Nzei (18 points), Myles Cale (17 points), and Sandro Mamukelashvili (11 points).
The players with 10 or more points for Georgetown were Govan (20 points), and Greg Malinowski (16 points). Akinjo and McClung combined for a total of nine points against Seton Hall last month.
Saturday evening’s meaningful tilt between Seton Hall and Georgetown can be heard on 89.5 FM WSOU. Pregame coverage will be hosted by Dagen Hughes and Mat Mlodzinski at 6:15 p.m., while Dalton Allison and Jose Feliciano will be on the call from the Capital One Arena at 6:30 p.m.
Michael Daly can be reached at michael.daly@student.shu.edu.
