Game preview: Seton Hall plays first of two consecutive against Iowa State in the Battle 4 Atlantis

Date: November 29, 2019

By: Heaven Hill

After picking up a dominating win over Southern Miss 81-56 last night, moving their record to 5-2, the Pirates return to the court tonight to take the Iowa State Cyclones in the 5th place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis at 7:00 p.m.

It appeared last game that Seton Hall finally started to find their footing in the tournament as they went on a huge run over the final seven minutes. Myles Powell struggled somewhat, scoring 18 points on 5/15 from the field, but it was the frontcourt who stepped up for the Pirates to help the preseason All-American shoulder the load. Sandro Mamukelashvili had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists in a strong showing, and dynamic freshman Tyrese Samuel shined with 10 points in just 16 minutes of play, continuing his promising play. The Hall has been on the search for secondary scorers and solid production from the rest of the rotation so far this season, and everyone’s going to have to bring their best to defeat a tough Iowa State team tonight.

The Cyclones, who come into this one at 4-2 after a 104-89 win against Alabama yesterday, have an NBA-caliber player of their own as well, in the electric Tyrese Haliburton. Undoubtedly one of the best guards in the nation, last year he took the Big 12 and the NCAA by storm with his unbelievable playmaking and two-way potential.

To sum up his impact, he became one of just four freshmen to post 125 assists, 50 steals and 30 blocks since the 1992-93 season. After winning a gold medal this past summer on USA Basketball’s U19 World Cup team and being selected to the Naismith Award watchlist, it’s clear he’s the real deal. He posted a near triple-double in the win over the Crimson Tide, so the Pirates defense will have to hone in on Haliburton for sure to come out on top.

Outside of Haliburton, Iowa State lost an absurd amount of talent from their rotation last season, with Marial Shayok, Talen Horton-Tucker and Lindell Wigginton leaving to play professionally among the other Cyclones that either transferred or graduated. They return one other starter in forward Michael Jacobsen, so Seton Hall can look to capitalize on Iowa State hopefully still trying to find chemistry with their rotation.

Finally, this game features an interesting wrinkle, as these teams will play each other again on Dec. 8, when the Pirates travel out to Ames, Iowa. It’ll be interesting tonight to see if these teams partially limit their game planning or any plays they don’t want revealed before the next matchup.

Also, which coach will show his hand first with adjustments to the other’s rotations? Nonetheless, this one will be a treat for sure, and you can find coverage of this clash on 89.5 WSOU beginning at 6:45 p.m., with Jose Feliciano and Dalton Allison on the call.

 

Heaven Hill can be reached at heaven.hill@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Men's Basketball