Pirates Head to the Capital to Take on the Struggling Hoyas

Published: Friday, January 9, 2026

by Liam Page

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Seton Hall Pirates (13-2, 3-1) take the road looking to extend a four-game road win streak against the Georgetown Hoyas (9-6, 1-3) in a BIG EAST matchup. This will be an important game for Seton Hall to capitalize on if they do not want to fall behind in the conference standings.

Seton Hall is currently 3-1 in BIG EAST play with their lone loss coming against Villanova, while the Hoyas, on the other hand, have had a less successful start to their season. Their one win came against Marquette while they dropped games to St. John’s, Xavier, and DePaul.

The Hoyas have struggled beyond the arc only shooting 30.3% on the season and in their most recent loss to DePaul, they shot just 1-12. Their field goal percentage is not high either at just 43.4% on the season.

The Hoyas have excelled at being careful with the basketball this season, as they are sixth in the nation in turnovers, having less than nine per game. They are also able to generate turnovers with KJ Lewis leading the Hoyas with 2.1 steals per game. Additionally, they produce almost five blocked shots per game, putting them at 34th in the nation.

The Pirates are going to need to be solid defensively in this matchup. These teams are both more defensive focused, so whoever plays better defense will likely come away with the win. If the Pirates can force Georgetown to shoot the ball from beyond the arc, and stay out of foul trouble, Seton Hall should find a way to win.

Najai Hines and Stephon Payne are going to have to continue to step up in the paint in order to assert control in this game. Playing clean defense coupled with not giving up too many offensive rebounds will be key in shutting down Georgetown’s main scoring opportunities.

On the offensive side, you cannot let Georgetown stay in this game. Georgetown has not yet shown that they can win close games which was evident in their close losses to Xavier and DePaul, so if Seton Hall takes a lead they need to keep up pressure and continue to score instead of slowing down the pace.

Make sure to tune into 89.5 FM WSOU, where Chris Heite and AJ Rayer will be on the call, with tipoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Liam Page can be reached at liam.page@student.shu.edu.

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