WSOU

Preview: No. 25 Seton Hall Looks for Third Straight Win Against Wagner at Home

Date: November 30, 2021

By: Justin Nicosia

Seton Hall's Tyrese Samuel looks to grab a rebound over Bethune-Cookman players in a game at home.

Seton Hall Athletics

The No. 25 Seton Hall Pirates will try to extend their winning streak to three when they welcome the 2-0 Wagner Seahawks to the Prudential Center on Wednesday night.

The traveling Seahawks are coming off an impressive 58-44 victory on the road against VCU but have been out of action since Nov. 13 due to a light non-conference portion of their schedule. Prior to beating VSU, Wagner beat Hartford at home by a final score of 77-59.

The Pirates come into Wednesday with a 5-1 record, including a win which was seen by many as the most impressive victory of the early season.

That came just two Tuesdays ago when they travelled to Ann Arbor, Mich. and beat the then No. 4 Michigan Wolverines 67-65 on the road. Since then, Seton Hall lost a close one against Ohio State in the Fort Myers Tip-off, won a nail-biter against California, and overcame a halftime deficit to cruise to a double-digit victory at home against Bethune-Cookman on Sunday.

Seton Hall is led by senior guard Jared Rhoden, who leads the team in points and rebounds-per-game with 18.4 and 6.2, respectively.

The Pirates will be without starting guard Myles Cale, who will miss his third consecutive game after injuring his groin in the first half of last Tuesday’s game against Ohio State.

Starting in his place will likely be fellow graduate student Bryce Aiken, who has finally been able to stay healthy and give Seton Hall a meaningful number of minutes so far this season. He is the only Pirate outside of Rhoden to average double figures, as he averages 10.7 points-per-game.

On the defensive side of things, the Pirates will look for contributions from both Syracuse transfer Kadary Richmond, and graduate student Ike Obiagu.

Richmond, who is a year removed from finishing fourth in the ACC in steals, is coming off of back-to-back multi-steal games. Obiagu, on the other hand is 12th in the nation with 3.5 blocks-per-game and has already recorded five blocks in a game twice this season.

For Wagner, the Seahawks will look heavily to their front court for offensive production. Three senior guards, Alex Morales (17.5), Will Martinez (13.0), and Elijah Ford (11.0) all average double figures for Wagner. Morales also leads the team in rebounds with eight-per-game, and he has yet to miss a three-pointer in three attempts.

Wagner will experience a big disadvantage in the paint, as they lack the size that Seton Hall does. Wagner’s tallest player, Raekwon Rogers, is listed at just 6-foot-8, and four consistent members of the Pirates rotation sit at or above that mark.

We may look for head coach Kevin Willard to have his team play some small ball to match the agility of a small Seahawks lineup, but either way the Pirates match up very well for Wednesday night’s matchup, which will be broadcast on 89.5 FM WSOU.

Coverage begins around 6:45 p.m., with Will Swankie and Joe Cammarota on a call you certainly won’t want to miss.

Justin Nicosia can be reached at justin.nicosia@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Men's Basketball, Sports, WSOU

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