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Preview: Seton Hall faces off with St. John's in Big East quarterfinal

Date: March 11, 2021

By: Jonathan Heite

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Seton Hall Athletics

The season is officially on the line today for the Pirates. In their last chance to prove they should have a spot in the NCAA tournament, Seton Hall (13-12, 10-9 conference) will face the St. John’s Red Storm (16-10, 10-9 conference) at 3:00 p.m. in the second round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden.

 

After a devastating 81-71 loss this past Saturday at Carnesecca Arena, the team will look to both snap their tumultuous four-game losing streak that concluded the remainder of the regular season and get revenge against their conference rival.

 

The latter half of Seton Hall’s COVID-19 riddled schedule was difficult to say the least, as the Pirates lost crucial games down the stretch that severely damaged their hopes for a potential March Madness bid. Their struggles began on Feb. 20 in an 85-71 loss to the red-hot Georgetown Hoyas (just advanced to the quarterfinals yesterday after defeating Marquette), a 61-52 defeat on Feb. 24 at Butler (who upset No.7 seeded Xavier in overtime yesterday to advance to the next round), a 69-58 loss to UConn last Wednesday on senior night, and finally the St. John’s loss from less than a week ago. A victory in any of these games could have significantly increased the Pirates’ chance to make the Big Dance, but now are faced with an even more difficult challenge starting later today.

There is no secret that the most plausible way for Kevin Willard and the Pirates to be able to travel to Indiana next week is to outright win the Big East tournament, which this year’s field appearing to be as wide open as ever. However, before thinking that far ahead, Seton Hall must overcome their late season woes and take down a St. John’s team also desperately fighting for a tournament opportunity.

 

After taking down the Red Storm earlier this season on Dec. 11 by a score of 77-68, where senior superstar Sandro Mamukelashvili delivered a career high 32 points, the Pirates simply could not repeat the successes in the 10-point loss on Saturday.

 

Seton Hall jumped out to an incredible 18-0 run to start the game and even managed to maintain a 38-28 lead going into halftime. However, the second half completely belonged to St. John’s, who exploded with a 28-8 run and totaled 53 second half points to steal the victory.

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Seton Hall Athletics

The Pirates were dominated throughout the entire 20-minute second period both from the eye test and on the stat sheet. Despite shooting 41 percent from the field as a team, the Red Storm shot 52% overall and 45% from the three-point line (10 of 22). The Queens squad also outrebounded Seton Hall (33-32) and tallied an additional 12 points from second chance baskets.

 

Starting on the Pirates’ side, the outcome of today’s game will ultimately be determined from the play of their leader, Mamukelashvili, who just Wednesday was awarded Co-Big East Player of the Year alongside Villanova’s Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The Georgian phenom became the program’s fourth all-time recipient of the honor and is now the second consecutive Pirate in a row (Myles Powell – 2020).

 

He saved his best collegiate season for last, averaging 17.8 points (second in Big East), 7.3 rebounds (sixth in conference), and 3.1 assists-per-game. The dynamic power (and sometimes point) forward also became the 45th player to reach the 1,000-point mark in program history and has been the catalyst for any of the team’s successes this season on both sides of the ball.

Besides the Hall’s main source of offense in “Mamu”, junior Jared Rhoden finished second on the team in scoring with 14.4 points and contributed 6.4 boards-per-contest. Senior Myles Cale rounded out the top three with 11.8 points (also made the most three pointers made with 42) and 3.5 boards-per-game.

 

Other key members of this year’s roster included senior point guard Shavar Reynolds Jr., also known as “Big Shot Shavar”, (7.8 points average and team-high 43 steals), six-foot-10-inch sophomore Tyrese Samuel (5.6 points-per-game), and seven-foot-two-inch transfer junior Ike Obiagu (led the team with 69 total blocks). The former Florida State center also was awarded Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year for both his season performance and impressive academic achievements off the floor, maintaining over a 3.7 GPA in his Accounting major, one of the most difficult, but rewarding programs in the entire university.

 

Despite having much talent across the board, the Pirates could not seem to click on both ends of the court throughout much of their latter half of conference play. One key issue this year has been the availability of Harvard transfer Bryce Aiken, who only averaged 5.7 points in 14 games. Injuries plagued much of his season, and although he is finally back in the lineup, it has been clearly difficult for the dynamic guard to get adjusted to difficult Big East competition.

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Seton Hall Athletics

Consistent defense both from the interior and perimeter has been a problem all season long for Seton Hall, and after seeing St. John’s offense explode on Saturday, players like Aiken, transfer junior Takal Molson, and the rest of the lineup will have to clog passing lanes, defend the three, and ultimately play much more aggressive to shut down the Red Storm’s lethal scoring options.

 

Leading this offensive attack is superstar sophomore Julian Champagnie, who was not only the conference’s leading scorer (19.9 points-per-game), but also joined Mamukelashvili on the All-Big East First Team. The Brooklyn-native scoring machine also led the conference in free throw percentage (88.7%) and helped push his team to its best overall regular season performance in over two decades.

 

While many could easily argue that Champagnie deserved the Big East Player of the Year title, he now has another chip on his shoulder when facing the Pirates for the third time this season.

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Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The second half of the potent underclassman duo is Posh Alexander, who was unanimously chosen for the Big East All-Freshman team earlier this week. The fellow Brooklyn guard was right behind Champagnie in scoring (11.1 points) and was also the team leader in assists (4.4) and steals (2.6) per-game. Alexander also was the Big East steals leader with 2.6 (Reynolds was ranked second with 1.7), and he is arguably one of the most versatile and dynamic young players in the entire conference. After missing the last two St. John’s games of the regular season (including last Saturday) with a sprained right thumb, multiple sources have confirmed he will return from the injury.

 

Champagnie led all scorers with 22 just a few days ago, and now with the reunion of the one of the best backcourts in the Big East, this will be the Pirates’ main concern on the defensive end. Outside of the number one scoring threat, freshman Dylan Addae-Wusu (who played in high school with Alexander at Our Savior Lutheran in the Bronx) also tallied 14, and junior Marcellus Earlington contributed 12 in the win. While this team has been streaky at times throughout the year, the offense is meshing at the right time and will be a handful for every Pirates defender.

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New York Post

If Seton Hall wants any chance to win the rubber match against the Red Storm, key players must step up on offense. While Mamukelashvili has carried the scoring burden during numerous games this season, look for players like Rhoden, Cale, Samuel, and more to contribute stellar scoring performances to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. Containing the revamped Champagnie-Alexander duo will also be crucial, as these two players have put the Queens program back on the map.

 

Luckily, the Pirates do have a bit of history on their side. In four other back-to back performances against the same team to end the regular season and face off in the conference tournament, Seton Hall has an all-time record of 3-1.

 

Mamukelashvili put it best yesterday when speaking to the media: “[In the] Big East tournament, everyone is 0-0. Everyone is fighting for one thing.”

 

This matchup could be the end of the road for Kevin Willard and company this year, or the beginning of a historic conference title run. Will the Pirates overcome late season demons and knock off the Red Storm in their home arena? Will St. John’s go on a tournament run of their own with some of the best young talent they have had in decades?

 

The only way to find out is to tune into 89.5 FM WSOU starting at 2:30 for pregame coverage, with tip-off scheduled at 3:00. The station’s own superstar duo of Michael Daly and Heaven Hill will be on the call. This is one you do not want to miss.

Jonathan Heite can be reached at jonathan.heite@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Game Previews, Men's Basketball, Sports

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