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Preview: Seton Hall hosts UConn on senior night with fans in do-or-die game

Date: March 3, 2021

By: Rony Jerez

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Big time teams win big time games. The Pirates have fallen short of delivering on must-win games the past two games on the road at Georgetown and at Butler. After a vital four-game win streak to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, the Pirates are now knocking on the door of a three-game losing streak and potentially the game of the season for the Hall.

 

The Pirates will return to the Prudential Center to play their final home game of the regular season against the UConn Huskies at 6:30 p.m. this evening. The Hall is currently in fourth place in the Big East Standings at 10-7 right behind the Huskies who are 9-6 so far late into this season. A win in this head-to-head matchup can potentially solidify the third-place finisher in the Big East behind the titans at the top, Creighton and Villanova.

To add to the drama, not only does this game have large tournament and seeding implications, but this is also the final home game for the senior players on this Pirates team: Sandro Mamukelashvili, Myles Cale, Shavar Reynolds Jr. and Bryce Aiken. This comes just in time due to NJ Governor Phil Murphy allowing fans to attend this final home game at 10% capacity. There was a ticketing raffle for fans to try to win a chance on attending the game to show their appreciation of the team in person and congratulate the seniors.

 

As history likes to repeat itself, the Pirates love playing at home and are 4-1 in their last five senior nights All of the seniors on this Pirate team have played a big role at some point in the season. The biggest being none other than the Georgian Jordan himself, Mamukelashvili.

Being scouted as one of the best forwards in the country before the season, he has certainly lived up to that standing as he has finished in the final top five selection for the Karl Malone Award: recipient of this award goes to the best power forward in the country. Mamukelashvili is currently sprinkled all over the top of the Big East in many statistical categories. He is currently in second in the Big East in scoring with 17.8 points-per-game, eighth in rebounding with 7.1 rebounds-per-game, and 14th in assists with 3.1 assists-per-game.

 

Cale is finishing out his career strong by having his best year as a Seton Hall Pirate. He is averaging a career high 12 points a night and doing so on a 46.3% efficiency. Cale has brought sparks of life and has been big when his team needed him to be.

 

Aiken has had a year riddled with injury that has kept him sidelined throughout the entire year. He suffered a harsh ankle sprain on the team’s season opener against Louisville and re-sprained the same ankle a couple games after his return. His role was to bring a shot-creating spark and to complement his play with backcourt mate Reynolds Jr. to fill the scoring void left by last year’s seniors. We saw a game where Aiken erupted for 21 points against Creighton and showed he could still light it up.

Finally, Reynolds Jr. having the season he probably never imagined he could have. The former walk on has had a stellar year being the starting point guard for this team and being known as “Big Shot Shavar” as he has come up big in clutch moments all season long, notably with go-ahead three-point shots against Penn State and Marquette. Reynolds is currently fifth in the Big East in assists with 4.4 assists-per-game, fourth in steals with 1.6 steals-per-game and would be second in free throw shooting at 88% from the line.

 

The Pirates will have their hands full with a tough UConn team but as the emotions will run high tonight at the Prudential Center, the stakes and implications will run even higher. 89.5 FM WSOU will have all the coverage you need for this one with pre-game coverage starting at 6:00 p.m. and then tip-off being at 6:30 p.m. where Wilnir Louis and Dalton Allison will be on the call from the Prudential Center.

Rony Jerez is an Assistant News Director for 89.5 FM WSOU, and can be reached at rony.jerez@student.shu.edu.

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

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