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Preview: Seton Hall Plays Creighton in Omaha in Regular Season Finale

Date: March 5, 2022

By: Joe Walls

Seton Hall's Jamir Harris plays defense during a home game vs. Creighton.

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU Sports

The Seton Hall men’s basketball team (19-9, 10-8 conference) will travel to Omaha, Neb. to take on the Creighton Blue Jays (20-9, 12-6 conference) at 2:30 p.m. in the regular season finale.

The Pirates are currently riding a four-game win streak, along with winning six of their last eight games. Creighton is coming off a massive 64-62 win against the UConn Huskies on Wednesday, so both teams should have the pedal to the metal in what should be a phenomenal end to the regular season.

Looking at the Pirates, this is a team that has finally hit a full stride without leading scorer Bryce Aiken, and the box score from their win against Georgetown shows it (73-68). The team had four players in double digits for points against the Hoyas, as well as a standout performance from Kadary Richmond, who had 10 assists in that game.

As a fan, you should expect guys like Jared Rhoden to stay hot, coming off a 16-point game Wednesday, as well as one of the best guys on the floor the past month in Tray Jackson.

If you need someone who has the potential to be “that guy,” look no further then number two in the blue and white for the Pirates. While he was quiet against Georgetown on Wednesday, he was playing out of his mind against the Xavier Musketeers, scoring 17 points (on perfect shooting from the field) along with five rebounds on the night.

Now going to the other end of the floor, the Creighton Blue Jays have plenty of standouts of their own, so who should the Pirates be looking out for in this afternoon tilt?

To start, the Pirates need to lock down 7-foot-1 center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who went for 22 against the Huskies on Wednesday, as well as Ryan Hawkins, who seems to always be on the floor for this Jays squad, as he logged 38 minutes for the Blue Jays in the last game.

The Pirates did a phenomenal job at holding both of these guys to single-digit points during their last contest at the Rock, where Seton Hall took down Creighton, 74-55. In the last matchup, Kalkbrenner only had six points to his name and Hawkins only had two.

With a Pirates team that has had some struggles on the defensive side of the ball, these two players could cause a lot of issues especially down the stretch as Kalkbrenner had plenty of clutch shots for the Jays against the Huskies.

Expect the Pirates to really lock in before and right at tipoff as they look to finish out another season of basketball strong and head into the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on a big win streak that could get them into a groove when they play again on March 9.

For all the coverage of the men’s basketball regular season finale, tune into 89.5 FM WSOU, where Michael Daly and Chris Kiely will have the call from CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb. at 2:30 p.m.

Joe Walls can be reached at joseph.walls@student.shu.edu.

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

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