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Preview: Men's Team Searches for Much-Needed Win Against Rival Villanova

Date: February 11, 2023

By: Michael Federico

Tyrese Samuel going up for the tough bucket against Creighton.

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU

The Seton Hall Pirates (15-10, 8-6 CONF) travel down to Philadelphia on Saturday night to face off against the Villanova Wildcats (11-13 overall, 5-8 CONF). This is the first meeting between the two this season.

The Pirates dropped their last game against the No. 23 Creighton Blue Jays on Wednesday night to a score of 75-62. Seton Hall’s last game slipped away from them. The Hall went into halftime down by 1, but at the start of the second half it was all Creighton.

The 23rd ranked team in the country finished shooting 61.4 percent from the field and 60 percent from behind the arc. Despite the Pirates good start shooting 50 percent from the field, they shot 35.7 percent from the field in the second and went on scoring droughts as long as five minutes. Al-Amir Dawes shined, even though the Pirates lost, with 19 points and shooting 5 for 8 from three.

This upcoming game with the Wildcats is as close as it gets to a must-win game for Seton Hall, as March is getting closer and closer. The Pirates have six games left on their schedule and currently sit at 15 wins. If they want to be one of the 64 teams that dance in March, they have to reach that magical 20-win mark. Villanova is 3-6 in their last nine games, whereas Seton Hall is 7-2 in that same stretch.

If The Hall wants to be one of the teams dancing next month, they are going to need their star dancers to perform, one of them being Al-Amir Dawes. Dawes is averaging 13.1 points per game in conference play, which leads the team. Dawes also leads the Pirates shooting 41.4 percent from behind the arc and is the team’s most consistent deep ball shooter.

On the defensive side of the ball, a player to watch for Seton Hall is going to be KC Ndefo, who averages 2.1 blocks per game. Ndefo can do it on both sides of the ball as he averages 7.8 points per game this season.

Scouting the Villanova Wildcats this season, this is a team that we aren’t used to seeing. It’s a new era down in Philadelphia with Jay Wright retiring after last season.

Two players to highlight from this Wildcat squad are Eric Dixon and Caleb Williams. Dixon is averaging 15.7 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game this season and is going to be a huge problem for the Pirates in the paint. Williams is another Wildcat that is dangerous from the field, as he is averaging 16.1 points per game, which leads this Villanova team.

Despite the Villanova Wildcats having a down year, the rivalry does not change. The Seton Hall Pirates go on the road looking for a signature road conference win on Saturday night.

Tipoff is 8:00 p.m., with Ryan Henry and Joe Matthews on call. Coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. right here on WSOU 89.5 FM.

Michael Federico can be reached at michael.federico@student.shu.edu.

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

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