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Preview: Pirates Have Sights Set On 3rd Place Finish in ESPN Events Invitational with Game Against Siena

Date: November 27, 2022

By: Andrew Raccuglia

Tray Jackson and the Pirates' hope to grab a third place finish with a win against Siena.

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU

Seton Hall’s men’s basketball team (4-2) looks to avenge a hard loss to the Oklahoma Sooners with a 3rd Place win at the ESPN Events Invitational against the Siena Saints (3-3).

They will face the Saints of the MAAC, who are coming off of a 74-62 semifinal round loss to the undefeated Mississippi Rebels (6-0). They had beaten the struggling Florida State Seminoles (1-6) 80-63 in the quarterfinal round on Thursday.  

The early Friday matchup between Siena and Ole Miss got off to a very competitive start, with neither team leading by more than five points in a back-and-forth first half. There were a staggering eleven lead changes and two ties in the half as Siena walked back into the locker room with a one-point 27-26 lead.

Ole Miss came out hot right after halftime, regaining the lead and ballooning it to eleven points with 13:55 minutes left, and never relinquished it, even weathering a 9-0 run between the last eight and four minutes, to win by double-digits and advance to the Championship game of the tournament.

While Ole Miss was propelled to victory by freshman Amaree Abram’s 19 points, Siena’s sophomore guard Javien McCollum scored a game-high 24 points, along with eight assists and two steals. The team leader in scoring is now averaging 17.5 points per game, 2.3 rebounds per game, and 5.7 assists per game, on 51.6% from the field.

Siena’s senior forward Jackson Stormo scored the team’s second-best 13 points, to go with six rebounds, one assist and block, (11.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.0 APG, 57.9 FG%), while sophomore guard Jared Billups had 11 points and six rebounds (8.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.2 APG, 36.0 FG%). The team’s second-highest average scorer, senior guard Andrew Platek, had four points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals (13.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.7 APG, 54.5 FG%).

Both teams shot remarkably even from distance at 33.3% (6-of-18 and 5-of-15), but Siena had a slight advantage in free throws (9-of-12 vs. 10-of-14), while the Rebels had a larger advantage from the field (Saints’ 42.9% vs. Rebels’ 50.0%).

Siena just did not have an offensive response to Ole Miss throughout the second half, just like the Pirates later that day.

In the Pirates’ 77-64 loss on Friday night, it was a very close game across the first half, but the defense did not adequately stop the Sooners’ Grant Sherfield or counter with their own offense in the final 10 minutes, which dropped their hopes of competing in the championship game.

Senior guard Al-Amir Dawes finished with a team-best 12 points to go with one rebound, three assists, and two blocks, but had four turnovers. He is now averaging 11.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.2 APG, on 40.7% from the field and 53.3% from behind the arc.

Graduate forward KC Ndefo and Junior guard Dre Davis both finished with 10 points. Ndefo also had five rebounds, one assist, and two blocks (7.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 0.7 APG), and Davis had three rebounds and one assist (11.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.0 APG). Femi Odukale, Tray Jackson, and Jamir Harris all earned seven points, while Kadary Richmond had a game-high seven rebounds.

Sunday afternoon’s game will be the first time that the Pirates and the Saints have played each other since 1974, but it will be far from the first time Coach Shaheen Holloway and his Saint Peter’s transfer, Ndefo, have faced Carmen Maciariello’s squad.

The Saints have consistently been one of the better teams of the MAAC when Holloway began his head-coaching tenure at Saint Peter’s in the 2018-19 season. In his four years in Jersey City, Siena has finished above the Peacocks in the standings for the first three years before their magical Elite Eight run last March.

Additionally, of the eight meetings between Holloway and Maciarello (as an assistant and head coach) since January 2019, Siena has won five of eight, including the last three; 74-60, 60-58, and 47-40. Ndefo has scored an average of 10.4 points across all eight of those games.

While Seton Hall is marginally behind in their points per game average, 73.7 to the Saints’ 74.2, as well as in field shooting 47.6 to 44.5, three-point shooting, 40.2 to 37.0, and assists, 15.0 to 13.0, they are outperforming Siena in points allowed, 61.5 to Saints’ 72.0, rebounding, 39.2 to 33.7, blocks, 4.7 to 2.5, and steals7.8 to 6.0).

Siena’s strength is their offense, on a level that is slightly better than The Hall’s shooting and having more assists on stronger plays at the rim. However, their weakness is the defense, especially their susceptibility to turnovers and steals, which the Pirates’ deep defense can easily exploit.

It will be an entertaining game to see if Holloway can try to figure out the Saints with a new squad, and if they can come away with a hard-fought 3rd in the final game of the ESPN Events Invitational.

After that, they have a quick turnaround to face the greatest of all tests as they travel to Lawrence, Kan. to take on the defending national champions, the University of Kansas Jayhawks.

Jonathan Heite and Joe Matthews will once again be on the call for Sunday’s game against Siena College at the State Farm Field House. Tune into 89.5 FM WSOU when coverage begins at 4:45 p.m. EST before the 5:00 tipoff.

Andrew Raccuglia can be reached at andrew.raccuglia@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Previews, Men's Basketball

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