LINKS: Seton Hall Visits Georgetown on Tuesday

Your Georgetown Hoyas (5-12, 0-6) are hosting the Seton Hall Pirates (9-8, 2-4) on Tuesday at 8:30 PM on FS1.

Will Georgetown be “healthier” than last game? Can the Hoyas steal a win at home? Might Ewing’s defensive strategy be the cure for Seton Hall’s offensive struggles?

Here are the links:

Seton Hall: Preview, Prediction, Keys to the Game | Rumble in the Garden

The pirates are led by first year coach Shaheen Holloway, who led 15-seed St. Peter’s to the Elite 8 last year. Last year’s Kevin Willard-led squad had a 21-11 record and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as an eight-seed. That squad did not return three of its starters to this season’s team, including its top two scorers. Still, this is an experienced team with a deep bench, replenished by transfers.

Seton Hall has been defensively stout, forcing turnovers and making opponents hurry threes. But offensively, the Pirates have struggled mightily; their three-point shooting has been sporadic and inaccurate, and they have turned over the ball. Seton Hall has been very good at getting to the free throw line... though they are shooting 66% on their free throws.

The Pirates’ best returning player might be 6-10 senior forward Tyrese Samuel, a fourth year player who spent his first three seasons coming off the bench. He has played well in his expanded role, with averages of 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. Samuel is joined in the starting frontcourt by 6-7 grad transfer KC Ndefo, who was a three-time MAAC DPOY in his four previous seasons with St. Peter’s. For Seton Hall, Ndefo has averaged 7.7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks.

Pregame Primer: Creighton Gets First Look at the New-Look Seton Hall Pirates Led by Shaheen Holloway | White & Blue Review

The Pirates have been near-elite defensively in a bunch of areas. Their adjusted defensive efficiency is 92.2, ranking 29th in D1. Their length at the rim (where they block 12.5% of opponent’s shots, ranking 43rd) and aggressiveness in the guard corps (they’ve come up with a steal on 11.0% of opponent’s possessions, 75th most) has generally forced opponents to take a lot of contested threes. And on those shots, they’ve held opponents to 27.7% shooting (17th best).

That’s all really, really good. Borderline elite. But one problem area that [teams are]well-positioned to exploit has been their pick-and-roll defense; Marquette exploited this big time in their 83-69 win last week, getting 21 assists on 33 made baskets. Seton Hall’s aggressiveness often causes them to over-commit, and a patient offense can carve them up...

They’ve also been poor at preventing offensive rebounds and second-chance points...

Meanwhile on offense, they’ve been a mess all season long. They shoot poorly from three-point range (30.8%, 290th in D1) but take a lot of threes (35.6% of their total shots). They draw a ton of fouls, attempting 25.6 free throws per game, 10th most in D1 — but shoot poorly from the line (66.8%, 295th). They’re careless with the ball, turning it over on 21.8% of possessions (326th) and getting the ball stolen on 12.0% of possessions (342nd) while having 11.9% of their shots blocked (320th).

Big East Preview Primer: vs Seton Hall | Anonymous Eagle

There’s no other way around this, so let’s just say it. Seton Hall stinks on offense. KenPom has them at #155 in the country in overall offensive efficiency. That is the worst number in the Big East, easily surpassing DePaul at #105 and the Blue Demons have been playing with a hand tied behind their back due to injuries. The Pirates can not shoot the ball, connecting on just 30% of their threes and 49% of their twos. Those shooting percentages rank #306 and #200 in the country. Those are bad enough to drag your offensive efficiency straight to hell even if Seton Hall doesn’t like shooting threes, but that’s not even their real problem.

22% of their possessions end up with the ball going the other direction without a shot going up. That is bottom 40 of the country level stuff. That’s how you end up as the worst offense in the league by a wide margin: One-fifth of your possessions are empty. There are six guys in the lineup that have a turnover rate north of 21% on a personal level. Three of them — KC Ndefo, Al-Amir Dawes, and Kadary Richmond — are in the starting lineup for Seton Hall, and all three of those guys have a turnover rate north of 24%. Ndefo, who is on this roster because he followed head coach Shadeen Holloway from Saint Peter’s to South Orange, is turning the ball over on nearly 30% of the possessions when he’s on the floor. And he plays 60% of their minutes. If Marquette cranks up the defensive pressure far enough — and honestly, they might not have to crank it that far — Seton Hall will literally hand this game to the Golden Eagles.

Seton Hall basketball bounces back, locks down Butler | Asbury Park Press (Jerry Carino)

Seton Hall (9-8 overall, 2-4 Big East) bounced back from Tuesday’s 22-point shellacking at Creighton, during which its subs got run off the floor. Holloway took that to heart and made the critical adjustment.

Butler (10-7, 2-4) whose Big East wins came against Georgetown and DePaul, was hoping to ride 6-11, 240-pound senior center Manny Bates (13.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg), but Samuel consistently pushed him away from the bucket, and the Hall’s guards helped him out by keeping Butler’s guards from driving and by disrupting passing lanes.

“We’re very good defensively when we’re ready to be,” Samuel said. “If we continue to play great defense and strive to be like this offensively, I think the sky’s the limit.”

This was a total team effort, similar to the New Year’s Eve romp of St. John’s, that underscores the promise this unit possesses despite the roller-coaster results thus far this season. After Creighton, Holloway said he held a team meeting that bore fruit.

Pirates Handle Bulldogs At The Rock, 76-51 | SHU Pirate

Senior Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) finished with a game-high 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds while junior Kadary Richmond (Brooklyn, N.Y.) nearly posted a triple-double with 11 points, eight rebound and nine assists. Senior Tray Jackson (Detroit, Mich.) chipped in 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 shooting from three-point land.

Samuel scored the Pirates’ first seven points and a dunk by graduate student KC Ndefo (Elmont, N.Y.) gave Seton Hall an early seven-point lead, 9-2. A Butler jumper with 13:42 to play in the first half made it a four-point game, 11-7, before The Hall expanded its lead thanks to an 11-2 spurt that pushed the its advantage to 14, 25-11.

One-of-two free made throws, a defensive stop and a jumper cut the Bulldogs’ deficit to 10 with under four minutes to play before halftime when Jackson caught fire. He went on an 8-0 run on his own to close the stanza and it gave Seton Hall a commanding 41-23 lead.

Butler started off the second half with a dunk but it would be the closest it would get the rest of the way. Ndefo responded on the Pirates’ next possession when he converted a traditional three-point play on a layup and a made free throw. Seton Hall’s largest lead of the game was 28, 73-45, following two made free throws by junior Dre Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.).