Seton Hall Pirates
Big East (21-11, 10-8)
After losing to Gonzaga as a six seed in the NCAA Tournament last year, Seton Hall came into the 2016-2017 campaign with something to prove. Despite the return of four starters, the Pirates had an up and down season and did not quite live up to the expectations set by last season’s squad. However, this is still a very dangerous team that did a decent job navigating what turned out to be a very tough Big East schedule.
Big Wins: 12/12 vs South Carolina (67-64), 2/15 Creighton (87-81), 2/22 Xavier (71-64)
Bad Losses: 11/27 vs Stanford (52-66), 1/14 at Providence (61-65), 2/11 at St. John’s (70-78)
Coach: Kevin Willard
Why They Can Surprise:
The Pirates are a great rebounding team and that is almost exclusively because of the play of Angel Delgado. The 6-10 junior averages an amazing 13.1 rebounds per game. On top of that, Delgado has boosted his scoring to 15.3 points per game. Desi Rodriguez, Michael Nzei and Ismael Sanogo deserve a lot of credit for the strong rebounding too. Rodriguez is also a very dangerous scorer who can shoot the long ball and use his athletic 6-6 frame to attack the basket. The frontcourt may not be extremely deep, but there is a ton of talent.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Like Rodriguez and Delgado, Khadeen Carrington and Myles Powell are also double digit scorers. But even though Seton Hall can attack the defense from quite a few different players, the offense still struggles at time. Carrington, who leads the team with 16.9 points per game, is a great all-around scorer, but he also needs to help Madison Jones find the rest of the scorers. And this team does not share the ball particularly well. Those extra passes are crucial, especially if they lead to open looks behind the arc for Carrington, Rodriguez or Powell. Seton Hall will not rely on three-pointers, but they do need to knock some down to open up more space in the paint for the big men.
Probable Starters:
Khadeen Carrington, Junior, Guard, 16.9 ppg, 3.0 apg
Madison Jones, Senior, Guard, 5.7 ppg, 3.2 apg, 1.8 spg
Desi Rodriguez, Junior, Forward, 15.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg
Michael Nzei, Sophomore, Forward, 4.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg
Angel Delgado, Junior, Forward, 15.3 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 2.2 apg
Key Role Players:
Myles Powell, Freshman, Guard, 10.7 ppg
Ismael Sanogo, Junior, Forward, 3.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 73.7 (170th in nation, 8th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 70.5 (129, 4)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.2 (135, 6)
Field-Goal Defense: 43.3 (159, 3)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.2 (290, 9)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 33.6 (247, 9)
Free-Throw Percentage: 63.5 (338, 10)
Rebound Margin: 6.5 (21, 2)
Assists Per Game: 12.4 (249, 9)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.6 (236, 8)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2016 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Gonzaga
2012 NIT First Round win over Stony Brook
2012 NIT Second Round loss to Massachusetts
2010 NIT First Round loss to Texas Tech
2006 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Wichita State
2004 NCAA Round of 64 win over Arizona
2004 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Duke
2003 NIT First Round loss to Rhode Island
2001 NIT First Round loss to Alabama
*all team stats through 3/5
