A quick look at Seton Hall
Seton Hall probably needs Tuesday's game as badly as MU does.
The Pirates have dropped three straight and the Golden Eagles two straight, and both have challenging games in the following days. Neither can afford to fall any further behind in the Big East standings.
Entering play Monday night Seton Hall is tied for 10th place at 5-6 with DePaul, which leaves the Pirates right on the cusp of qualifying for the Big East Tournament next month with a number of games to go. MU, meanwhile, is tied for sixth at 6-5 with Syracuse and Cincinnati. A victory at the Prudential Center, and another on Friday against fifth-place Pittsburgh, could go a long way toward cementing the Golden Eagles' post-season status.
Seton Hall is led by senior wing Brian Laing, who's averaging 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Point guard Eugene Harvey averages 14.8 points and 4.8 assists, Jeremy Hazell is averaging 12.1 points and has knocked down a team-high 59 three-pointers, and Jamar Nutter is averaging 10.8 points to go along with 50 threes.
The Pirates' high-water mark in league play thus far is a 92-82 upset of Louisville on Jan. 19 at the brand-new Prudential Center.
They excel defensively on the perimeter, averaging a league-best 10.1 steals per game. That number is sure to take a dip now that junior guard Paul Gause has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee.
Elsewhere, they're not so good, ranking 13th in field-goal percentage defense and field-goal percentage, 15th in rebounding margin, and 16th, or dead-last, in scoring defense and rebounding defense.
MU beat Seton Hall, 61-56, in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 8 at the Bradley Center.
Here's what coach Tom Crean had to say about the Pirates on Monday afternoon:
"I think they're improving because they've got some good young players. Nutter's really playing a great role for them, Laing is on fire for them; he has been the last two years one of the best players in our league. Eugene Harvey is creating a lot of havoc for the opponent with what he does off ball screens - the way he uses them, the way he doesn't use them. He's really, really efficient right now with that. Jeremy Hazell is absolutely fearless with the ball in his hands from basically anywhere in the front court.
"They're getting solid play up front. They had a really good day Saturday with Garcia, Okosun and Davis as far as points and rebounds. They're playing very well. We weren't surprised when we played them, after being on the court with them, how good they are. They've done some really good things in this league this year."
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