[Cracked Sidewalks] Seton Hall Preview

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Seton Hall Preview

Tonight shapes up to be a pivotal game for Marquette.  Now firmly into the highly-scrutinized "last ten games" of the regular season, MU has started off 0-2.  Standing at 6-5 in conference, a loss tonight would squarely place the post-season in jeopardy. It's been since 1979-1980 that the team made the NCAA tournament three years in a row, and everyone wants to see that long streak end.

In our numbers recap from the last game against Seton Hall, we showed exactly how ugly that game was. Seton Hall fared better in Turnover Rate, Offensive Rebounding, and Free Throw Rate.  With all that, as well as holding Marquette to a then-season low in Offensive Efficiency, it's fortunate that our team was able to win.  Considering that everyone expected a track meet last game, let's see how the pace ends up tonight.

Here are the Top Five Numbers for Seton Hall, with information from Pomeroy's Scouting Report and Game Plan.

• 76% - Pomeroy predicts a 76% chance of winning
• 5 - Seton Hall is ranked #5 in the country at protecting the ball.  They turn the ball over on only 15.8% of all possessions.
  
• 11 - Seton Hall is ranked #11 in the country at Steal Percentage.  They get a steal on 13.7% of all defensive possessions
• 31 - That's the jersey number of 6'9", 265 lb F John Garcia.  Garcia is #10 in the country at Offensive Rebounding Percentage (16.1%)
• 20 - Despite all of the recent struggles, Marquette is still considered a top 20 team by Pomeroy at both Offensive and Defensive Efficiency.  We are #18 and #19 in the country, respectively.
  

Links

• Rosiak has a nice story on Lazar, including some discussion of Hayward being eligible for League's Most Improved Player.
• Rosiak's blog was busy the last few days, with updates from the polls and a quick look at Seton Hall (scroll down)
• GoMarquette.com preview, including a link to the game notes
• NJ Star Ledger looks at Seton Hall, with a focus on the Big East Tourney
• PirateCrew.com has a preview of tonight's game

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/02/seton-hall-preview.html