Seton Hall vs. Ole Miss recap: Pirates knock off Rebels, finish Charleston Classic 2-1

After a stumble in Thursday night's opener, the Seton Hall Pirates finished the Charleston Classic strong by winning their final two games.

Friday night, they knocked off the Bradley Braves in a close contest. Sunday afternoon, they picked up a victory against their best opponent to date, the Ole Miss Rebels. The Pirates beat the Rebels by a 75-63 margin.

Here are three things this game taught us.

Seton Hall's super sophomores

Coming into the year, we knew very little about Seton Hall. We knew they were young. We knew Sterling Gibbs was gone. We knew Kevin Willard would have his work cut out for him.

So far, so good for Willard.

Sophomore Isaiah Whitehead has been the offensive leader for the Pirates all season. That continued Sunday.

Whitehead, who suffered a concussion last weekend against Wagner, and possibly aggravated that concussion in Friday's win over Bradley, didn't start today. There were concerns that he may not play. He checked in at the 18-minute mark of the first half,  and looked to be his usual self.

Whitehead led all scorers in this one with 17 points, in addition to the five assists he dished out, and three rebounds he pulled down. A big performance from Seton Hall's star on a big stage.

Sophomore Desi Rodriguez was also huge for the Pirates. He had 12 points, and all of his buckets seemed to come at a big moment in the first half or early in the second half during which the game was close.

Reigning Big East Freshman of the Year Angel Delgado was his usual self down low. Delgado had eight points and 11 rebounds.

All in all, sophomores accounted for 53 of Seton Hall's 75 points.

Stefan Moody's Point(s)

Coming into this one, Ole Miss was given a slight edge by Ken Pomeroy and other pundits. A big reason? First Team All-SEC guard Stefan Moody.

Moody's impact was a bit diminished. He finished the game with 13 points, a season low, on 4-13 shooting. He also committed six turnovers, and was held without a bucket for the final seven and a half minutes of the game.

Seton Hall senior Derrick Gordon did an excellent job containing Moody.

Tomasz Gielo led the Rebels with 15 points on 5-9 shooting.

Looking ahead

The Pirates will head back to New Jersey following their successful trip to Charleston.

Saturday afternoon, they'll take on another SEC squad, the Georgia Bulldogs, at the Prudential Center.

The Bulldogs are 1-1 so far this season, with a loss to Chattanooga and a victory over George Mason.

This game is the return game of a home-and-home. Last season, Seton Hall traveled to Athens where they fell 65-47. The Pirates had zero scorers in double figures in that game.

Georgia's leading scorer from that game, Kenny Gaines, is still there. However, their second-leading scorer in that contest, and season leader overall, Marcus Thornton, is no longer with the program. It will be interesting to see how the Pirates gameplan for the Bulldogs, given that they have nearly a full week to do such.