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It has been a solid start to the season for the Seton Hall Pirates. They are currently 6-2, and have won four out of their last five games. Seton Hall currently has three wins against teams in top conferences as they have beaten Ole Miss, Georgia, and most recently Rutgers. They also played well against a solid 8-1 George Washington team and although they fell in that game, Seton Hall showed that they can stick with some of the big teams in college basketball. This attitude could be beneficial to the Pirates when it comes to BIG EAST play. A loss to Long Beach State raised some concern at the beginning of the season, but that has gone away due to the winning form the team is currently in.
Seton Hall's opponent will be the Troy Trojans. The Trojans, who play in the Sun Belt Conference, are 4-4 with wins against USF, NAIA Reinhart, Southern Miss, and North Texas. They haven't played the most quality opponents as the best team they have played against would be UAB, who they lost to 79-63. This will be a big test for the Trojans.
After Seton Hall, Troy gets to play Ole Miss before Sun Belt play starts against Arkansas State. They are currently sitting 6th in the conference and will need to do some work if they want to even be a threat in the conference. The chances of them catching fire and riding that till the conference championship are very slim but anything is possible.
How to watch, listen, or stream
Game time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports 1 (Justin Kutcher and Tarik Turner are on the call)
Radio: AM970 (Seton Hall)
Online: Streaming is available for this telecast via Fox Sports Go (where available)
Gamblin' Info
Odds: Seton Hall comes into this game as 16 point favorites via OddsShark.
Record ATS: Troy (2-5) || Seton Hall (4-3)
O/U: The O/U opened at 150.5
3 Things to Watch
1. Seton Hall's defense: Seton Hall's defense has been great, to say the least this season. The Pirates come into this game only giving up about 64.6 points per game which is tied for 39th in the country. They will be facing a Troy offense that averages 76.3 points per game so one of those two averages will have to give. The key defensive matchup for The Hall will be guarding leading scorer Wesley Person who is averaging 17.2 points for the Trojans. He shoots a good percentage from the field (44.7%) and could give Seton Hall trouble if he gets going. He scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half in one of Troy's wins against North Texas and if he gets hot, it could be an upset brewing for Troy.
2. Can Seton Hall keep the momentum?: With a game against mid-major power Wichita State in ten days, Seton Hall could be looking ahead to that game, but they need to focus on this game. With Person's ability to heat up quickly, Seton Hall will have to take control of this game early and finish it off quickly. Kevin Willard will have to have his players motivated to play a lesser quality opponent and hope they will come out and beat Troy the same way they beat Rutgers.
3. Moving the basketball: Seton Hall only averages 12 assists per game which is 268th in the country. This is a stat that they have to improve. Isaiah Whitehead leads the team in assists with 3.4 a game and he also leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game. Look for Seton Hall to look for some good ball movement throughout the game.