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The Seton Hall Pirates head to Rosemont, Illinois, to take on a struggling DePaul team in the second half of Tuesday night's FOX Sports 1 doubleheader. This is, quite obviously, a big game for both sides. It is February now. Every game is a big game.
I think our Seton Hall writer, Sean Saint Jacques, put it best in his Crossover Examination of the Pirates' last game when talking about this game, "Both teams, as crazy as it may sound, have changed a lot since their first meeting back on Jan. 22 just a week and a half ago. The Pirates will be at full strength and ready to go in Rosemont on Tuesday." With that being said, let's focus on the three biggest things going into this game.
The Return of Isaiah Whitehead
What else did you expect me to lead off with, here? Whitehead, one of the best freshmen in the entire country, returned to action for the Pirates on Saturday against Xavier and made an almost instant impact. He had 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and zero turnovers in 23 minutes. Think Seton Hall missed that? The Pirates become a much different (see: more dangerous) team when Whitehead is in the lineup.
Seton Hall on the road
It's not easy to win road games. It's especially not easy to win conference road games. Seton Hall, however, have been pretty good on the road in conference. They're 2-2 with wins in the very tough CenturyLink Center and BMO Harris Bradley Center. I can guarantee that the Allstate Arena won't have nearly the same crowd as either of those places, especially on a weeknight, with Chicagoland still digging out from this weekend's blizzard.
Billy Garrett and Myke Henry
Last time DePaul and Seton Hall played, these two combined for 28 of DePaul's 64 points. If DePaul can get that sort of production, or better, out of them again... the Demons will compete in this game. It would certainly help if Tommy Hamilton can do better than his two point, three rebound performance he had in Newark. Hamilton was also part of the reason Angel Delgado recorded a double-double. He needs to be better for the Demons to have a shot.