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On Saturday afternoon, the Providence Friars will play host to the Seton Hall Pirates for an early Noon tip-off. Both teams are currently maneuvering their way through hectic parts of their schedules as they are each in their second of three games in a six day stretch.
Seton Hall enters the matchup Saturday with a record of 12-4 (2-2 in conference play) while Providence is currently 11-7 (1-4 in conference play).
How to watch, listen and stream
Location: Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence Rhode Island.
TV: Fox Sports/YES Network
Radio: AM 970, 103.7 WEEI FM
Streaming: Fox Sports Go (where available)
Odds
Spread: Seton Hall opened as 1-point favorites. The line bumped up to 2 in their favor.
Records ATS: Seton Hall 7-8 | Providence 9-9
O/U: 137
Series
This will be the 100th time these two teams are facing off. This series has been fairly even with Providence leading the series 51-48.
What to Watch For
Both teams looking for bounce back victories
Providence led DePaul by 11 points with just under five minutes remaining Tuesday night in Chicago. The youthful Friars’ inexperience was displayed in the final two minutes of the game as they made two critical turnovers and failed to convert on opportunities to score, such as when the game ended on Kyron Cartwright’s missed layup after driving the length of the court and Providence fell 64-63.
The Pirates’ tough loss in Milwaukee Wednesday played out in different fashion as The Hall showed great determination and fought back despite being down as much as seven with one minute remaining. The Pirates were unable to come out victorious as they fell in overtime 89-86. Both teams will be hungry for a victory after suffering heartbreaking losses earlier in the week.
Status of Kyron Cartwright
Key junior guard Kyron Cartwright, Providence’s assists leader, exited last Saturday’s game against Creighton with a knee injury. To the surprise of many Friar fans, Cartwright played in Tuesday’s loss against DePaul but his nagging injury clearly affected his play, as he shot only 1-of-6 from the floor and recorded five points and committed five turnovers. It will be interesting to see how much Cartwright plays against the Pirates and if his performance will once again be effected by his knee.
Desi Rodriguez
Rodriguez has been averaging 22 points per game, shooting a mark of 52 percent from the field and 57 percent from beyond the arc over the first four games of Big East play. One cannot deny that those are phenomenal numbers. Rodriguez is confident and it was shown in the previous game against Marquette, regardless of how tightly he was guarded he found a way to convert.
Seton Hall wins if...
Desi Rodriguez has another very productive game, Angel Delgado continues his superb play in the paint and records his 11th straight double-double and Khadeen Carrington and Myles Powell shoot well from the field. One of Seton Hall’s fatal flaws has been turnovers. If they turn the ball over less they have a much better chance of winning.
Providence wins if...
Their defense is able to force Seton Hall turnovers. The Pirates have been very sloppy of late and boast a rather high turnover rate of 20.2. If Providence keeps it close and is able to get to the line they will likely walk away victorious as they post better marks from the free throw line.
The biggest key to Providence winning this game will be for them to be able to grab offensive rebounds. Seton Hall is very good at limiting teams from second chance opportunities with Angel Delgado and Ish Sanogo crashing the boards for defensive rebounds. Providence must find a way to deny these two from grabbing too many defensive boards.