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When the Seton Hall Pirates and the St. John’s Red Storm meet in Newark on Sunday afternoon, it will be interesting to see how both teams approach this upcoming matchup.
The Pirates are on a three-game losing streak and have found themselves on a downward spiral recently, with their latest loss coming at the hands of Villanova Wildcats in which they could only score a paltry 46 points. St. John’s on the other hand is currently hanging in tough with their young but talented roster at sixth place in the Big East. When we last saw the Red Storm, they were victorious in a game against the DePaul Blue Demons.
St. John’s enters this contest with a record of 9-11 (3-4 Big East), while Seton Hall’s record currently stands at 12-6 (2-4 Big East).
How to Watch, Listen and Stream
Time: Noon ET
TV: Fox Sports 1 (Rick Ackerman and Len Elmore are on the call)
Radio: WSOU 89.5, AM970 The Answer, 570 WMCA
Stream: Fox Sports Go (where available)
Odds
Spread: Seton Hall opened as 8-point favorites. The line ticked up to 8.5.
Records ATS: St. John’s 9-11 | Seton Hall 7-10
O/U: 151.5
All Time Series
St. John’s currently holds the lead in the series between these two programs, 58-37.
Inside the Numbers, Part I - The Skinny
| Category | St. John's | Seton Hall |
|---|---|---|
| Category | St. John's | Seton Hall |
| Adjusted Offensive Efficiency | 108.1 | 109.7 |
| Adjusted Defensive Efficiency | 102.6 | 97.3 |
| PPG | 76.2 | 74.9 |
| PPG Allowed | 73.9 | 69.8 |
| 2PT FG% | 46.6 | 50.7 |
| 3PT FG% | 38.4 | 35.1 |
| FT% | 70.8 | 61.2 |
| 2PT FG% Allowed | 47.2 | 46.9 |
| 3PT FG% Allowed | 35.3 | 33.5 |
Inside the Numbers, Part II - Four Factors
St. John’s
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Seton Hall
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Inside the Numbers, Part III - The Players to Watch
| Player | PPG | PTS/100 Poss. | eFG% | TS% | ORtg | DRtg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | PPG | PTS/100 Poss. | eFG% | TS% | ORtg | DRtg |
| Shamorie Ponds | 17.1 | 28.2 | 55.4 | 58.7 | 119.3 | 101.9 |
| Marcus LoVett | 16.4 | 27.5 | 54.4 | 58.9 | 111.8 | 107.2 |
| Bashir Ahmed | 12.3 | 26.3 | 45.2 | 49.2 | 92.7 | 103.4 |
| Angel Delgado | 14.3 | 26.3 | 55.2 | 55.3 | 109.3 | 97.2 |
| Desi Rodriguez | 16.6 | 31.4 | 54.8 | 56.4 | 114.2 | 98.7 |
| Khadeen Carrington | 17.8 | 31.3 | 54.3 | 56.1 | 110.7 | 101.8 |
Things to Watch For
Do or Die
It is 100 percent appropriate to say that this is a do or die game for the Seton Hall Pirates. Currently sitting in eighth place in the conference, the Pirates must find a way to win this game at home. They are currently a bubble team, day by day edging more towards being left out of the tournament. But the Pirates need to take advantage of returning home, as they are currently undefeated at the Rock this season.
Things have not been looking promising for them recently, but if they can get back to their winning ways, The Hall can find their way back on the right side of the bubble.
Young Guns
The Johnnies are one of the youngest teams in the nation. According to KenPom.com, they are ranked 348th in the nation in terms of experience on their roster. With youth comes inconsistency, but when they’re hitting the three ball, they’re very dangerous.
37.6 percent of the Red Storm’s points come from beyond the arc, and they are shooting 38.4 percent from long range entering play on Sunday. Seton Hall will have to clamp down on perimeter defense and keep their eyes on the versatile guard play of the Johnnies. Shamorie Ponds and Marcus LoVett, the team’s two leading scorers, will be the ones to watch.
Is it Eron Gordon time?
Recently Seton Hall has been struggling from the guard position and the team has been more forward reliant with Desi Rodriguez and Angel Delgado leading the way. In order to get back to their winning ways the Pirates will have to find stability at the guard position.
Eron Gordon in particular has shown that he can score and has good basketball IQ from the limited playing time he has seen. So perhaps Kevin Willard will begin to use the depth he has at the guard position and give Gordon more minutes.