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Preview: Seton Hall vs Grand Canyon

Myles Powell and the Pirates travel west to take on the Antelopes.

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-First Round-North Carolina State vs Seton Hall Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

How to Watch and Stream

TV: ESPN3

Stream: WatchESPN


Odds

Seton Hall is a 4.5 point favorite, the Over/Under is 145.5 according to OddsShark.com


Preview

Quick Aside: The first article I wrote for BECB was Seton Hall vs Rhode Island, exactly a year ago to this game.

In what is a potential trap game, the Seton Hall Pirates have a lot to overcome. The obvious being the travel to Titan Gymnasium in California. The other part that has to be handled is the hidden gem of the west, the Grand Canyon Antelopes.

Believe it or not, GCU basketball has been fairly good the past few seasons. They’ve been able to net transfers such as Casey Benson, have a rocking student section that can’t be beat(because there is nothing to do at GCU except go to ASU parties) and a odd style of play.

GCU returns Alessandro Lever, a 6-foot-10 forward and last season’s leading scorer. Junior Carlos Johnson gets most of the significant touches along with senior Trey Dreschel. This team does a few things very well. They fail to turn the ball over, averaging a TO% of 16 percent along with an OR% of 39 percent. Their trips on the offensive end often end with two points, so players like Sandro Mamukelashvili and Taurean Thompson have to do their part in rebounding. GCU is also good at creating turnovers, so expect a few steals and deflected passes.

Seton Hall needs to get Myles Powell going and going early. Powell is averaging 23 points per game on 44 percent shooting. Expect him to have a hot hand and carry the scoring load. Guys like Mamukelashvili and Michael Nzei need to control the defensive glass. The focus for Seton Hall should be the defensive boards, having at least 2 players crashing at all times. Quincy McKnight and Myles Cale should see good touches too.