Seton Hall opens season on campus against Wagner

With expectations higher than any season in recent memory and a preseason ranking for just the fifth time in school history, the #12 Seton Hall Pirates open their season Tuesday night on-campus at Walsh Gym against the NEC’s Wagner Seahawks.

This marks the second straight year that the Pirates and Seahawks play in the first game of the season, likely due to the fact that former Seton Hall standout Donald Copeland is a Wagner assistant coach, and the short trip from Staten Island is worth it for the Seahawks.

Last year’s meeting was memorable in that Myles Powell recorded a then-career high 30 points, a number he would reach or eclipse an additional seven times throughout the 2018-19 season. This year’s game will likely be more of the same: Myles Powell will score a lot of points in a Seton Hall blowout victory. But there will be a couple key differences. Primarily, Kevin Willard won’t be on the sideline as head coach.

Willard is serving his school-imposed suspension for transfer tampering, and will be relieved by assistant coach Grant Billmeier. Billmeier played for the Pirates from 2003-07 and has been an assistant since 2010. It’s kind of neat that he’s filling in for Willard, especially with Donald Copeland on the other sideline.

Wagner’s leading returning scorer is guard Elijah Davis. He averaged 12.2 points per game last season and is someone Seton Hall will have to monitor.

How to watch or stream

Time: 6:30 p.m. ET

TV: FS1 (Brian Custer, Donny Marshall)

Stream: FOX Sports Go