Georgetown and Seton Hall square off in Friday’s lone Big East game

Following a conference-opening victory over DePaul, the Seton Hall Pirates (-4, 1-0) return to Newark to host the Georgetown Hoyas (10-4, 0-1) Friday evening.

Seton Hall looked impressive in their 74-66 road victory over an upstart DePaul team, pulling away in the final few minutes and overcoming a 10-point first half deficit to extend their winning streak to three straight games. Perhaps most importantly for Seton Hall was the return of leading scorer Myles Powell. After suffering a concussion against Rutgers, Powell was absent from the Hall’s wins over Maryland and Prairie View. It seemed like he might have a diminished role in his return against DePaul, but that wasn’t the case. Powell led all scorers with 27 points, and also came away with five rebounds and a career-high five steals in his return to action. With Sandro Mamukelashvili still out with a broken wrist, Powell will likely need to do more on both sides of the ball than previously asked, which is a tough task for someone who already does so much. If the DePaul game is any indication,, though, Powell is fit for the challenge.

Meanwhile, for Georgetown, Mac McClung and Omer Yurtseven have done a terrific job keeping the team and season afloat following the departure of James Akinjo in early December. The Hoyas, 4-3 at the time of Akinjo’s departure, racked up six straight wins to close out nonconference play at 10-3 before opening conference play against what seemed to be a downtrodden Providence team.

Well, there’s no such thing as a downtrodden team when it comes to conference play. Providence took it to Georgetown, leading by 30 at the half and coming out with a 76-60 victory to snap the Hoyas’ win streak and send them to an 0-1 start to Big East play. The Hoyas were also without McClung in that game, after he got poked in the eye last Saturday against American and wasn’t well enough to play Tuesday. He should be back Friday evening.

In games McClung has played this year, Georgetown’s offense has looked like one of the nation’s best. However, Seton Hall’s defense has also been one of the nation’s best. Something’s gotta give Friday evening in Newark.

How to watch or stream

Time: 9 p.m. ET

TV: FS1

Streaming: FOX Sports Go