Previewing Seton Hall

By Craig Leighton
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Updated: February 28, 2014

Providence College takes on Seton Hall University Friday night at the Prudential Center in Newark. The Friars are looking to maintain their momentum on the road after a victory at Butler this past Sunday night. Here is a preview of the upcoming game.

The Last Game Providence lost a heartbreaker to Seton Hall in double overtime on New Year’s Eve at the Dunk 81-80. The key point of the game was when the Friars threw away an inbounds pass with 15 seconds left in the second overtime. Bryce Cotton led the Friars in scoring with 25 points and Tyler Harris added 22. The Pirates had a balanced scoring attack with Sterling Gibbs, Brandon Mobley, Brian Oliver, and Patrik Auda all scoring in double figures.

Teague is Back Seton Hall’s Gene Teague did not play in the first matchup against the Friars. He will be in the lineup for Seton Hall on Friday and is currently averaging 10 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Pirates. One of the keys for the Friars will be to keep the 6’9, 270 pound center off of the boards and out of the low post.

Other Keys to the Game

It is very important for the Friars to get off to an early lead on the road, or at least keep the game close. With the Friars thin roster the team uses up too much energy trying to come back from behind in the second half of games. The Friars expend a lot less energy when they are in control of a game.

Kadeem Batts and Carson Desrosiers have to avoid the unnecessary fouls and stay out of foul trouble. A player with Teague’s size can create foul problems for both of them if they are not careful. PC cannot afford to have multiple players foul out of this game.

In the first matchup the Friars out rebounded the Pirates 41 -28. Despite the added presence of Teague for this game the Friars will once again need to control the boards in order to win.

PC has been shooting very well from three point range making greater than 40% of their shots from the beyond the arc in each of the last three games. Hopefully this hot shooting will continue against Seton Hall. In their first matchup PC shot only 29% from the three point stripe with Cotton going only 1-8. The Friars will need to make their threes on Friday in order to win.

What it Means This is another huge game for the Friars. In order to be in decent shape for the NCAA tournament PC will need to have 21 wins which means they will need to win three of the next four games, including a game in the first round of the Big East Tournament. If the Friars lose to Seton Hall it would mean that they would need to win three straight games. This would be an extremely difficult task as their last regular season game is at Creighton, an extremely tough place to play. But, first things first. As Coach Cooley says, one game at a time.

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