Seton Hall vs. Marquette: College basketball game preview, TV schedule
Seton Hall is one of the best defenses in the Big East. Marquette is one of the best offenses in the Big East. Which strength wins out?
TV schedule: Tuesday, Jan. 9, ET. CBSSN
Arena: BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
When I look at under the radar teams who can potentially make Final Four runs, Seton Hall 14-2 (3-0) is near the top of that list. One of the biggest reasons is the amount of experience on this team, with three seniors leading the way for the Pirates.
Khadeen Carrington, Angel Delgado, and Desi Rodriguez have been the offensive weapons for this team, night in and night out. Sophomore Myles Powell has also given some offense on occasion. In the last game the Pirates played, they defeated Butler, 90-87, in a game that became a shootout in the second half.
The three seniors combined for 76 of the team’s 90 points total, with Carrington having 29 points on 7/11 shooting from deep. Delgado was unstoppable in the post, with 28 points, 15 boards, and six assists. In two of the three games played in the Big East, Seton Hall scored 90 points, which is a far cry from the team’s Virginia-like scoring output before this season.
Marquette 11-5 (2-2) gets the team’s scoring from three main players as well, with Markus Howard, Andrew Rowsey, and Sam Hauser leading the way. The two guards (Howard and Rowsey) each average over 20 ppg, with Howard in particular on fire right now.
In last week’s game against Providence, the sophomore tied a Big East record with 52 points in the overtime win and followed with 37 points in the Villanova loss.
Both teams average over 80 ppg, but the Pirates can play defense when they want to, whereas the Eagles struggle to do so. The question in this game will be whether the guards at Seton Hall can use their physicality to throw off the smaller Marquette guards and run them off the three-point line.
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Marquette did get a win over the Friars in a battle of bubble teams, but the team still doesn’t have that signature win yet. They could very well get one on Tuesday night, but I think Howard finally has an off game, allowing the Pirates to prevail.
Prediction: Seton Hall 83 – Marquette 73