Kentucky vs Seton Hall: 2018-19 College basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
A hot Kentucky team heads to Madison Square Garden to take on Seton Hall. Can the Pirates contain the Wildcats and pull off the upset?
TV schedule: Saturday, December 8, 12:00 pm ET. FOX
Arena: Madison Square Garden in New York, New York
While their season begin with a tough 34-point loss to Duke, Kentucky (7-1) has won their last seven games, entering the 2018 Citi Hoops Classic with solid momentum. Albeit their impressive record, all eight wins have come against mid-major competition. They easily handled North Dakota and Monmouth but couldn’t blow out teams like VMI or Winthrop.
Freshman Keldon Johnson leads the Wildcats in scoring (15.9 ppg) and anchors a balanced offensive attack with four players in double-digits. Stanford grad transfer Reid Travis has put up solid numbers (14.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg), fresh off a 22-point effort in a win over UNC-Greensboro. Sophomore PJ Washington (12.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and freshman Tyler Herro (11. 8 ppg) have been solid contributors as well.
Since a 118-point effort against Duke, the Wildcats have been much better defensively, though again the level of competition has been significantly lessened. The team is 36th in defensive efficiency but is very solid at rebounding. The Wildcats are 1st in the nation in offensive rebounding and they’ll need to keep up that intensity.
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On the other side of the court, Seton Hall (5-3) has had an up and down start to their season. While they sit at the bottom of a super-competitive Big East, their schedule has been much tougher than Kentucky’s, already dropping a pair of games against power conference teams, including a 23-point road loss to Nebraska. They have a win over Miami, but the Hurricanes have been struggling this season.
The Pirates are led by junior guard Myles Powell, leading the way with an impressive 22.4 ppg. He just dropped 40 points on Grand Canyon a few weeks ago and he’ll be the player who’ll need to have a great outing for the Pirates to win. Michael Nzei is the only other player averaging double-figures (11.3 ppg) while Sandro Mamukelashvili leads the Pirates with 14 blocks this season and is their best rebounder.
While ranking in the top 100 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, Seton Hall hasn’t exactly been impressive in either department. They gave up just 49 to a poor Wagner squad to begin the year but only put up 57 in that rough loss at Nebraska a week later. Powell is an impressive player but the players behind him have to shoot well too.
On paper, this looks like a good match-up for Kentucky, and a chance for the Wildcats to finally get a solid win on their otherwise lacking resume. Powell is Seton Hall’s only returning starter from last season, and if Kentucky can limit him offensively, then they’ll be in great shape.
For Seton Hall, they have to prevent Kentucky from getting second-chances in limiting offensive rebounds. Johnson and Travis are going to score, but they need to limit those chances. It’s imperative for the Pirates to get Powell going early and for at least one of their other guards to find their shooting touch early. If Powell struggles or gets into foul trouble, this could be a long afternoon for the Pirates.
Kentucky has handled their last seven games, but Seton Hall is a step up in the competition and should pose more of a challenge for the Wildcats. On the other hand, the Pirates have struggled at times this year outside of winning the Wooden Legacy. If the Wildcats can limit Powell, then this game will end up like many of their contests of late.
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If the Pirates can contain Kentucky on the glass and catch fire from beyond the arc, then this is a very winnable game for them. The former is the likeliest scenario, but the Pirates should make this a tight ballgame.