Maryland vs. Seton Hall: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

Seton Hall, decimated by injuries to a pair of its premier players, will host a top-10 team in Maryland on Thursday night from the Prudential Center.

TV schedule: Thursday, December 19, 7:00 pm ET. FS1.
Arena: Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Seton Hall, which entered the 2019-20 campaign with so much promise but has struggled of late, is hosting No. 7 Maryland on Thursday evening in Newark, N.J. The Pirates (6-4) have dropped two contests in a row, but the larger issue for Seton Hall is the unfortunate damage to its roster.

First and foremost, All-American candidate and senior guard Myles Powell is out indefinitely as he goes through concussion protocol, according to the Pirates’ athletics department. If that isn’t enough for Seton Hall to deal with, junior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili will likely miss six to eight weeks because of a broken wrist on his non-shooting hand. Collectively, Powell and Mamukelashvili average about 32 points per affair, a number that represents a huge chunk of the Pirates’ total scoring production.

So far in the present term, Seton Hall’s resume isn’t all that enticing. Its best win is perhaps against Iowa State at a neutral site. Conversely, the Pirates’ quartet of defeats is to those aforementioned Cyclones, as well as to Michigan State, Oregon and Rutgers – the last of which came in a blowout fashion.

The Terrapins (10-1), meanwhile, suffered their inaugural setback of 2019-20 on Dec. 10 at Penn State, which is a really solid group. UMD, with an NCAA NET rating of No. 11, doesn’t own any top-25 conquests, however, the Terps have beaten the likes of Rhode Island, George Mason, Temple, Harvard, Marquette, Notre Dame and Illinois.

Statistically speaking, Seton Hall generates 77.0 points every 40 minutes and allows 66.8 points. For Maryland, it’s 77.1 points and 62.2 points, respectively. The Terrapins have a sizable edge in rebounding, and the same holds true for the Pirates in steals and shooting from 3-point range.

In my humble opinion, the primary dilemma for Seton Hall, at No. 58 in the NET rankings, concentrates around who the go-to guy for the Pirates is, without Powell in the line-up. Maryland’s big men, particularly sophomore forward Jalen Smith, will have the opportunity to dominate Seton Hall in the paint. And the Terps’ multiple excellent guards can probably feast on the Pirates, sans Powell.

Interestingly, Big East Conference member Seton Hall possesses a 51.3 percent chance to prevail, says ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. A year ago, the Pirates knocked off Big Ten Conference associate Maryland in College Park, Md., and due to Seton Hall’s current circumstances, I expect that the Terrapins will return the favor on the Pirates’ home court.

Prediction: Maryland 71 – Seton Hall 62