DePaul vs. Seton Hall: 2019-20 college basketball preview, TV schedule
Two of the most intriguing Big East teams in Seton Hall and DePaul meet as the calendar prepares to flip from 2019 to 2020.
TV Schedule: Monday, December 30, 2019 at 8:30 PM ET, FS1
Location: Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois
In a season where Big East teams are receiving a lot of buzz, the most noise seems to be reserved for two teams contorting expectations in countering ways: Seton Hall and DePaul.
The Pirates entered the 2019-20 season with sky-high expectations. Myles Powell was ready to light up scoreboards across the nation and drag his supporting cast with him across the finish line of a Big East title.
Unfortunately, little has come easy for Seton Hall thus far. Powell has dealt with several injuries already this season, most recently a concussion that has forced him to miss the past two games with no timetable for a return. Junior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili will also miss the next six weeks (at least) with a fractured wrist. None of the team’s losses are terrible, but losing four games this early in the year was unexpected.
And yet, without two of their best players, they managed to knock off Maryland this last week and hold them to just 48 points – good luck explaining that.
On the other side, the Blue Demons have been working on excising the demons that have haunted them for decades. They’ve lost just one game all season, to Buffalo. The only other team in the Big East with a single loss so far is Butler.
DePaul already has some impressive victories on their resume, with wins over Texas Tech, Minnesota, Boston College and Iowa. At this point, the Blue Demons could probably go .500 in conference play and still make the NCAA Tournament. It may not come to that, though, which is remarkable considering recent DePaul history.
Charlie Moore has been one of the conference’s best players. The junior guard is averaging 16.5 points and 6.7 assists per game. He can be a little reckless (3.1 turnovers per game), but the good outweighs the bad significantly.
No offense to the Red Raiders, but Seton Hall should provide the biggest test yet for DePaul, especially if Powell returns, though that’s not currently likely. These teams are evenly matched in a lot of ways and should be duking it out in the middle of the Big East pack for the foreseeable future.
The teams are within three points of each other in terms of scoring average (slight edge to DePaul) and points allowed (slighter edge to Seton Hall). They’re within 1.1 averages of one another in terms of rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. Not much separation to be had at all.
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In other words, this game may either come down to a run/drought or a player stepping up and emerging as a hero. With Powell likely out, Moore is an obvious candidate. But keep your eye on DePaul forward Jaylen Butz. Despite the lack of a three-point shot, the junior has come on strong lately, including a career-high 24 points against Northwestern.
Prediction: DePaul 70, Seton Hall 67