Seton Hall vs. Marquette: 3 biggest storylines for first 2020-21 matchup

1. Two All-Big East caliber talents will go head-to-head for the first time in their final campaigns

Both Seton Hall and Marquette’s rosters are comprised of exceptional talents – with both groups combining for at least five double-digit scorers.  The stars, however, are a pair of seniors who have lit up the scoreboard en route to leading their respective teams to winning records: Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili and Marquette’s Koby McEwen.

Mamukelashvili and McEwen have had different climbs to reach this point.  Mamukelashvili has spent his entire career with the Pirates and averaged just under ten minutes a game his freshman campaign.  His sophomore year saw the big man start 34 games and play exactly 1000 minutes – before his junior campaign saw him average double figures for the first time at 11.9 ppg.

A unanimous selection to the Preseason All-Big East First Team, Mamukelashvili has been fantastic in his final season as a Pirate.  Shooting 50.5% from the floor and 39.4% from beyond the arc, Mamukelashvili has already recorded two double-doubles against Louisville and URI – and poured in a season-high 32 points (12-18 FG, 3-5 3PT, 5-8 FT) against St. John’s.  He is averaging 20.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

McEwen has been a star his entire collegiate career – albeit, at two different institutions.  The guard was the Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2016-17 at Utah State, averaging 14.9 points per game before transferring to Marquette after his sophomore season.  After sitting out in 2018-19, McEwen started 29 games in his first year with the Golden Eagles – and averaged just under ten points per game.

Unlike Mamukelashvili, McEwen was not at all named to a preseason all-conference team – but the guard has taken the reigns from Howard and has done a stellar job with it.  He poured in 28 points against Green Bay (10-16 FG, 5-9 3PT, 3-3 FT), and is averaging 15.3 points per game on a 50% shooting clip from the floor, 43.3% from beyond the arc, and 79.2% from the charity stripe – as well as 4.3 rpg and 2.3 apg.

Mamukelashvili was out with an injury for one of last season’s two tilts, but the big man dominated the lone showdown that he participated in.  In an 88-79 win for Seton Hall, Mamukelashvili was second on the team in scoring with 26 points, just barely trailing Powell’s 28 points. McEwen, meanwhile, struggled, playing just 16 minutes and scoring two points – both from the free-throw line.

Now, with both seniors as the focal points for each team, expect both to reach double-digits – and to go back-and-forth in what should be an extremely competitive showdown.  McEwen, in particular – and quite obviously – will need to up his production after scoring just 10 combined points in both games against Seton Hall last season.