Seton Hall Basketball: 3 keys for Pirates to take down Fairleigh Dickinson

Seton Hall Basketball will be continuing its run against fellow New Jersey schools as they host the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at home in South Orange, NJ. The Pirates lead the all-time series 5-2 and are on a three-game winning streak against them.

Now we all know about Fairleigh Dickinson and their great run in the NCAA Tournament, upsetting the number one seed Purdue Boilermakers, spoiling a great season from Zach Edey. Now this is not the same team that we saw make that run, they have a new head coach and lost key pieces on that roster that made the run they did.

However, that does not mean Seton Hall should do what they find themselves doing from time to time, playing down to their competition, especially in the first half. Seton Hall struggled to pull away against Saint Peters in their season opener, but they came out with the win 70-59. The Peacocks actually led in the first half by a point and held on to a one-possession game up until the game’s final few minutes.

Seton Hall ended up extending their lead late, but if they play like that against well-coached, quality opponents, they will make the Pirates pay when it comes down to it. This is still a tune-up game for the Pirates, as they will not be playing it at their main arena, the Prudential Center. This game will be played in their on-campus gym where the Women’s team plays, Walsh Gymnasium, where men’s games used to be played. The acoustics make 1000 people sound just as loud as the Prudential Center, but how can they show out for what is always an intimate fan experience?