Seton Hall Basketball: 3 keys for Pirates to upset Baylor in Waco

3. Handle the road crowd

Big 12 basketball is no joke no matter the day, venue, or team, and Baylor is one of the better environments in the conference.  Fans in Waco will show up to Ferrell Center and they will be loud and then some.

With this being the Pirates’ first true road game as previously mentioned, that is going to be a tough adjustment early on to get used to that situation. A great way to combat this is knocking down a tough shot from outside early on in the game to silence the crowd. It would not be surprising if Al-Amir Dawes gets an early look from three, and if that goes through the Pirates can get some early momentum.

But this team cannot let that all get to their head, that is a lot easier said than done, but that is what has to happen. Coach Holloway will need to make sure his team is prepared for what happens, whether that involves pumping crowd noise in practice, or whatever he has to do.

Many of these Pirates have played in environments like this though, this team had to play at Allen Fieldhouse against Kansas last season in a blowout. That experience though will be vital for these players, and should have prepared the veterans on this team for a crowd like Baylor’s.

The Pirates will have to control whatever they can control, and their reaction to the crowd is one they will have to figure out. Baylor fans will do their best to keep the Pirates off their game, but if they want to handle Big East environments, they cannot let Baylor get to them either.