Pirates Open Up Conference Play, Dispatch Golden Eagles

Photo Provided Courtesy Of Madeline Wilson

The Seton Hall Pirates opened Big East play against the Marquette Golden Eagles. Prior to this game we had the privilege of talking to Jack Goods. Jack provided us with some great info. You can see his answers to our questions in our previous post. Jack told us some things to watch for and really helped us with our research on the Marquette Golden Eagles. Jack told us to watch for Luke Fischer and Henry Ellenson, the two big men for Marquette. He anticipated that Marquette would try and get the ball in their hands as much as possible and he was definitely right. After a tight start to the game, the Pirates came out with an 83-63 victory.

The first half was a very closely contested affair. The Pirates led for most of the half but never built a solid lead. After a pair of free throws by Desi Rodriguez, the Pirates led by 11, which was their largest lead of the first half with 14:42 to go. Haanif Cheatham and Jajuan Johnson helped Marquette cut into the lead and eventually they would take a 1 point lead into halftime. At the break the Golden Eagles led the Hall 40-39.

The Golden Eagles got a huge first half from freshman Haanif Cheatham. He led Marquette with 15 points and 2 steals. He helped cut into the lead and eventually give Marquette the lead. Henry Ellenson had a monster half on the boards as he grabbed 10 rebounds. The freshman has really been a huge player for Marquette this year. Jack Goods told us that Ellenson has generated the most noise at Marquette since Dwyane Wade. He told us that Ellenson has done it all and he is still finding his way. He will continue to get better and the rest of the Big East should be on watch. Jack proved to be quite accurate when saying Marquette should work the ball through Fischer and Ellenson. Marquette was 0-6 from 3 in the 1st half.

The Pirates were led in the first half by Desi Rodriguez with 14 points. Isaiah Whitehead added 11 points, and Khadeen Carrington chipped in 6 rebounds. Ismael Sanogo added 5 rebounds for the Hall and played stellar defense on Henry Ellenson.

The second half was all Pirates. Seton Hall wasted little time in reclaiming the lead, and then took over in the second half to dominate the Golden Eagles. With 7:39 remaining in the game, Duane Wilson hit two free throws to cut the lead to 9. From there the Pirates went on a 14-3 run to pull away for good. The Pirates played a great game despite committing 20 turnovers on the night. Ismael Sanogo and Khadeen Carrington had big dunks in the 2nd half. Isaiah Whitehead distributed the ball well, and the Pirates cruised to an 83-63 win.

The Pirates were led overall by Desi Rodriguez. The sophomore tallied 19 points and 5 rebounds. Khadeen Carrington added 17 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Isaiah Whitehead chipped in 16 points and 7 assists, and Angel Delgado added 11 points and 11 rebounds. As previously mentioned, Ismael Sanogo did a great job defending Henry Ellenson down low.

Marquette was led by Haanif Cheatham with 17 points. Freshman Henry Ellenson posted 13 points and 14 rebounds. He is a force to be reckoned with in the Big East. Luke Fischer added 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Marquette was ice cold in the second half as they only put up 23 points.

With the loss the Golden Eagles drop to 10-3 on the year and 0-1 in Big East play. The loss snaps the 9 game winning streak for Marquette. With the win the Pirates improve to 11-2 on the season and 1-0 in the Big East. Marquette will head to Washington D.C. to take on Georgetown on Saturday. The Pirates will head home to take on DePaul on Saturday.

Big thanks again to Jack Goods for all his help. He is a tremendous journalist and a great person to follow on twitter. He can be found at @GoodsOnSports. He also writes for the Marquette Tribune. Thank you again Jack!

Check out the PPI below to see which Pirates players shined in the Big East opener. We will have full coverage of the DePaul game on Saturday. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.

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Pirates Breeze Past Bulls

Photo Provided Courtesy Of Madeline Wilson

The Seton Hall Pirates hosted the South Florida Bulls in the final game of their non-conference schedule. The Pirates easily dispatched the Bulls en route to a 66-49 win. With the win the Pirates improved to 10-2 and the Bulls fell to 3-10 on the season. We caught up with Chris Lemus before the game. Chris covers USF sports and he was kind enough to take some time to talk about the Bulls and how they would fare against the Pirates. He believed Jaleel Cousins and Jahmal McMurray with both have a big impact on the game. He also said that the Bulls needed to be disciplined to have a chance at winning this game. He was definitely right on that point.

The first half was dominated by the Pirates. The Hall scored the first 14 points of the game. Khadeen Carrington highlighted this outburst with a great individual sequence. After hitting a three pointer, he stole the ball in the back court and finished with a layup to give him five points in 15 seconds. The Bulls didn’t get on the board until there was 9:59 to go in the first half. The Bulls cut the lead down to seven, but the Pirates increased the lead to 14 to end the first half. The Pirates led 33-19 after the first half. The Pirates were led by Angel Delgado who had 8 points and 6 rebounds. USF was led by Angel Nunez with 9 points.

The second half saw more of the same from the Pirates. The Pirates never allowed the lead to be cut to single digits in the second half. Our friend Chris Lemus said that the Bulls needed to be disciplined to win this game and he was definitely right. The Bulls were not disciplined in this game. They committed 15 turnovers on the night. Chris also mentioned that the Bulls were not a very good three point shooting team. He said that at one point the Bulls were ranked 346th in the nation in three point shooting. On the game the Bulls shot just 20% from beyond the arc.

It was a very balanced attack from the Pirates. There were many contributors for Seton Hall. The Pirates led wire to wire en route to a 66-49 win. The Pirates were led by Angel Delgado who put up 14 points and 11 rebounds. Veer Singh had his best game as a Pirate with 12 points, and Isaiah Whitehead dropped 10 assists for the Hall. South Florida was led by Angel Nunez who posted 19 points and 8 rebounds. Jahmal McMurray added 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.

With the win the Pirates improve to 10-2 on the season as well as 7-0 at home. The Bulls fall to 3-10 and 0-3 on the road this year. Chris Lemus told us that he expects the Bulls to fare better in conference play. He feels that the team will get more accustomed to Orlando Antigua’s Kentucky style offense. Orlando Antigua is a disciple of John Calipari and runs a similar offense. It will be interesting to see how USF does this year in the AAC. The Bulls are currently without Roddy Peters, their big time transfer from Maryland. Chris seems to think the future is bright for USF. With the talent and continued coaching of Orlando Antigua the future appears to be bright in South Florida.

South Florida will now enter conference play in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls will host Houston on December 30 in their AAC opener. The Pirates will begin Big East Conference play on December 30 when they travel to Marquette. The Pirates took home their 5th straight win and will look to carry that momentum into conference play.

We would like to thank Chris Lemus again for his great knowledge and information on USF basketball. Chris is a great journalist and you can find him on twitter @ChrisJLemus. We will have full coverage of the Big East opener against Marquette on December 30. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.

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Pirates Shock the Shockers

Photo Provided Courtesy Of Madeline Wilson

The Seton Hall Pirates took on the Wichita State Shockers in a huge non-conference game at the Prudential Center today. This was the biggest non-conference home game of the Kevin Willard era. The Hall was looking to avenge a loss to Wichita State last season. The Hall came into Wichita and lost 77-68. Seton Hall battled back and won a tough game in overtime today 80-76.

Before today’s game we connected with Evan Pflugradt of Wichita State’s student newspaper, The Sunflower. He gave us some great insight, which you can read about in our previous article. He told us to watch out for Markis McDuffie, who Evan said was due for a breakout game. We told Evan that Seton Hall would try and establish Angel Delgado early and often. Both of our predictions came true in a sense.

The first half was dominated by Wichita State. Surprisingly, the biggest player early on was Shaq Morris. Morris scored 6 of Wichita State’s first 8 points. Those 6 points would be the only points Morris would score all game. The Pirates never led in the first half of this game. The Shockers led by as much as 13 points after a Ron Baker layup gave them a 33-20 lead with 6:34 to go in the first half.

The Pirates did not lead in the first half but did cut the lead to single digits by the end of the half. At the end of the first half the Pirates trailed Wichita State 40-32. The Pirates were led in the first half by Isaiah Whitehead with 12 points. Khadeen Carrington added 10 points and Angel Delgado chipped in 6 rebounds. The Shockers were led by Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet who each posted 11 points.

Markis McDuffie had a very solid first half for the Shockers. He had 3 points, a pair of rebounds, and also a beautiful assist. It was a homecoming for McDuffie who is a Jersey City native. When we spoke to Evan Pflugradt at halftime, he spoke about the turnovers that were a problem for Wichita State. The Shockers committed some sloppy turnovers, a trend that would continue in the second half. The turnovers were overshadowed by the great shooting of Wichita State. The Shockers shot 51.7% from the floor and 55.6% from beyond the arc.

The second half was a very chippy affair. There were many fouls and turnovers on both sides. The Pirates chipped away at the Wichita State until they finally took the lead with 7:51 left in the game on a Derrick Gordon layup. Conner Frankamp scored the next 8 points and Wichita State took a 7 point lead. The Pirates would again battle back and held a 67-65 lead with 34 seconds left. Fred VanVleet would tie the game with a pair of free throws and send the game to overtime.

In overtime the Pirates quickly fell behind after a VanVleet three pointer. However, the Pirates would take the lead with 3:10 remaining in overtime and would never surrender the lead. Ultimately, the Pirates would come out with an 80-76 victory over Wichita State.

The Pirates were led by Desi Rodriguez with 18 points. Isaiah Whitehead added 17 points and 5 rebounds. Angel Delgado posted another double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Wichita State was led by Fred VanVleet with 19 points. Ron Baker added 16 points and 7 assists. Conner Frankamp chipped in 13 points. Wichita State was killed by turnovers. They committed 21 turnovers on the day.

The Pirates got a huge win and improved to 9-2 on the season as well as 6-0 at home. The Shockers fall to 5-5 with the loss and drop to 1-2 on the road this season. Wichita State will head home to take on Nevada on Tuesday night. The Pirates will take on South Florida on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center.

Check out the PPI to see which Pirates stood out against Wichita State. A big thank you again to Evan Pflugradt, a great journalist who has a wealth of college basketball knowledge. You can follow him on twitter @EvPflu.

We will have full coverage of the South Florida game on Tuesday. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.

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Pirates Down Peacocks

Photo Provided Courtesy Of Madeline Wilson

The Seton Hall Pirates continued to roll on Sunday at the Prudential Center. The Pirates rode a balanced attack to a 72-46 win over St. Peter’s. The Pirates extended their winning streak to 3 and improved to 8-2 on the season.

The Pirates came out red hot to start the game. Isaiah Whitehead, Khadeen Carrinton, and Desi Rodriguez all hit three pointers early in the game to give Seton Hall a 14-2 lead. With 15:13 to go in the first half the Pirates held a 19-4 lead over the Peacocks. However, in the next five minutes St. Peter’s would go on a 10-0 run and cut the lead to 19-14. Five points was the closest St. Peter’s would come to the Pirates, who began to pull away near the close of the half.

In the first half the Pirates were led by Desi Rodriguez who had 9 points. Angel Delgado and Ismael Sanogo each had 4 rebounds in the half, and Khadeen Carrington added 8 points. The Peacocks were led by Rodney Hawkins and Quadir Welton who each had 5 points. Chazz Patterson had 6 rebounds for the Peacocks.

The second half was all Pirates. Seton Hall padded and protected their lead throughout the second half. The lead swelled to as much as 29. Angel Delgado had a big second half with 8 points and 6 rebounds. Isaiah Whitehead had a huge block, and Khadeen Carrington connected on a pair of three pointers. The game was never in doubt in the second half and coach Kevin Willard could rest his starters towards the end of the contest. A bright spot was a three pointer towards the end of the game by Michael Dowdy Jr.

The Pirates were led today by Khadeen Carrington with 14 points and 4 rebounds. Angel Delgado posted another double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Whitehead added 12 points and Ismael Sanogo chipped in 5 rebounds.

St. Peter’s was paced by Elias Desport with 9 points. Rodney Hawkins added 7 points and 8 rebounds. Chazz Patterson chipped in 5 points and 7 rebounds. For the game, the Pirates were out rebounded 37-34.

With the win the Pirates improve to 8-2 on the season. They are also undefeated at home this season. The Peacocks drop to 3-5 on the season with the loss. They also fall to 1-4 on the road this year.

St. Peter’s will head to Washington D.C. to take on George Washington on Saturday. The Pirates will have a tough test this Saturday when Wichita State comes to the Prudential Center.

Make sure to check out the PPI below to see who led the Pirates overall today. We will have full coverage of the game on Saturday against Wichita State. Until then, Hazard Zet Forward.

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