[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]he Big East's hottest team returns to Verizon Center Saturday, and it's not Georgetown.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Given up for dead after dropping its first three games of the Big East race, Seton Hall has roared back with a five game win streak, with big wins over Cincinnati and Louisville to join the logjam of teams fighting to give Georgetown a run at the lead. Just two games out of first at 5-3, the Pirates have already eclipsed their conference win total of 2007 and enter February with post-season aspirations after a sub-.500 season last spring. Head coach Bobby Gonzalez has raised the bar on the Pirates' offense, but he faces a coach and a team determined to bring it down to earth. Seton Hall leads the league in scoring per game but also gives up more points than anyone in the league--a volatile mix that could give Georgetown a run before Saturday's crowd.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]The driver to Seton Hall's high octane effort over the past two weeks has been in the backcourt. All Big East candidate Eugene Harvey may have been under the radar earlier in the season, but no more. Harvey, one of the league's quickest guards, scored 26 on Rutgers Wednesday night, and despite the Hall losing a 12 point lead and sending the game into overtime, his moves to the basket blew open the extra period, where the Pirates outscored their in-state rivals 17-4.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Harvey is a great penetrator through opponents' defenses. He has only nine threes on the year but shoots 45 percent from the field, much of it at short range. If he's not driving to the basket, he's at the line: a 72 percent shooter, Harvey has almost a third of the Pirates' bounty from the line, adding five points a game to his 15.8 ppg average.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Another big key for the Pirates' resurgence has been the play of guard Jamar Nutter. Averaging less than seven points a game to start the season, Nutter is averaging nearly 12 in Big East play and averaging 50 percent from the field over the last three games. His double figure efforts in five of the last six games have proven valuable for Seton Hall's efforts against some difficult Big East teams[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Seton Hall's forwards are small but quick to the boards and able to cause havoc on defense. Jeremy Hazell is a promising freshman whose 10-17 effort (including eight threes) against Louisville helped upset the Cardinals. Like Nutter, he has posted double figures in four of the Hall's last five. The Hall's big forward is it's big scorer, senior Brian Laing. The team's iron man (averaging 38 minutes per game), Laing has posted 20 or more points in four straight games, including 23 on Rutgers, and enters Saturday's game ranked as the top scorer in the conference. Much like St. John's Anthony Mason, Jr., the Hall will need Laing to contribute or they could fall behind in a hurry.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]The center position has been a bit of a mystery to the Hall this season. John Garcia, better suited as a forward, has seen the most action, but his scoring numbers have fallen off considerably (3.8 points per game in the last four) and Gonzalez has been going to a three-man rotation. ESPN noted that Gonzalez "had 15 fouls to give" against Rutgers, and when Garcia (the third of three to foul out), left the game, the Hall promptly lost a 10 point lead into overtime.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]A look at the Hall's stat sheet shows a certain inconsistency to its effort: the top scoring team, it is 13th in shooting percentage and 12th from three. Second ranked in free throw percentage, the Pirates are a team that earns its way from the line. Teams that have kept the fouls down and forced the Pirates into poor offensive sets have proven the most successful. In its most recent loss Jan. 12 at Pitt, the Hall shot 5-23 from outside and allowed the Panthers to post 11 threes. Seton Hall is not afraid to be aggressive, with 25 or more fouls in two of its last three games and an average of 20.2 a game. The Pirates have posted 16 foul-outs to date compared to just five for the Hoyas.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Like any team on a roll, Seton Hall is susceptible to hitting the wall, It thrives on the up tempo and the dribble drive--if forced to slow the ball down, it must be efficient with its shots and avoid the easy opponent response. Owing to the height disadvantage inside, Gonzalez may try a number of junk defenses to annoy or frustrate Hibbert inside. A hot shooting outside effort from the Hoyas could be fatal to the Hall, but if Georgetown continues its spotty outside shooting, the Hall have the horses to compete right to the end.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Here's a look at some potential matchups:[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Jonathan Wallace vs. Eugene Harvey. Harvey ran up down, and across Rutgers but Wallace's defense should prove a tougher test. Harvey scored nine in last year's game at the Meadowlands while Wallace thumped the Pirates for 21.
Jessie Sapp vs. Jamar Nutter. Sapp locked down Nutter last year, holding him to 3-12 shooting. Sapp must be mindful of Nutter off the ball and serve to help Wallace if Harvey drives inside. For his aprt, early Sapp threes (as he did versus St. John's) can really elevate the Hoyas.
Austin Freeman vs. Jeremy Hazell. Amidst the reaction from the St. John's game, Freeman's defensive intensity on Anthony Mason, Jr. may have been the story of the game. Containing Hazell would prove similarly valuable. Freeman's shooting was a difficult 1-7 against St. John's and he should return to form at home Saturday.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Patrick Ewing Jr. vs.Brian Laing . Unless fouls take over this matchup, Ewing figures to be a strong challenge to Laing's scoring prowess in the game. Laing is best when he gets a lot of shots and Ewing is expert at cutting off shot selection from an opponent.
Roy Hibbert vs. John Garcia. Whether it's Garcia, 6-11 Mike Davis (2.2 ppg, 4.0 fouls per game), or 6-11 Augustine Okusun (1.9 ppg), Hibbert must be patient when he gets the ball and let the foul shots ring up. While Vernon Macklin had an easy go of it against the Redmen, Garcia is a step up defensively and will challenge Macklin when he is spotting Hibbert.
GU bench vs. SHU bench. The Hall's bench is not aiming to get many points--the starters accounted for 78 of its 84 points versus Rutgers. Paul Gause (8.4 ppg) and Larry Davis (7.9 ppg) can lend a hand in scoring, but each shoots poorly and are not as strong on rebounding as Gonzalez would like.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]Keys to the game:
1. Patience. Seton hall wins game by getting under the skin of its opponents and pushing the up and down style Gonzalez is skilled at. Georgetown's defense is it's biggest asset and defense needs to be the order of the day.
2. Free throws.. The game could be won at the line, and Georgetown needs a much better effort all around.
3. Turnovers. For such an up-tempo team, Seton hall doesn't turn the ball over much. Georgetown could be the exception, and the Pirates must guard against the early turnover-itis that sent St. John's into cardiac arrest Wednesday.[/font]
[font=MS Sans Serif, Arial, helvetica]For Seton Hall to win, Harvey and Laing establish the tone of the game, the Pirates get hot from outside, and just pound away at the free throw line. Much like the Notre Dame game where the Hoyas met a quick shooting team that has not been as effective on the road, Georgetown's ability to lock down shooters and utilize its strength inside are its best weapons to establish its own style of play and force the Pirates into the kind of bad decisions that was more common earlier in the season.[/font]
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| Georgetown (17-2) | | | Coach: John Thompson III
(Princeton '8
3rd season, 88-32
Career: 157-74
AP: #6
RPI 9 | | | | Expected Starters | | | | Name | Ht. | Pts. | | Jonathan Wallace | 6-1 | 10.1 | | Jessie Sapp | 6-2 | 9.6 | | Austin Freeman | 6-4 | 9.9 | | P. Ewing Jr. | 6-8 | 6.3 | | Roy Hibbert | 7-2 | 13.0 | | Team Stats: | | | | Points/Game: | 72.1 | | | Points Allowed | 56.7 | | | FG Shooting: | 50.7 | | | FG Defense: | 35.2 | | | 3FG Shooting: | 38.6 | | | FT Shooting: | 63.8 | | | Rebounds/Game | 35.5 | | | Assists/Game | 16.6 | | | Turnovers/Game | 12.2 | | | Last 5 Games (4-1) | | | 01/14: Pitt 69, GU 60
01/19: GU 84, ND 65
01/21: GU 64, SU 62 (OT)
01/26: GU 58, WVU 57
01/30: GU 74, St.J 42
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