Game 9 Preview: The Hall looks to remain Perfect as Temple visits The Rock

The Pirates are 8-0 on the season, coming off a record-breaking victory over VMI on Saturday after scoring 134 points. The Owls are 8-2, coming off an impressive 10-point upset over #3 Villanova on Sunday, while the Wildcats fell to #8 in today's AP Poll after crumbling in the second half loss. Saturday night's 7:00 game at the Prudential Center will be the Hall's first true test - and also an epic battle of offense (Seton Hall ranks second in the nation in points per game, averaging 90.8) versus defense (Temple ranks first in the nation in points per game allowed, averaging 54.1).

'Nova carried a 6-point lead into halftime but were dismantled in the second half as the Owls outscored their crosstown rivals 44-28. Temple out-shot the Wildcats from the field, 54.2% to 42.9%, and from deep, 50% to 33.3%. The Owls also committed only 11 personal fouls compared to Villanova's 19, proving how vital it will be for the Pirates to stay out of foul trouble.

A key to this important game - one which could possibly make or break the Hall's tourney hopes and their journey to the national spotlight, will be bench production. Temple's bench players only average a combined 17.8 points per game, while the Pirates' backups average 28.5, mostly due to the role play of Jackson and Theodore. Greatly anticipated: Keon Lawrence and Jeff Robinson will both see their first minutes of action in Seton Hall uniforms on Saturday night and it will be important to see how Gonzo utilizes these assets for the first time. Lawrence, the SG Missouri transfer who was charged in a DUI car accident 3 days prior to the season opener, was in Bobby G's starting rotation during the preseason, and Robinson, who sat out due to NCAA ineligibility, is a SF Memphis transfer with toughness, size, and athleticism that will show in his future highlight reel dunks.

Temple's two losses this season both came against Big East opponents, #11 Georgetown and St. John's. In the Georgetown loss (Temple's only road loss of the season, posting a 3-1 away record), The Owls missed a free throw with 24 seconds left, leaving the Hoyas to drive down the court for a layup giving them the one-point advantage, 46-45. In both games the Owls shot below 33% from the field and only scored a combined 34 points in the first halves of the losses. If the Pirates can force Temple to put up bad shots and get a hand in each shooter's face, while taking smart shots and working the paint early, they will come out victorious and get big number 9.

Both teams also have two extremely hot guards. Seton Hall's leading scorer, Hazell, is coming of a 33-point performance, along with 12 rebounds, while Jamel Jackson broke the Big East trey record with 12 in a single game, tallying 40 total coming off the bench (see last post.) Temple's Juan Fernandez shot the lights out in the battle for Philly, tallying 33 on 7-9 shooting from behind the arc, also recording 4 assists, while Temple's leading scorer, Ryan Brooks, scored 20 on 7-12 shooting from the field. Brooks is not as much of a 3-point threat (.222% from deep on the season) as Fernandez is (.436%), but scoring from all four of these guards is a definite in the upcoming game, which brings me to my key match-up:

SHU
Herb Pope - So. F - 6'9" - 14.6 ppg - 12.8 rpg - 2.75 bpg
vs.
Temple
Lavoy Allen - Jr. F - 6'9" - 11.8 ppg - 10.2 rpg - 1.6 bpg

*This battle may transcend a simple Temple vs. Seton Hall match-up, as Allen is a Morrisville, PA native, while Pope represents Aliquippa, PA (same hometown of NYJ cornerback Darrelle Revis). This is a battle between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the winner bringing home more than just a W; state bragging rights. Now on to the stats: Allen recorded 10 points, 17 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the win over Villanova. Pope is coming off an equally fulfilling game with 15 points, 20 boards (9 offensive), 4 assists, and 3 blocks against VMI. Pope's shot blocking ability and good hands keep him from getting into foul trouble often, while Allen seems to be a more physical player (not that Pope isn't physical, just a smarter defender.) If the Pirates can get Herb the ball early and often, Seton Hall can attack Temple's extremely strong defense and get points in the paint, opening opportunities for the likes of Hazell and Jackson to rain outside shots. Pope also needs to attack the offensive glass like he did last game, second chance opportunities always help against defensive-minded teams. Hopefully His Holiness can continue to improve after back-to-back Big East weekly honor roll selections. Look to see a lot of emotion from both players on the battlefield, or court in citizen terms.

My Prediction: Seton Hall 80 - Temple 76


Side Note: The Hall received 24 votes for the AP Top 25 poll and 9 for the ESPN Coaches poll yesterday and will be looking to crack the ranks before Big East play starts.

SHU has record-breaking game in win over VMI (have a day Jamel Jackson)

The Pirates scored 134 points in Saturday afternoon's win over Virginia Military Institute, setting a new school record for single game team scoring. The 27 point win over VMI (4-5) improves the Hall's record to 8-0, remaining one of four teams still undefeated in the Big East conference. The 241 points scored by both teams also sets a new record for the highest total score in the Seton Hall program's 105-year history. The final record shattered: sophomore guard Jamel Jackson's 12 three-pointers broke the single game SHU (and Big East) trifecta record previously held by Shaheen Holloway.

Jackson shot 14-17 from the field (12-15 from behind the arc), scoring 40 points in the game - the first time any Seton Hall player dropped 40 since Terry Dehere's 41 in 1993. Jackson was three treys short of tying the NCAA single-game record and he did all of this coming OFF THE BENCH. He also added 6 assists and 4 steals. Impressive. Jackson is averaging 11.1 ppg in 18 minutes per game, shooting 25-50 from behind the arc thus far. Junior Jeremy Hazell also filled up the stat sheet scoring 33 points, grabbing his now career high 12 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, and getting 4 steals. Hazell remains second in the Big East with 21.5 ppg behind Notre Dame's Harangody. Sophomore Herb Pope recorded his sixth double-double of the year with 15 points and his career-best 20 rebounds. Pope is leading the Big East with 12.8 rpg (4th in the nation), and is also averaging a double-double with 14.6 ppg. Junior Robert Mitchell added 18 points for the Hall. Also, sophomore Melvyn Oliver scored 8 points, grabbed 4 boards, blocked 2 shots, and dished 2 assists in 12 minutes of play. Oliver was helping fill in for the injured John Garcia, who sat for precautionary reasons after suffering a minor right knee strain against UMass, according to Bobby G. The Pirates carried a 14-point lead into halftime and outscored the Keydets 70-56 in the second half. The Hall also out-rebounded VMI 54-40, SHU's second straight game with 50+ boards. The one down fall of this game: the Pirates turned the ball over 20, yes I repeat, 20 times (5 by Harvey) against the second-to-worst defensive team in the nation. This may not bode well heading into Saturday's game against Temple's 6th-ranked defense in the nation.

Seton Hall is leading the Big East and second in the nation (behind VMI) in scoring, averaging 90.8 ppg, and is ranked second in rebounding, with 45.3 rpg. For the first time in over two years the Pirates are receiving top-25 votes from both the AP and ESPN Coaches Poll. Released on December 7th, SHU received 6 votes in the AP poll and 2 in the ESPN Poll.

The Hall win 7th straight - on the right track

Concluding the Pirates easy 86-68 victory over UMass in front of 5,800 at the Prudential Center, the Hall opened the season 7-0 for the first time since the 1988-89 season, in which they lost to Michigan in the NCAA Championship game. There is only one problem: the Pirates basically MUST win all of their non-conference games, due to the 206th best strength of schedule ranking in the country, for them to have a shot at making the NCAA tourney.

Sophomore Herb Pope (who earned Big East Weekly Honor Roll last week) dropped 22 points and grabbed 15 boards, junior Jeremy Hazell (check my new wallpaper in the section to the right --->) shot 8 of 14 from the floor and finished with 21 points, along with 5 steals, and sophomore Jordan Theodore added 12 points and 5 steals from the bench, proving himself a valuable backup to Harvey. Junior Robert Mitchell also added 13 and 8. Seton Hall out-rebounded the Minutemen 55-48, the Pirates highest total since the 2007 game against Navy. The Hall entered half time with an insurmountable 44-19 lead and used the second half as a highlight reel. UMass fell to 4-5 on the season, with Harris and Gurley both putting up 15 points. The Hall's torrid free throw shooting continued, shooting 20-39 from the charity line. Both head coach Bobby Gonzalez and Hazell received technical fouls in the game, but maybe Gonzo should be focusing his anger against his own players during practice when they are bricking foul shots left and right.

The win over UMass marks the Hall's fourth straight win of double figures, with the previous 3 wins coming by 29 points or more. So far this year, the Pirates' opponents have a combined record of 25-32, which is only held afloat by Cornell's 7-2 record. The current most frequently asked question for Seton Hall: will Gonzo's squad be ready for the meat of the schedule, where the final minutes of the game will be time for clutch performances and not "bring in the walk-ons" chants? "I think that we played a tight game in the beginning of the year against St. Peter's and we were lucky to win the game at the buzzer. I think the Cornell game was tight at times. You gotta play to win," Gonzalez told New Jersey Newsroom reporter Mike Vorkunov. "It's not like all of a sudden you get in a war and you don't know how to react."

Game 6 Preview: Hartford stumbles into the Rock to face the streaking Pirates

The Pirates have started the season off on a great note, 5-0, with the most recent victory coming easily over NJIT. The Hartford Hawks, 2-5, of the America East Conference, skid into New Jersey during a three-game losing streak. The Hall has had great success over America East Conference opponents, 10-1 all time, with its last loss coming in 1963 to BU.

Hartford's two wins this season came against Marist and Fordham, while the Pirates look to keep their perfect record alive tonight at 7 p.m. in Newark. Riding sophomore forward Herb Pope's four straight double-doubles and junior guard Jeremy Hazell's four straight games with 20 or more points, Seton Hall seems to be getting in a groove, putting the last-second buzzer beater win over St. Peter's behind them.

The Pirates are averaging 83.4 points per game (compared to 64.2 ppg scored by opponents), with a balanced scoring attack between the five starters, led by Hazell's 20.6 per game, and bench players Jordan Theodore, Ferrakohn Hall, and Jamel Jackson. Speaking of Jackson, it appears the Hall has finally found a 3-point threat off the bench, with 33 of his 40 points on the season coming from behind the arc, shooting %.423 from deep. The Hall's one major flaw so far this season: free throw shooting. They're called FREE throws for a reason - they're supposed to be easy points. A .643 free throw % is unacceptable. The Hawks are averaging are averaging 67.4 ppg, with three players averaging double figures.

My key role piece of the team's success so far - Herb Pope. Averaging a double-double with 14.6 ppg and 11.4 rpg, Pope shows the physical toughness the Pirates need in the paint that Garcia and Mitchell lack at times. Also, Pope has tallied 17 blocks on the season, 3.4 per game, making opponents aware of his presence down low.

And on that note, on the the key match up for tonight's game:
SHU
Jeremy Hazell - Jr. G - 6'5" - 20.6 ppg - 2.4 rpg - 1.6 apg
vs.
Hartford
Joe Zeglinski - Jr. G - 6'0" - 14.0 ppg - 4.9 rpg - 0.6 apg
*Hazell needs to utilizes his height to get shots, and also beware of Zeglinski's speed.

Prediction: Pirates 89 - Hartford 72


P.S. - peep Harlem native Hazell doing his thing in the new video for DJ Kayslay's song "Blockstars" at 2:07...
*Be on the lookout for my remix, "Blogstars", coming in 2010.