Game Notes & Preview: (12) Providence (15-2, 3-1) vs Seton Hall (12-4, 2-2) 1/16/16

Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI

When: 4:30pm EST

How: FS1 (Justin Kutcher & Tarik Turner)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

• Providence and Seton Hall will meet for the 98th time on Saturday with the Friars leading the series, 51-46. The Friars are 26-14 in games played in Providence. The Friars went 2-0 against the Pirates last season in Big East play.
• Seton Hall is 12-4 (2-2) on the season. The Pirates are led by Kevin Willard, who is in his sixth season at the helm of the Seton Hall program. Their 2 league wins come against Marquette, DePaul. They defeated the Golden Eagles on the road and the Blue Demons at home. Their losses came at Villanova and at home against Creighton. The Pirates are led in scoring by sophomore Isaiah Whitehead, who averages 15.1 points/game. Sophomore Angel Delgado is the leading rebounder, averaging 9.5 rebounds/game.
• Isaiah Whitehead is 7th in the Big East in scoring (15.1 points/game), has attempted the 2nd most shots in the league and has made the 10th most free throws and 8th most 3-pointers. Whitehead is also 7th in assists (4.3/game). Angel Delgado is 2nd in the Big East in rebounding (9.5/game) and 10th in field goal percentage (53.6%). Seton Hall has 3 players in the top 10 in steals in the Big East: t-3rd Desi Rodriguez (1.69/game), 7th Khadeen Carrington (1.56/game), 9th Ismael Sanogo (1.47/game).
• Kris Dunn leads the Big East in assists (7.0/game) and steals (3.07/game), is second in the league in scoring (17.9 points/game) behind his teammate Ben Bentil (19.1 points/game) and has made and attempted the 4th most field goals. Dunn has also attempted the 4th most free throws, while making the 7th most. Bentil has attempted the most free throws (103) and made (83) in the league. Bentil is also 5th in rebounding (7.9/game), has made (113) and attempted (235) the most field goals in the Big East and is 7th in free throw percentage (80.6%). Rodney Bullock is also in the top 10 in the league in two categories. Bullock is 6th in rebounding (7.4/game) and tied for 5th in blocks (1.41/game).
• The Friars slipped outside the top 10 in both polls this week after their home loss to Marquette on January 5th. The Friars are currently ranked 12th in both polls. As of this posting, the #1, #3, #4, #8, #9, #17, #19, #20 and #25 teams in the AP poll have already lost.
• Opening Line: (12) Providence -6 vs Seton Hall 1/16/16

Kenpom InstaGamePrep^TM

Data through games of Thursday, January 14, 2016

Game Preview

Seton Hall is riding their sophomore class — headlined by Isaiah Whitehead — and they have been inconsistent through 4 Big East games. Kevin Willard’s squad smoked Marquette in their league opener at the Bradley Center and then beat DePaul comfortably at home to leave the first weekend at 2-0 and 12-2 on the season. The Pirates were looking like they were trending up and could be a surprise Big East team this season after the coaches picked them 7th in the preseason poll. The next two games resulted in losses. The first one wasn’t a shock as the Pirates dropped a road game against Villanova. Their most recent game resulted in a blowout loss at Creighton.

The probable starters according to the game notes and prior box scores are:

Providence

• Kris Dunn – #3 – Junior
• Junior Lomomba – #32 – Junior
• Jalen Lindsey – #21 – Sophomore
• Rodney Bullock – #5 – Sophomore
• Ben Bentil – #0 – Sophomore

Seton Hall

• Isaiah Whitehead – #15 – Sophomore
• Khadeen Carrington – #0 – Sophomore
• Desi Rodriguez – #20 – Sophomore
• Ismael Sanogo – #14 – Sophomore
• Angel Delgado – #31 – Sophomore

The key to victory for Providence is to win the turnover battle. Seton Hall turns the ball over on 19.7% of their possessions and that number has ticked up slightly to 20.1% of possessions in Big East play. Providence’s defense is forcing turnovers on 21.0% of their opponent’s possessions, so turnovers and the subsequent points off those turnovers could be the difference in this game.

In examining the stats from Seton Hall’s 2 Big East losses I noticed that Angel Delgado only grabbed 4 rebounds in each of those losses. His 4 rebounds in the first loss against Villanova on January 6th snapped a 10 game streak where he had double figured boards. In fact, he has had double figure rebounds in every game this season except 5 contests. The battle with Delgado and Bentil will be one to keep an eye on. If one can get the other in foul trouble, especially if the person having to sit is Bentil, it could present a big advantage for the other team. Quadree Smith’s status is still up in the air with an injured hand, so the first “big” off the bench for Providence could be walk-on Tom Planek.

Seton Hall has been getting to the free throw line at a fairly high clip, but the problem for the Pirates is their percentage of conversion on those free throws. During Big East play, Seton Hall’s free throw percentage is 64.8%. That’s dead last in league play.

Kris Dunn absolutely stifled Maurice Watson last time out at Creighton. Ed Cooley will be looking for Dunn, and possibly a rotation of his friends, to do the same to Isaiah Whitehead. Whitehead played well on offense in Seton Hall’s two Big East wins. He shot 7/16 from the field, 4/11 from 3-point range and 8/10 from the free throw line combined in those two wins. In the two losses, he shot 8/18 from the field, 3/10 from 3-point range and 5/9 from the free throw line. His minutes played in the two wins: 61. Minutes played in the two losses: 50. If Dunn can slow down Whitehead and force someone else to try to beat the Friars, I like Providence’s chances in this game. Dunn’s defensive effort on Watson — stifling without fouling — makes me think he’ll slow Whitehead down too.

Prediction: Providence 74 Seton Hall 67

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Mike Hopkins

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