Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI
When: 6:30pm EST
How: FSN (Justin Kutcher & Tarik Turner)/Fox Sports GO (Where Available)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV
Current Odds: pcbb1917 Odds Central
Tickets: SeatGeek
Game Notes
- Providence and Seton Hall will meet for the 103rd time ever on Wednesday. Providence leads the all-time series, 52-50, which includes a loss earlier this season at the Prudential Center on January 31st. The Friars are 27-15 against the Pirates at home.
- Seton Hall is 18-9 this season, including a 7-7 Big East record. After beating Providence at the end of January Seton Hall went on a 4-game losing streak that was stopped their last time out against DePaul on Sunday. Seton Hall is coached by Kevin Willard who is in his 8th season at the helm of the program. The Pirates are led in scoring by senior Desi Rodriguez who is averaging 18.5 points/game. Senior Angel Delgado leads the team in rebounding at 11.8 rebounds/game.
- The Friars stumbled with a cold-shooting second half, 69-54, last time out at Hinkle Fieldhouse against Butler on Saturday.
- Providence senior forward Rodney Bullock went over 1,000 points in his career against Boston College on November 25th. He became the 48th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points. Bullock is the 17th-fastest Providence player, tied with Eric Murdock, to score his 1,000th point (73 games). Bullock’s current place on the list is 23rd with 1,291 points. He is 15 points behind Erron Maxey.
- Providence senior guard Kyron Cartwright continues his drive up the all-time assist record list at Providence. He began the season tied for 12th with John Linehan (450). Cartwright has 151 assists through 26 games. He has 601 assists in his career, which places him 3rd all-time at Providence. Next on the list in front of Cartwright is Ernie DiGregorio (662). Cartwright recorded his 500th career assist against URI on December 2nd. He is the 7th Providence player to record at least 500 career assists and the 3rd Friar with 600 career assists. Cartwright notched a career-high 15 assists in Providence’s win at St. John’s on December 28th. He recorded his 600th assist in the first half of Providence’s game at Butler on February 17th.
- Providence officially announced on November 29th that Emmitt Holt would miss the entire 2017-18 season as a redshirt while he continues to recover from abdominal surgery. Holt has been off campus recovering, but is expected to return to school in January. Holt did return to school over the MLK weekend and is back with the team, though he remains out of competition this season.
- Providence announced on January 11th that former Friar Ernie “Pop” Lewis passed away. Lewis was a key member of Providence’s 1987 Final Four team. You can read the official release and watch a tribute video here.
- Opening Line: Providence -1.5 vs Seton Hall 2/21/18
Game Preview
Providence and Seton Hall will meet for the 103rd time ever on Wednesday at the Dunk. The game will tip at 6:30pm and be televised on FSN. Click here for a list of regional networks that will broadcast this game. Providence is 27-15 against Seton Hall at home. The Friars are coming off a disappointing trip to Butler where they managed just 5/32 shooting in the second half.
Seton Hall stopped the bleeding of a 4-game losing streak with a win at home against DePaul on Sunday. That stretch of losses began right after the Pirates manhandled the Friars in Newark on January 31st. Providence simply didn’t show up for that 17-point beat down. That statement is evidenced by the following stat line:
- 10 points
- 4/20 FG’s
- 6 rebounds
- 6 assists
- 6 turnovers
That’s the combined production of seniors Kyron Cartwright, Rodney Bullock and Jalen Lindsey. Bullock scored all 10 of the points and Cartwright accounted for just 2 of 6 assists but 4 of the 6 turnovers. It was not a pretty sight for Friar fans. Seton Hall used a balanced scoring attack led by 23 points from Khadeen Carrington. The Pirates shot 49.1% as a team from the field against Providence’s 38.6%.
Since that debacle the Friars have had some high’s (2nd ever win at Marquette, win over #3 Villanova) and some low’s (losing to DePaul at home and no-showing in the 2nd half at Butler). Seton Hall was consistently going downhill fast until they recovered against the Blue Demons 3 days ago. Both teams are fighting for NCAA Tournament spots with the Pirates having a slightly better average seed of 8.63 versus Providence’s 10.05, per BracketMatrix.com.
Providence has finished their last 6 games no worse than 4-2 since 2013-14, including a 6-0 sprint to the Big East Tournament last season. With a 1-1 record over their last 2 games the Friars would need to go 3-1 to continue to streak of at least 4 wins in their last 6 regular season contests. A 3-1 finish in the final 4 games of the season would mean Providence was fighting for seeding in the NCAA Tournament and not just clawing their way into the field of 68. Shout out to Rich Ackerman for pointing this interesting stat out to me.
The probable starters are:
Providence
- Kyron Cartwright – #24 – Senior
- Alpha Diallo – #11 – Sophomore
- Jalen Lindsey – #21 – Senior
- Rodney Bullock – #5 –Â Senior
- Kalif Young – #13 – Sophomore
Seton Hall
- Myles Powell – #13 – Sophomore
- Khadeen Carrington – #0 – Senior
- Desi Rodriguez – #20 – Senior
- Ismael Sanogo – #14 – Senior
- Angel Delgado – #31 – Senior
The keys to victory for Providence are defend the 3-point line and limit Seton Hall’s offensive rebounds. There is clear statistical correlation that Seton Hall’s best offensive players are at the top of their games when making jumpshots, specifically 3-pointers for all besides Angel Delgado. Desi Rodriguez is Seton Hall’s best overall offensive player. The key to him having a good game? Making 2-point jump shots. Hoop-Lens.com says that Rodriguez’s individual game Points Above Median (PAM) varies based strongly on his success shooting 2-point jumpers. Similarly, Myles Powell‘s PAM is strongly correlated to his success shooting 3-pointers. Carrington’s keys are making free throws and 3’s, while Delgado is particularly hindered when he takes 2-point jump shots.
Providence needs to defend the 3-point line and force Seton Hall to take tough 2’s. It’s a mantra that I’ve repeated a lot in this space for various opponents but forcing contested 2-point shots and rebounding are clear ways to have success against this Seton Hall squad.
Prediction: Providence 83 Seton Hall 77
Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917
About Author
