This Saturday, the Seton Hall Pirates will travel down the turnpike to Philadelphia for a matchup with the Villanova Wildcats. This ride seems short but has been long for the Pirates, who have a 1-16 record on the road against the Wildcats. At this point in the season Villanova is used to being in contention for a Big East championship and a top seed in the NCAA tournament. This time it is Seton Hall playing with the opportunity to earn an at large bid for the NCAA tournament and not Villanova.
When Jay Wright retired after 21 seasons, which included four Final Four appearances and national championships in 2016 and 2018, Villanova fans expected a regression. Wright posted six 30-win seasons in his tenure as head coach and finished with nine consecutive seasons of winning a Big East regular season or tournament crown. With players returning from a final four team and heralded freshman Cam Whitmore arriving on campus, nobody would fathom that in February Villanova would be sitting with an overall record of 11-13.
When Kyle Neptune took over for Jay Wright the cupboard was still stocked. Four impact players from a final four team in Justin Moore, Caleb Daniels, Eric Dixon and Brandon Slater returned. Jordan Longino who was a coveted guard out of Pennsylvania was going into his sophomore year, after showing major upside as a freshman and future NBA draft pick Cam Whitmore was arriving on campus for his freshman year. A season derailed with injuries currently has Villanova sitting at seventh in the Big East with a 5-8 record in league play, but don’t let the Wildcats record deceive you.
When Justin Moore suffered a knee injury during the elite eight last season, Villanova knew they would not get their leader back until midway through the conference schedule. With Moore back Villanova now has their lead guard and five starters all averaging in double figures scoring. The Wildcats with Moore back in the lineup resemble more of what the Jay Wright Wildcats looked like and not a team that has a record of 11-13.
If Seton Hall is going to walk out of Philadelphia with a victory they are going to have to carry a few things over from the Creighton game. This might seem hard to believe since the Pirates lost by double figures but the final score didn’t indicate how well the Pirates played. Seton Hall went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the country until the final media timeout Wednesday night in Newark. They were able to do that for two reasons, defense and three point shooting.
The Pirates disrupted Creighton on the defensive end, with 12 steals and forced 19 turnovers. This is an area that can give the Pirates an opportunity to win a tough road game Saturday night. Justin Moore is an elite ball handling guard but Villanova lacks depth at the position. I expect the Pirates to press and apply heavy ball pressure to force turnovers.
On the offensive end the Pirates are going to need a spark from behind the three point line. Newark native Al-Amir Dawes provided that for the Pirates with five made three point field goals against Creighton. Seton Hall will also rely heavily on preseason second team all league selection Kadary Richmond. Richmond utilizing his size and getting to the basket will be key for the Pirates.
Pirates Have Coaching Advantage
The Pirates biggest advantage may come from the sidelines, which for the past 21 years went to Villanova with Jay Wright at the helm. Shaheen Holloway has gotten the most out of his group of Pirates, while Kyle Neptune has certainly underachieved with a bunch of returning contributors from a Villanova final four team. Can the Pirates get their second victory in eighteen attempts in Philadelphia and increase their chances of an NCAA tournament birth? We will find out in prime time Saturday night.
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