No. 23 Pirates Host Monmouth on Sunday

Sunday, November 12

Newark, N.J.

1:30 p.m.

Seton Hall University

Monmouth

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11/11/2017 6:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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2017 NIT Season Tip-Off Campus Game No. 23 Seton Hall Pirates (1-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) vs. Monmouth Hawks (1-0, 0-0 MAAC)
Date/Time/Location	Sunday, November 12 \| 1:30 p.m. \| Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.)
Tickets	Ticketmaster.com \| Seton Hall Athletics Ticket Office
Television Broadcast	FS1 \| FOX Sports GO
Radio Broadcast	AM970 The Answer \| Pirate Sports Network
Game Notes	Seton Hall \| Monmouth
Links	Live Stats \| Twitter \| Facebook \| NIT Season Tip-Off

Ten years ago on November 11, 2007, the Pirates played their first-ever game at Prudential Center. The opponent was Monmouth. Fast forward to November 12, 2017. Almost 10 years to the day, the Pirates and Hawks meet again at Prudential Center.

Coincidence? Perhaps. Actually, yes, it is.

Nevertheless, the Pirates and Hawks will do battle in the second of five games between Seton Hall and a fellow New Jersey school. The Hall is 161-60 all-time against the other seven New Jersey Div. I schools. Game time is a pleasant 1:30 p.m., and Dave Sims and Jim Spanarkel will have the national television broadcast call on FS1, which is also live streamed on FOX Sports GO. The dynamic duo of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will deliver the radio call on AM970 The Answer.

Oh, and if you're a student, you should get to The Rock early for some chicken fingers and fries.

?? FREE FOOD ALERT ??@BlueBeardArmy needs to get to @PruCenter tomorrow! As a thanks from Coach Willard, the first 200 @SetonHall students at the Monmouth game gets free chicken tenders & fries in the Jack Daniels Lounge outside section 16/17! #HALLin #PiratePursuit ???? pic.twitter.com/LFnAXk8EuY
— Seton Hall MBB (@SetonHallMBB) November 11, 2017

Things to Know
The No. 23 ranked Seton Hall men's basketball team welcomes Monmouth to Prudential Center on Sunday afternoon for a 1:30 NIT Season Tip-Off matchup with the Hawks. The Pirates delivered a 90- 68 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday night to jump-start a stretch of four home games in eight days for The Hall.
• Senior Desi Rodriguez led four Pirates in double-figures on Friday night with a game-high 17 points, while Angel Delgado picked up his NCAA-leading 51st career double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
• The Pirates return 90 percent of their scoring and rebounding from a team that won 21 games in 2016-17, advanced to the BIG EAST Tournament semifinal, and reached the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
• Led by eighth-year head coach Kevin Willard, the Pirates welcome back an incredible senior class that has the only active trio of 1,000 point scorers in Division I - Khadeen Carrington, Angel Delgado and Desi Rodriguez.

• Delgado was a unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection after leading the nation in rebounding in 2016-17, pulling down an astonishing 13.1 boards per game.

Off the Bat

The 2017-18 non-conference slate for the Pirates includes potential matchups against four teams currently in the KenPom Top-75. The Hall will square off with four teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season, including Rhode Island, either Vanderbilt or Virginia, Louisville and VCU.
• Delgado and Carrington were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST first team, and Rodriguez earned an honorable mention nod. The Pirates were picked second behind Villanova in the league's preseason poll.
• Seton Hall is ranked in the AP Top-25 Poll entering the season for the first time since 2000-01 when it came in at No. 10., and was picked to win the BIG EAST. The last time the Pirates were ranked was March 14, 2016 at No. 20.
• The Hall heads into Sunday with an unblemished, 12-0 record in the all-time series with Monmouth. The teams have only met once since 2009, and all but one of the games in the series have been played on SHU's home court. In the most recent matchup, Patrik Auda registered 27 points on 8-of- 9 shooting and 10 rebounds to lead the Pirates to an 83-72 win on Nov. 9, 2013.
• Yesterday, Nov. 11, was the 10-year anniversary of Seton Hall's first game at Prudential Center, and that first game also happened to be against Monmouth.

Nice Little Run
The No. 23 Pirates have flourished the past two seasons to the likes of which the program has not seen in over 20 years
The program has gone to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since reeling off four straight appearances from 1991-94.
Last year's campaign secured the program back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1992-93, and first back-to-back BIG EAST Conference winning seasons since 2003-04.

In the Polls
The Pirates open the season as the AP No. 23 ranked team and is 28th in the initial KenPom ranking.
This is Seton Hall's 101st all-time weekly ranking and first since finishing the 2015-16 season at No. 20
This is the fourth time Seton Hall has been ranked in the preseason top 25 2000-01: No. 10
1992-93: No. 6
1991-92: No. 9

Of the 101 all-time rankings, this is only the second time Seton Hall has ever been placed at No. 23 (Feb. 15, 2000)
Seton Hall's all-time record as an AP nationally ranked team is 143-48 (.749)

Early Opportunities
The Pirates open 2017-18 with a challenging non-conference slate that features matchups against four teams currently in the KenPom Top-75: Rhode Island - 57
Virginia - 10 or Vanderbilt - 38
Texas Tech - 32
Louisville - 15

A total of four potential non-conference opponents reached the NCAA Tournament in 2016-17 including Louisville, Vanderbilt, Rhode Island, Virginia and VCU
The Pirates currently sitting at No. 26 in the latest KenPom rankings, and have gone 10-2 during non-conference play in each of the past three years

Unmatched Senior Scorers
Between Delgado, Rodriguez, Carrington and Sanogo, the Pirates entered 2017-18 with the most senior points returning in the country: Seton Hall - 3,816 points - four players
Idaho - 3,736 points - six players
Purdue - 3,392 points - four players
Xavier - 3,088 points - three players
Bucknell - 3,026 points - three players
Drake - 2,988 points - six players

Off on the Right Foot
With Friday's win, Willard improved to 8-0 at Seton Hall in home openers, with an average margin of victory of 19.3 points
The Pirates have won 17 straight non-conference games at Prudential Center and are 56-8 all-time in non-league contests at The Rock.

A Helping Hand
The Pirates assisted on 22 of their 33 made field goals on Friday night, which is the most in a game since Jan. 28, 2015 when the Pirates registered 23 at Marquette
Making the transition to point guard this season, Carrington finished with six assists and just one turnover
Also in the backcourt, Powell and Cale combined for seven helpers without a turnover

Dazzling Debuts
Freshmen Myles Cale, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jordan Walker each played 18 or more minutes in their collegiate debut on Friday night, and put on an efficient and effective display
Cale led the rookies in scoring with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while filling the box score with five rebounds, four assists without a turnover, two steals and a block
Walker was a perfect 2-for-2 from distance and finished with seven points, while Mamukelashvili totaled eight points and six rebounds (five offensive)
Furthermore, all three freshman knocked down a three-pointer, and shot a combined 5-for-7 from downtown

Desi Does it All
The most versatile player on the roster, Rodriguez has the ability to fill up the box score.
Last season, he averaged 5.1 rebounds per game, and connected on a three pointer in all 18 BIG EAST regular season games
A Preseason All-BIG EAST selection, the Bronx native led the Pirates and was fourth overall in scoring (17.3 ppg) during conference play last season

Big Man, Big Expectations
By now, it is no secret that Angel Delgado is one of the best players in the country. His on-court dominance has garnered national attention, and his play has earned him preseason All-America honors from multiple outlets including the Associated Press
The Dominican native led the country with 13.1 rebounds per game last season, and was a unanimous First Team BIG EAST selection and AP All-America honorable mention
Currently, Delgado is the NCAA's active career leader in rebounds (1,063) and double-doubles (51)
In 2016-17, he recorded over 200 more rebounds than any other player in the BIG EAST, and set the conference's single-season rebounding record (253)

Owning the Glass
It helps to have the best rebounder in the country, but rebounding is truly a team effort, and the Pirates have proven the ability to dominate
On Friday night, SHU had a 44-27 rebounding advantage, and has now had a positive margin in each of its last six games dating back to last season
In 2016-17, The Hall out-rebounded its opponent in 26 of 33 games and went 17-9 in said contests
In 13 games last season, the Pirates registered a double-digit rebounding advantage

Deeno Doing Deeno
Whether it is dribble-drive and slash to the hoop, or filling it up from long range, Khadeen Carrington has a natural scoring ability that ranks him among the all-time greats at The Hall.
Currently, Carrington is 26th on the all-time scoring leaderboard with 1,323 career points
The Brooklyn native has scored 20 or more points 18 times in his career, and led the Pirates with 17.1 points per game last season
He put on one of the best individual performances in program history with a career-high 41 points, capped by a last-second steal and breakaway slam, in an 87-81 home win over No. 20 Creighton last year

Say Cheese!
The man called "Cheese" - Myles Powell, had himself an impressive debut campaign in 2016-17, finishing with 10.7 points per game while leading the team in free throw percentage (81.7)
In perhaps his biggest moment of the season, Cheese drilled a dagger three with 35 seconds to go at No. 10 Butler to ultimately seal the upset win for The Hall

Do Not Pass Sanogo
Largely considered one of the top defenders in the BIG EAST, Ismael Sanogo throughout his career has played a crucial role in shutting down top opponent scorers and limiting teams to below their scoring average
Last season, he held the BIG EAST's fifth leading scorer, Shamorie Ponds (17.3 ppg), to just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting. He also helped limit Villanova to 55 points in the conference semifinal, over 20 points below its average

1,000 Point Club
Desi Rodriguez, Angel Delgado and Khadeen Carrington enter the season as the only trio of returners with 1,000 or more career points
In fact, all three reached the milestone in 2016-17, becoming only the program's second trio of 1,000-point scorers to be active in the same season, joining John Morton, Daryll Walker and Ramon Ramos of the program's historical 1988-89 national runner-up season
Delgado is the NCAA's active leader in career rebounds (1,063) and double-doubles (51), and is the only active 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound player in the country