Pirates Set To Battle No. 9 Kansas In Lawrence

Game 8: Seton Hall Pirates (4-3) at No. 9 Kansas (7-1)
Thursday, Dec. 1 • 9 p.m. Eastern • Lawrence, Kan. • Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
TV: ESPN • Mark Neely & Dalen Cuff
Web: WatchESPN
Radio: SHU Pirates Mobile App / Pirate Sports Network / SXM 386, SXM app 976 / Dave Popkin & Kim Adams
Game Notes: Seton Hall | Kansas
Follow Along: Instagram | Twitter | Live Stats

NOTES YOU NEED TO KNOW

Seton Hall is on the road again, this time for a BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle contest at No. 9 Kansas that will air on ESPN on Thursday at 9 p.m.
The Pirates are 1-1 all-time in BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle games; falling at Iowa State in 2019 and defeating No. 7 Texas at Prudential Center last season, 64-60.
Thursday's game at Kansas will be the Pirates' first game against a defending national champion in the non-conference since facing Duke in the fall of 2001, an 80-79 loss in the Maui Invitational.
The Hall is 0-1 against Big 12 teams this season as it fell to Oklahoma in the semifinals of the ESPN Events Invitational, 77-64, as the Sooners would go on to win the tournament.
The Pirates' tournament in Orlando was highlighted by a buzzer-beating, game-winning three by Tyrese Samuel (Montreal, Quebec) that clinched a 70-69 victory over Memphis.
Samuel also posted his third career double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) in the win.
Samuel, who registered nine double-figure scoring games all last season, has already scored in double figures in five of Seton Hall's seven games this season.
In Shaheen Holloway's last 18 games as a head coach, his teams have allowed just 59.3 points per game and only three opponents have scored more than 70 points.
Seton Hall leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage defense (38.4 percent) and three-point field goal defense (25.4 percent).
Seton Hall's three-point percentage defense ranks 12th in the nation.
The Pirates' defensive efficiency ranks 35th in the country by KenPom.
Graduate student KC Ndefo (Elmont, N.Y.) is the NCAA's active career leader in blocks with 318.
The Hall is 136-21 (.866) since 2015-16 when its lead gets to seven points.
Holloway is the first Seton Hall graduate to lead the men's basketball program since all-time great Richie Regan '53 led the Pirates from 1960-70.
Holloway was previously on the Seton Hall bench as associate head coach from 2010-18.
In that time span, the Pirates registered four 20-win seasons, three NCAA Tournament appearances and won the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament title.
As head coach at Saint Peter's, Holloway was MAAC Coach of the Year in 2020, led the Peacocks to a 54-32 mark (.628) over his last three seasons, three straight campaigns with 10-plus victories in MAAC play and the Elite Eight at 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Seton Hall is one of only eight Division I programs and the only BIG EAST school with at least four alumni serving as active head coaches (Holloway; Copeland; Dan Hurley, UConn; Levell Sanders, Binghamton).
Through seven games, three Pirates are averaging double figures, eight Pirates are averaging at least five points per game and 10 Pirates are averaging at least 11 minutes per contest.
The Hall's bench production leads the BIG EAST and ranks 43rd nationally with 31 points per game.
Coming off of the bench in four of the five games he's played in, junior Dre Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) leads the team in scoring with 11.4 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the floor and 92 percent shooting from the free throw line (22-of-24).

INSIDE THE SERIES: KANSAS

Seton Hall is 1-2 all-time against Kansas.
The Pirates' lone win over the Jayhawks came in the 1988 Great Alaskan Shootout when Seton Hall topped Kansas in the championship game, 92-81.
Most recently, the two teams met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2018 when the top seeded Jayhawks got by the eighth-seeded Pirates, 83-79, in Wichita despite a legendary 24-point, 23-rebound performance by The Hall's Angel Delgado.
Holloway and Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts are both from Queens; Holloway from South Jamaica and Roberts from Springfield Gardens.
Larry Keating, Seton Hall's athletics director from 1985-97 and a senior administrator with the Kansas men's basketball from 2003-19 who passed away last year, is an administrative tie between both schools and was an influential figure in the history of both programs.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyrese Samuel

Scoreboard

Seton Hall University Athletics

Pirates Set To Battle No. 9 Kansas In Lawrence

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyrese Samuel

Related Videos

Sponsors Slider