The St. John’s Red Storm (8-19) and Seton Hall Pirates (18-7) will be playing at Madison Square Garden for this game. Action begins at 12:00 pm ET on Sunday, Feb. 21 and will air on FS1.
The Red Storm enter this game hoping for similar success after beating DePaul 80-65 on Wednesday. Durand Johnson led all scorers on the team with 18 points on 5-for-7 shooting. The Pirates, meanwhile, are coming off a 72-64 win against Georgetown on Wednesday. Desi Rodriguez played well for Seton Hall, accounting for 17 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
Over the last five games, Angel Delgado and Isaiah Whitehead have upped their production for the Pirates. During that stretch, Delgado has averaged 13.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.0 block. Not to be outdone, Whitehead has put up 21.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.6 blocks, and 3.8 three-pointers.
The inefficient offense of St. John’s (341st in the nation with an offensive efficiency of 92.7) will square off against the stingy defense of Seton Hall (24th in the nation with a defensive efficiency of 95.5). The Pirates figure to have the advantage on that end of the court. Furthermore, the defense of the Pirates should have an advantage in terms of eFG%. They’re 24th in the nation in forcing misses (opponents’ eFG% of 45.3%), while the offense of the Red Storm ranks 329th in eFG% (45.3%).
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Pirates won the first game 79-60. Isaiah Whitehead had a standout performance in the victory, putting up 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block, and four three-pointers.
The Red Storm enter the game with records of 8-19 Straight Up (SU) and 11-16 Against The Spread (ATS). They are 8-2 ATS over their last 10 games. St. John’s has averaged 74.4 points per game over the last 10 games, higher than its season average of 67.0. Transitioning to the St. John’s defense, an area where the Red Storm are particularly strong is shot blocking, where they average 5.9 blocks per game, sixth in Division I.
On the other side, the Pirates have 18-7 SU and 17-7 ATS records. During the last 10 games, they averaged 66.6 PPG, below their 74.1 PPG season average. The Pirates have controlled the glass with an average of 40.0 rebounds per game, 31st in the country. The last 10 games have really brought the worst out of the Pirates on the defensive end. They allowed 80.5 points per game during that span, which is higher than their season average of 66.8. The Seton Hall defense has been a problem for competitors, allowing only .402 shooting from the field to its opponents.
Seton Hall beat St. John’s in their most recent meeting this season, taking the head-to-head record to an even 5-5 SU over their most recent meetings. The Pirates hold the advantage ATS with a record of 7-3. Seton Hall held the advantage in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers once in the last five matchups. On the other side of the court, St. John’s never accomplished this feat in that span.
Predictions: SU Winner – SetonH, ATS Winner – SetonH
Notes
St. John’s averages 67.0 points per game, placing the team just 232nd in the nation. Seton Hall ranks 53rd in points allowed, giving up 66.8 points per game.
Seton Hall scores 73.9 points per away game (ranked 76th). St. John’s ranks a poor 155th in points allowed at home, allowing 69.6 points.
St. John’s averages 72.3 possessions per game, scoring .927 points on each possession. While Seton Hall averages fewer possessions per game with 69.9, they score more points per possession with 1.061.
Seton Hall has an average effective field goal percentage of 49.2%. St. John’s is a subpar 1-17 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
The St. John’s Red Storm average 19.0 three point attempts per game and have an underachieving 3-10 record when attempting at least 20 in a game. The Seton Hall Pirates average 17.0 attempts and have a formidable 5-1 record when attempting 20 or more.
Seton Hall, the 28th-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 40.0 rebounds per game. St. John’s does worse, ranked 162nd with 36.5.
The Seton Hall Pirates rank 26th in offensive rebounds. The St. John’s Red Storm rank 154th in the nation in defensive rebounds.
On average, St. John’s forces a turnover rate of 20.3%. When Seton Hall turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a superb 6-1 record.
