The No.3-seeded Seton Hall Pirates get together with the No.2-seeded Xavier Musketeers in the third round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. The game starts at 9:00 pm ET on Friday, Mar. 11 and will air on FS1.
The Musketeers won big over Marquette 90-72 in the 2. Trevon Bluiett was the game’s high scorer with 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting. The Pirates, meanwhile, are coming off an 81-73 win over Creighton in the 2. Khadeen Carrington led the team in scoring with 27 points on 10-for-17 shooting.
Over the last five games, Isaiah Whitehead has been on fire for the Pirates. During that stretch, he has averaged 26.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.0 steal, 2.6 blocks, and 4.0 three-pointers.
The game should be a battle of strength against strength, as the high-octane offense of Xavier (31st in the nation with an offensive efficiency of 114.0) takes on the stingy defense of Seton Hall (ninth in the nation with a defensive efficiency of 96.3). Also, the Pirates commit the 34th-fewest errors in the nation (TO% of 19.4%), while the ball-hawking defense of the Musketeers causes the 20th-most (opponents’ TO% of 19.3%).
The two teams have split their matchups this season. The Musketeers had the upper hand in the most recent game, a blowout 90-72 win. Carrington scored a game-high 27 points.
Notes
In its last game, Xavier won by a margin of 18 points. Seton Hall is 5-0 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Xavier has a 10-1 record in blowouts.
The Xavier Musketeers have a defensive rating of 98.0 (ranked 15th), while the Seton Hall Pirates have an offensive rating of 106.9 (ranked 154th).
The Seton Hall Pirates average a field goal percentage of 44.7% this season. The Xavier Musketeers have a winning 7-3 record in games where opponents have a FG% of 44.7% or greater.
The Xavier Musketeers and the Seton Hall Pirates both rank higher in average field goal percentage when compared to their effective field goal percentages. Xavier is 96th and 90th in the nation for eFG% and FG% respectively, while Seton Hall ranks 196th and 143rd in these categories.
Xavier ranks 26th in assists, registering 16.5 per game. Seton Hall performs worse at 161st with 13.5 assists per game.
Seton Hall, the 48th-ranked team in blocked shots, registers an average of 4.6 per game. Xavier does worse, ranked 216th with 3.1.
Xavier ranks 55th in offensive rebounding. When it comes to defensive rebounds, Seton Hall ranks 61st.
On average, Xavier makes 7.1 steals per game. Seton Hall has a winning 12-5 record when it gives up at least 7 steals.
