The No.6-seeded Seton Hall Pirates face the No.11-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Pepsi Center. Action starts at 9:57 pm ET on Thursday, Mar. 17 and can be seen on TRU.
The Pirates enter this game hoping for similar success after edging Villanova 69-67 in the 4 of the Big East tournament. Ismael Sanogo played a key role with eight points, nine rebounds, and two steals. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are coming off an 85-75 win against Saint Mary’s in the 4 of the West Coast tournament. Eric McClellan shot 5-for-9 and led in scoring with 20 points.
Over the last five games, Isaiah Whitehead has taken his game to another level for the Pirates, averaging 26.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.6 blocks, and 3.4 three-pointers.
Baskets could be hard to come by as Seton Hall ranks 13th in the nation, allowing just 96.6 points per 100 possessions, while Gonzaga is 15th (97.2). Also, the sweet-shooting offense of the Bulldogs ranks 15th in eFG% at 55.4%, while the Pirates are seventh-best in the nation at forcing opponents’ misses (45.3%).
The Pirates have gone 25-8 Straight Up (SU) and 23-9 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, the Bulldogs have 26-7 SU and 14-16-2 ATS records. Gonzaga has done particularly well ATS over its past 10 matchups, going 7-3. The Bulldogs are shooting lights out from the foul line so far, with a .760 free throw percentage that ranks 12th in Division I. Shifting to the other side of the court, the Bulldogs have one of the best opponent field-goal percentages in the nation at .399.
Seton Hall and Gonzaga have not played one another in a regular season matchup in recent years.
Predictions: SU Winner – SetonH, ATS Winner – SetonH
Notes
“Seton Hall is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games “.
“Seton Hall is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games “.
“The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seton Hall’s last 6 games “.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs rank seventh for their offensive rating of 118.0. The Seton Hall Pirates have a defensive rating of 96.6 (ranked 13th).
Gonzaga has the 14th-ranked average field goal percentage at 48.6%. Seton Hall has not won a game this season when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage (0-3).
The Seton Hall Pirates average 17.0 three point attempts per game, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs attempt 20.0 per game. When going for at least 20 three pointers in a game this season, both teams have winning records; Seton Hall is 6-1 and Gonzaga is 12-5.
Seton Hall, the 44th-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 4.7 per game. Gonzaga does worse, ranked 228th with 3.0.
Gonzaga is one of the top defensive rebounding teams, ranking 10th. Seton Hall ranks 41st in offensive rebounding.
The Seton Hall Pirates make an average of 7.3 steals per game. When the Gonzaga Bulldogs allow 7 or more steals, they are an outstanding 10-3.
