Seton Hall vs Villanova

Tonight Seton Hall visits the 11-2 Villanova Wildcats who are ranked #7 in the country.

Nova comes into the game after it has lost 2 out of its last three with the winning game going into overtime against Rutgers. These struggles come after starting the season off on a tear winning 10 straight and two top 10 wins. Most of the Nova players are kids we are familiar with from recruiting them. Their nucleus is formed from the former number one recruiting class in the country.

The Wildcats are a team dominated by guard play led by the talented Randy Foye, who serves as the teams leading scorer and rebounder despite being about 6’2. The top four scorers on this team are guards Foye(20.6), Allen Ray(18.7), Mike Nardi(12.1) and Kyle Lowry(11.2). The frontcourt is led by Senior Center Jason Fraser and junior PF/C Will Sheridan. Fraser has had an injury-ridden career but when healthy is a good shot blocker and rebounder. Sheridan is a banger who has the ability to score points down low as well as rebound well. Freshman Dante Cunningham, Dwayne Anderson and the recently eligible Shane Clark will out the frontcourt depth. Clark is an extremely talent player who sat out the first semester due to transfer rules.

Seton Hall’s Keys to the game are

1) Slowing down Nova’s guards- Expect to see a lot of 3 guard looks to tonight. Look for Nutter, Laing, and Gaines to match up with Ray and Foye. Copeland and Gause will have to cover Nardi and Lowry. They all must force Nova’s guards into taking tough shots.

2) Rebounding- Jump shooting teams tend to have lots of offensive rebounds due to the long shots and long rebounds. Our Guards must help out here. Boxing out is key.

3) Whitney and Copeland must play like Seniors tonight. These guys better look to take the game over if we are to have a chance. 40 points between the two of them might be enough to get the job done.

Shakes’ Take- Nova with a 10 point win at home.