Seton Hall vs. St John's Preview

Seton Hall takes on Big East rivals St John's Red Storm.

Seton Hall vs. St. John’s

Match ups PG Eugene Harvey vs. Eugene Lawrence Battle of the Eugenes pits quickness vs. strength Lawrence us a solidly built pass first PG who can take it to the rim and defend extremely well. Harvey will have to use his superior quickness to get past Lawrence otherwise it could be a long night for him. I think Harvey will give Lawrence fits do to his speed and quickness but also St. John’s could post up Lawrence on Harvey and on D play a zone to neutralize his advantages. Lawrence is averaging 7.1ppg, 5.1apg, and 4.8rpg Advantage: SHU and Harvey

SG Jamar Nutter vs. Avery Patterson Battle of the streaky 3pt shooters, Nutter and Patterson both do not have great percentages from behind the arch both shooting 35% and 29% respectively. Nutter seems to be bringing good D, rebounding, and assists to the Pirates when he is not shooting well, but Patterson does not do this as well (though he does rebound well for a guard at 3.1rpg) I just think Nutter brings much more to the game then Patterson does, but if Patterson hits the early 3 watch out. Advantage: SHU and Nutter but not by much

SF Brian Laing vs. Anthony Mason Jr. Jr. will have the height advantage in this match up but he has not been playing with fire this season. Laing will have the muscle advantage in this game and should be able to score well against Mason but his length might give him some trouble. Mason hits the boards pretty well and get his blocked shots but with the way Laing has been playing he needs to up his game. This will be the Match up of the night and should play a big part in the outcome. Mason is averaging 10.5ppg, 2.2apg, and 5.3rpg Advantage: SHU and Laing

PF Stan Gaines vs. Lamont Hamilton This is where it goes down hill fast for SHU Hamilton will eat Gaines alive and should have close to 25pts the key of this match up will be making Hamilton turn the ball over and The Gonzone getting in his head when he shoots his FTs (shooting 69% on the season) also Gaines must be aware of Hamilton shooting the 3, every time we play St. John’s Hamilton would hit 2-3 3pt shots against us. Hamilton will also have a good amount of blocks to go along with rebounds. Hamilton averages 13.7ppg and 7.2rpg Advantage: St. John’s and Hamilton BIG

C Grant Billmeier vs. Aaron Spears. Spears might not have started the last couple of games but I fully expect him to get major mins against us and Billmeier. Spears last season had a career high in points against us at home in the 1st half! This season shouldn’t be any different, lets just hope we can get more then 5 fouls out of Grant in this game. Spears is Averaging 3ppg in 11 games played…watch him put up 15 and 10 on the Pirates. Advantage: St. John’s and Spears Big

Bench Paul Gause vs. Daryll Hill These two players bring excitement to each team but Hill is very TO prone and will take bad shots. Advantage: Push could go either way

Larry Davis vs. Ricky Torres Larry Davis is coming into his own and should bring great play off the bench for the Pirates. Torres can hit the 3 but doesn’t bring much more to the table he is slow and doesn’t always play 100% Advantage: SHU and Davis

Mani Messy vs Qa’rraan Calhoun Calhoun is a nice looking freshman who brings athleticism and size to St. Johns. Messy will be needed but can he play good D and not make too many TOs? Advantage: St. John’s and Calhoun

Overall this will look a lot like the Providence game with us getting beat up inside but I don’t think St. John’s wing play is as good as Providence. We will need to press and force TOs but Lawrence is a strong and heady guard. Key will be the press vs. the zone….can we find out shooting stroke at home? Will Grant and Stan be able to put up any kind of offensive numbers? Will Harvey, Nutter, Gause, Davis, and Laing be able to force enough TOs and control the tempo of the game?

Heart: 85-77 (0-1) Head: 89-69 (1-0)