Seton Hall got its biggest victory in many a year when it beat No. 5 Xavier on Friday night to advance to its first Big East tournament title game since 1993 – before all but one of its current players were born. Villanova, the team with the most wins in the country, stands in the way of a tournament championship.
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HOW THE SETON HALL PIRATES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Seton Hall is all jacked up after advancing to just the third Big East championship game in school history. And the Pirates feel good about their chances after playing a pair of close games with Villanova during the regular season.
The Hall played with a lot of confidence on Friday, beating Xavier for the second time this season, and looked like a Sweet 16-level team.
Khadeen Carrington and fellow sophomore guard Isaiah Whitehead have put on a show for Seton Hall so far in the tournament. Carrington has totaled 50 points on 18 of 28 shooting through two games, scoring 23 with seven rebounds on Friday.
Not far behind is Whitehead with totals of 44 points, 17 boards and 14 assists. He’s averaging 25.2 points over the last six games and he’s scored 41 in two matchups with Villanova. It’s obvious that these two need to continue their superior play for SHU to post another upset.
HOW THE VILLANOVA WILDCATS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The Big East is Villanova’s conference and the Wildcats can continue their dominance by defeating Seton Hall. Nova has already won the last two regular season championships and can now make it two straight tournament titles.
Forward Kris Jenkins is making a case to be the tournament’s most outstanding player, scoring 21 points against Providence on Friday after getting 15 the previous night against Georgetown. He’s averaging 20.7 points on 54.6 percent from the floor and 48.1 from three-point range over the past seven games.
His continued production might be important again since Daniel Ochefu is dealing with an ankle injury sustained against the Hoyas. The senior center played just 15 minutes off the bench Friday but tossed in eight points.
The injury to Ochefu is a blow, but the Wildcats have tremendous balance which allows them to overcome such obstacles. And they’ve been able to do it all season.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Villanova hounded Providence stars Ben Bentil and Kris Dunn, holding them to a combined 12 points in Friday’s semifinal victory. The Wildcats face another potent duo in Seton Hall’s Whitehead and Carrington. With so much success over the past several seasons and a No. 1 seed a virtual lock in the NCAA Tournament, we have to wonder just how motivated the Wildcats will be entering this tilt. We know the Pirates won’t be lacking in that department with their first conference tournament championship in 23 years so close. Seton Hall came oh so close to posting a win over Nova during the season, losing by nine on the road and dropping a 72-71 heartbreaker at home on Jan. 20. Both those defeats came during a 1-4 stretch. The Pirates are 11-2 in 13 games since with a chance to possibly improve their seeding for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, which they will be partaking in for the first time since 2006.
Seton Hall 69, Villanova 67
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