Since beating Creighton on January 10 on a last-second three-pointer, Seton Hall has gone 2-9, with their season spiraling out of control both on and off the court. Sophomore guard Jaren Sina, who had played the second-most minutes on the team and was second in assists, left the team earlier this month amid reports of strife in the locker room. It was the culmination of a week that saw:
- Senior forward Brandon Mobley tell the media that some players were more concerned about their shot attempts than winning games;
- Sterling Gibbs and Isaiah Whitehead nearly come to blows during a timeout against Georgetown;
- Mobley telling the New York Post that “nobody cares about winning” and “when things go south, we get to pointing fingers.”;
- Whitehead’s reported feud with Gibbs coming to light, with the star freshman upset at his reserve role behind the Big East Player of the Year candidate;
- And Whitehead tweeting “No more brothers. Strictly business partners.”
That’s a helluva week, but somehow it managed to get worse for the Pirates. The following week, Gibbs was wrestling for a loose ball with Villanova’s Ryan Archidiacano, and for some reason swung at his face with a closed fist — and landed it. He was ejected and suspended for two games, the second of which is this Saturday against Creighton.
By any reasonable measure, coach Kevin Willard should be feeling some heat. On the court, they’ve gone from rated 19th to losing nine of their last 11 games. Off the court, their top two guards are either gone from the program entirely (Sina) or suspended (Gibbs), their star freshman is embroiled in controversy, and another star is telling the media about all of the internal strife. What a mess.
Despite the absence of Gibbs and Sina, there remains a plethora of talent on the Pirates roster. It starts with freshman Isaiah Whitehead, who has led the team in scoring in three straight games and shot 6-of-12 from the floor in the second half alone to finish with 19 points against St. John’s over the weekend. He didn’t play the first time these teams met due to injury, but averages nearly 13 points, four rebounds and three assists a game.
Brandon Mobley is second on the active team in scoring at 9.7 points per game, and also second in rebounding at 5.5 boards per game. He’s been a thorn in Creighton’s side since the Jays joined the league, never moreso than in last month’s meeting when he had nine points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks in 31 minutes of action.
Angel Delgado, another freshman, is third in scoring at 9.2 points per game but leads the Big East in rebounding with 9.9 boards a game, which is also the most for any freshman anywhere in D1 basketball. Here’s how good Delgado’s been at cleaning the glass: he’s grabbed 10 or more boards eight times against conference opponents and has totaled 62 rebounds over the last five contests. In conference play, he averages 10.7 rebounds each game.
Khadeen Carrington, also a freshman, is fourth on the team with 8.6 points per game but has taken a larger role in the absence of Gibbs and Sina. He had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists against St. John’s in their most recent game, combining with Whitehead for 35 points in the game — the second time this season that the fellow Brooklyn natives have scored in double figures in the same game. And then there’s Desi Rodriguez, ANOTHER freshman, who averages just 5.6 points per game but has also taken advantage of a bigger role of late. He had six points and five rebounds in 17 minutes against the Red Storm, and has pulled down five or more rebounds in three-straight contests, averaging over one board per every three minutes he has been on the floor.
With all that freshman talent, it’s no wonder Seton Hall’s administration is giving coach Kevin Willard a long leash. It’s astonishing that they’re mired in such a long losing stretch with that much talent; here’s hoping they don’t put it together until after the Jays leave town. A Creighton win gives them an opportunity to finish as high as seventh in the league, which would be a helluva accomplishment given where they began — and it would potentially give them hope to make noise in NYC. First things first, though.
Quick Notes on the Pirates:
- At 267 rebounds, Angel Delgado has already recorded the sixth-highest single season total for a Pirate in the Big East era and is on track to become just the second SHU freshman to total 300+ rebounds in that span
- The Pirates are 10-8 with Isaiah Whitehead in the lineup. He has averaged 10.5 FGA and 3.7 apg in wins against 12.8 FGA and 2.5 apg in losses
- Khadeen Carrington ranks second on the team with 14 assists and has committed only eight turnovers in six February contests
- Against St. John’s last weekend, 21 of the Pirates’ 28 made field goals came from freshmen
Bluejay Bytes:
- Senior point guard Austin Chatman has started each of Creighton’s last 99 games, a streak that dates back to the season-opener of the 2012-13 campaign. With a start on Saturday, Chatman will become one of eight players in the last 20 years to make 100 career starts at Creighton, and just the sixth in that time with 100 or more straight starts, as he’d join Doug McDermott (145), Ryan Sears (124), Jahenns Manigat (121), Dane Watts (119) and Antoine Young (107) in that category.
- Creighton’s bench has outscored the opposition’s bench in 10 of the last 11 games, and 23 of 28 contests overall this season. For the year, the Bluejay bench has outscored its counterparts 785-466.
The Series:
Creighton and Seton Hall have met ten times, with the Pirates winning seven of them. The first six meetings came between 1949 and 1962; before last year, the only meeting since the Kennedy Administration came in the 1991 NCAA Tournament when the Pirates defeated Creighton 81-69 in the second round of the West Region. The last two meetings have been decided by a total of three points, with each team winning once.
Greg McDermott is 2-1 vs Seton Hall, and Kevin Willard is 2-2 vs Creighton — his Iona Gaels picked up a win over Creighton as part of the “Lost Weekend” in Orlando at the 2009 Old Spice Classic where the Jays lost three games in three days.
The Last Time They Played:
In a tight, back-and-forth game in early January, #19 Seton Hall beat Creighton 68-67 on a game-winning three-pointer from Sterling Gibbs with 2.1 seconds remaining. James Milliken’s potential game-winner bounced off the rim at the buzzer, and the Pirates escaped with the win despite being outplayed, in the words of their coach Kevin Willard.
Gratuitous Linkage:
While many Seton Hall fans are clamoring for a coaching change after the season, South Orange Juice’s Chris McManus wrote earlier this week about why that’s not likely to happen.
What the Other Side is Saying:
“Most know by now that the Hall’s statistical three-point defense is good (best in Big East, 4th in country), but are wary of how it passes the eye test. St. John’s and Villanova combined to shoot 23 of 53 (43%) against it over the last two games including a plethora of open looks for both teams. In the first matchup, Creighton only attempted 15 threes, their lowest total of the season since also launching 15 in late-November against Middle Tennessee. Even without Isaiah Zierden, the Jays have the ability to space the floor and move the ball around. I would expect Kevin Willard to concoct a game plan that leaves the interior open and focuses on staying around the arc. Recall that the Jays had several open guys along the perimeter on their last possession with a chance to win the game in first meeting.”
Previewing Creighton: NIT chances on the line for Seton Hall, South Orange Juice
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On February 28, 1999, Creighton defeated Southwest Missouri State 78-70 in the semifinals of Arch Madness. Here’s the Cliffs Notes version from our Bluejay Rewind segment on this game:
Two games decided by a total of five points. That’s the set up for the teams’ third matchup of the season in St. Louis, a game which would play out just like the first two — Creighton blew out to an early lead, SMS clawed back, then Creighton held on for a nail-biting win. It features Alford going ballistic just three-and-a-half minutes into the game, earning a technical foul that gave Creighton early momentum. It features perhaps the most Nerijus Play in the history of Nerijus Plays — lingering on the defensive end of the court tying his shoe while his team plays offense 4-on-5, then lumbering up court to catch a pass from Ryan Sears, dribbling into the lane, and scoring in one fluid motion. And it features the Jays scoring their last 14 points at the free throw line.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
My wife was humming this song last night, now it’s stuck in my head, and now it will be stuck in yours. Sweep the leg.
The Bottom Line:
This game is so difficult to predict. On paper, Seton Hall is vastly more talented. On the court, Creighton has played better basketball than the Pirates of late (and nearly beat them at full-strength in Omaha, without Austin Chatman for large stretches of the game). I think this is another in a long line of close games…and it will be a CU win.
Bluejays 71, Pirates 69