RESUME
Coach: Kevin Willard (128-101 in 7 seasons at Seton Hall, 173-150 in 10 years overall)
Overall record: 21-11
Conference record: 10-8 Big East, 4-way tie for third
Conference tournament: Semifinals (L, 55-53 to Villanova)
Last 10: 7-3
Road/Neutral: 9-9 (5-3 neutral, 4-6 road)
vs. KenPom top-50: 6-8
Best stretch: Won 5 of 6 (Feb. 22-present)
Worst stretch: Lost 5 of 6 (Jan. 11-Feb. 1)
Best Wins:
67-64 vs South Carolina (without Thornwell, Dec. 12)
69-66 vs Marquette (Jan. 1)
87-81 vs Creighton (Feb. 15)
71-64 vs Xavier (Feb. 22)
70-64 at Butler (March 4)
82-76 vs Marquette (March 9)
Close losses to quality teams:
81-76 vs Florida (Nov. 24)
89-86 OT at Marquette (Jan. 11)
61-54 vs Butler (Jan. 25)
72-70 at Xavier (Feb. 1)
55-53 vs Villanova (March 10)
Bad Losses:
66-52 vs Stanford (Nov. 27)
Notable Losses:
89-75 at Creighton (Dec. 28)
76-46 at Villanova (Jan. 16)
92-70 vs Villanova (Feb. 18)
Adjusted offensive efficiency:
109.8 points per 100 possessions overall (76th nationally)
103.7 per 100 in Big East play (7th out of 10 teams)
Adjusted defensive efficiency:
95.9 points per 100 possessions overall (38th nationally)
104.8 per 100 in Big East play (4th out of 10 teams)
TOP PLAYERS
C Angel Delgado, Jr., 6-10, 240
— 15.3 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.9 topg, 54.8% FG, 55% FT, 33.1 MPG
— Unanimous first-team All-Big East
— DraftExpress’ No. 52 junior in the nation
— Plus-11.8 net rating is second-best on the team.
— Nation’s leading rebounder, averages 4.9 offensive rebounds per game and shoots 70.1 percent on putback attempts (74th percentile nationally, per Synergy Sports).
— His 24.8 usage rate is third on the team. Gets a lot of his offense on putbacks.
— Mostly plays beneath the rim but uses body/leverage well to position himself in the paint. Game reminiscent of former Pitt star DeJuan Blair.
— Ends 6.1 possessions per game in post-ups and averages 0.846 points per post-up (61st percentile). Shoots 52.9 percent on them but also turns the ball over on 24.1 percent of the time. Takes his time backing his way down and has a soft hook shot that he makes at a 55 percent clip and an assortment of counter moves to go to, most notably a strong drop step. Operates better on the left block (an elite 1.037 points per possession) than the right (0.961).
— Skilled passer with a nice feel for the game. Able to throw good high-low passes and is capable of hitting cutters and finding the open man when he draws help.
— Has only attempted 10 spot-up jumpers this year, making 4. Not a big part of his game.
— Below-average free-throw shooter, just 55 percent on 6 attempts per game.
— Seton Hall’s most-utilized roll man, but attempts less than 2 shots a game off of rolls. Averages just 0.753 points per possession as a roll man (22nd percentile).
— Not a rim protector (just 10 blocks this year), but a good one-on-one post defender. Allows just 0.596 points per possession on post-ups (86th percentile). Opposing bigs shoot just 33.3 percent when posting up against him.
— Uses his strength and mass to make establishing post position difficult.
— Slow moving his feet defending the pick-and-roll. Allows 1.269 points per possession (9th percentile).
— Elite defensive rebounder. Grabs 28 percent of available defensive boards when he’s on the court. Good at battling for position and boxing out.
G/F Khadeen Carrington, Jr., 6-4, 195
— 16.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3 apg, 2.2 topg, 1.2 spg, 42.2% FG, 37.7% 3PT, 73.5% FT, 33.2 MPG
— Second-team All-Big East selection
— Lefty primary ballhandler who can play point guard and on the wing.
— One of Seton Hall’s 2 primary offensive options. Team-high 26.5 usage. Has the ball in his hands a lot.
— Has scored 20 or more 11 times this year, including a career-high 41 points (10-15 FG, 3-5 3PT, 18-22 FT) in a February win over Creighton.
— Versatile offensive game. Good jump shooter who can get to the line and is capable of heating up and putting up big numbers.
— Shooting a career-best 37.7 percent from 3 on 5 attempts per game after shooting 28.3 and 33.5 percent his first 2 seasons. Excels in catch-and-shoot situations, averaging 1.202 points per possession (80th percentile), but he also loves to put the ball on the floor and take pull-up jumpers around the foul line. He averages 0.912 points per possession shooting jumpers off the dribble (75th percentile).
— Likes to operate out of the pick-and-roll. Has finished 161 possessions coming off a ball screen, nearly 3 times the amount of any of his teammates. Averages 0.863 points per possession (75th percentile). Can score on all 3 levels. Will pull up for 3-pointers off ball screens and can finish at the rim. Much better driving left. Has an affinity for mid-range shots.
— Decent ability to score one-on-one. Averages 0.835 points per possession (60th percentile). Only shoots 39.7 percent in isolations but will draw fouls. Has a low center of gravity and a tight handle that allows him to create separation.
— Primarily a scorer but can distribute. His 18.5 assist rate is second on the team behind point guard Madison Jones (18.8).
— Was turnover prone at times early in the season (5 games with 4 or more), but has been better of late.
— Most likely Pirate to get out in transition (115 possessions). Shoots nearly 54 percent on the break, but his 1.017 points per possession is just in the 47th percentile nationally). Likes to use an in-and-out dribble on the break.
— Not as good a rebounder as his size might warrant, perhaps partially a result of playing with Delgado.
— Doesn’t generate many steals, but is good at using his length to contest jumpers. Opponents shoot just 36 percent on spot-up shots with him as the primary defender. Can also use his physical tools in isolation situations, where he allows just 0.679 points per possession and holds opponents to 42 percent shooting.
— Average defending the pick-and-roll. Can get hung up on screens.
F Desi Rodriguez, Jr., 6-6, 215
— 15.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.8 apg, 2.1 topg, 44.8% FG, 36% 3PT, 65.6% FT, 31.8 MPG
— Lefty combo forward who starts at the 3 but also operates as a floor-spacing, small-ball 4 for stretches.
— Has 9 games of 20 or more points this year, highlighted by a 30-point showing in an overtime loss to Marquette. His 26.3 usage rate is just slightly behind Carrington’s.
— Presents a matchup problem for many opponents by using his size against smaller wings and beating 4s with his quickness.
— Can throw him the ball and let him create a shot for himself one-on-one late in the clock. Shoots 48 percent and averages 0.835 points per possession (87th percentile) on isolations and excels at getting into the lane, using his size to create separation and tossing up feathery floaters that he hits at an elite 48.4 percent clip (88th percentile). By far Seton Hall’s best isolation player. Very controlled and crafty with the ball looking to score. Walling him off and forcing him to shoot an off-dribble jumper (just 26 percent on such shots) is the defense's best bet).
— A solid shooter who has knocked down 36 percent of his 3-pointers on 4.3 attempts per game, nearly twice the amount of attempts as he averaged as a sophomore when he shot 38.6 percent. Has hit 3 or more 3s in 7 games this year. Good in catch-and-shoot situations, where he averages 1.162 points per possession (74th percentile) with a 58.1 effective field goal percentage.
— It isn’t a huge part of his game, but he has does occasionally operate on the block. Only shoots 43 percent and averages 0.75 points per possession (41st percentile) on post-ups, but has a measured game and can either face up or back down defenders.
— Uses pick-and-rolls to create space for shots (50 percent off PNRs), but turns the ball over on nearly on a quarter of his possessions. Doesn’t have the best feel as a passer coming off a ball screen and will force ill-advised passes. Can struggle when he tries to hit the roll man with pocket passes or fit the ball into tight windows in the lane.
— Can get lost off the ball and fail to close out and get a good contest on jump shooters. Allows 0.936 points per spot-up possession (49th percentile) and will allow opposing players to attack late closeouts off the dribble. Doesn’t have great lateral quickness, at times.
— Not a rim protector. Just 12 blocks this season. Does have decent length that allows him to contest shots.
ROLE PLAYERS
PG Madison Jones, Sr., 6-2, 160
— 5.7 ppg, 3.2 apg, 2.3 rpg, 40.6% FG, 31.8% 3PT, 67.9% FT, 29.3 MPG
— Started 30 games at point guard as a graduate transfer after playing 3 years at Wake Forest.
— Role player who still handles the ball a lot but cedes playmaking to Carrington and Rhodes. Steady.
— Has struggled with turnovers, evidenced by his 24.9 turnover rate, easily the highest among the team’s 4 primary ballhandlers.
— Not asked to score much and not particularly efficient when he does shoot. Has made just 11 of 38 catch-and-shoot jumpers and his .450 effective field goal percentage is worst among rotation players, the result of his shaky outside shooting and mediocre work inside the arc.
— Has finished less possessions with pick-and-rolls than Carrington and Rodriquez and is significantly worse. He shoots just 35 percent coming off ball screens and his 0.636 points per possession ranks in the 29th percentile.
— A solid but unspectacular defender.
SG Myles Powell, Fr., 6-2, 205
— 10.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1 topg, 39% FG, 33% 3PT, 81.7% FT, 23.8 MPG
— Sixth-man scorer who can get hot and put up big numbers.
— Averaged 14 points and hit 6 of 12 3-pointers in 2 Big East tournament games.
— Hasn’t shot the deep ball consistently, only hitting 33 percent of his 3s, but can heat up. Has made multiple 3s in half of Seton Hall’s games and hit 7 against Columbia and 6 at Xavier. Averages a team-high 6.3 3-pointers a game. His 81.7 free throw percentage indicates his ability as a shooter.
— A complimentary player at this point, playing off upperclassmen. Doesn’t create his own offense very often and benefits from the attention his teammates draw, evidenced by his gaudy 67 effective field goal percentage on unguarded catch-and-shoot looks, compared to 42.9 on guarded attempts. Can attack closeouts and score. Shoots 52.2 percent on 2s.
— Not the biggest or longest player and can struggle to affect shots. Opponents average 1.032 points per spot-up possession against him (29th percentile).
F Michael Zzei, Soph., 6-8, 205
— 4.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 67.5% FG, 57.9% FT, 18 MPG
— Bouncy big who has started 13 games this season, including the last 11.
— Foul-prone. Averages 5.4 fouls per 40 minutes. Has been limited by foul trouble several times of late. Shown flashes of big production when he stays on the floor. Had 11 points and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes against St. John’s last month.
— Raw offensive talent whose scoring is largely reliant on teammates setting him up, but has a knack for moving without the ball to make himself available along the baseline. Has a soft touch around the basket.
— Uses his athleticism to crash the offensive glass (grabs 10.7 percent of missed shots when he’s on the floor) and can finish above the rim.
— Not a big rim protector, but has a team-high 18 blocks this season.
— Doesn’t have a lot of bulk, but has been a decent low-block defender when needed, holding opponents to 0.714 points per post-up and 33 percent shooting (68th percentile).
F Ismael Sanogo, Jr., 6-8, 215
— 3.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.2 topg, 44.4% FG, 50% FT, 22.6 MPG
— Started the first 19 of the first 21 games and is a solid defensive role player.
— Cannot create his own shot and struggles to finish around the rim. Not an option offensively. Has only taken 8 shots as a roll man this year, making just 2.
— Not a good free throw shooter. No mid-range game to speak of.
— Has the best defensive rating on the team. The Pirates allow just 97.2 points per 100 possessions when he’s in the game.
PIRATES ON OFFENSE
— Seton Hall and Arkansas are polar opposites when it comes to pace. The Razorbacks rank 31st in the nation in offensive pace, averaging a brisk 15.7 seconds per possession. They are plus-132 in fast-break points compared to their opponents, speeding the game up whenever possible.
The Pirates, on the other hand, average 17.9 seconds per possession, which plops them down at a snoozy 251st. To put the difference in perspective, based on those averages, Seton Hall would possess the ball 2:34 longer than Arkansas in a 70-possession game.
Arkansas will try to make the game faster when it has the ball, but teams have been good at slowing their own offense down against the Hogs this year. Arkansas’ opponents average 18 seconds per possession, a tempo which ranks 302nd out of 351 teams.
The Hogs will try to force tempo by pushing after makes and misses alike, but what they’d really like is to force turnovers…
— Of course, that hasn’t exactly been Arkansas’ forte this season. The Hogs force turnovers on just 18.3 percent of opponents’ possessions, an uncharacteristic number which ranks No. 186 nationally. In SEC, that rate dropped to 17.6, ninth in the league.
But the Hogs’ pressure has worked on occasion against teams that can have turnover issues, most notably Alabama and Vanderbilt. Seton Hall has trouble taking care of the ball at times, with their 19.4 turnover rate ranking No. 238 nationally. Arkansas may try to pressure the Pirates to speed up the game, but also for another reason…
— Seton Hall is entering the tourney winners of 5 of its last 6 games. During that stretch (with the exception of a senior starting and playing less than a minute in the year’s final home game), Seton Hall has used an 8-man rotation with 6 Pirates playing big minutes and 2 playing spot minutes (less than 10 in each case).
Seton Hall’s big guns — Rodriguez (36.7 minutes per game) Carrington (34.5) and Delgado (34.5) — have rarely come off the court over the course of the last 6 games. The Pirates only play 4 players at the 3 guard/wing spots at this point, with Rodriguez also pulling double-duty at the 4.
Seton Hall will be well-rested coming into Friday, but Arkansas’ depth could become an advantage if the Hogs can push the tempo and make the Pirates play faster than they’re accustomed to.
— Seton Hall has an offense ranked No. 76 in the nation in adjusted efficiency (109.9 points per 100 possessions), but that number dropped to 103.7 against Big East foes, seventh out of 10 teams in conference play.
The Pirates only have 3 threatening perimeter shooters (Rodriguez, Carrington and Powell), a trio that has combined for 85 percent of their attempts and nearly 90 percent of their makes.
— The Pirates have been much better against the zone defenses (97.3 points per 100) than man (86.1 per 100).
— Delgado is a beast in the post, both as a scorer and an offensive rebounder. Trey Thompson’s size may be better equipped to grapple with Delgado than Moses Kingsley. Seton Hall’s ability to feast on the offensive glass is its only elite offensive quality (its only good quality in Big East play). The Pirates grabbed 35.3 percent of their misses, which ranks 24th in the nation and second in the Big East. Arkansas allows opponents to grab 33.5 percent of their misses, a massive number that ranks 326th.
It will be interesting to see if they alter their approach at all and send more players back. At the same time, Delgado is such a tank they could probably send the other 4 back and still give the Hogs trouble.
— Seton Hall is not a good free-throw shooting team. Arkansas should have a sizable edge in that department. The Pirates shoot just 64.3 percent from the line, the 16th-worst mark in college basketball.
— Rodriguez and Carrington shoulder big offensive burdens. Rodriguez’ size could make him a matchup problem for the Hogs’ smallish wings. Carrington can be a bit of a chucker, but he’s shifty and can get hot and Arkansas’ guards haven’t exactly defended great this year.
— Both players can create their own shot whenever, but the Pirates do run a lot of pick-and-rolls to free them up, including some double-high ball screens. The Hogs will have to be prepared for those.
— There’s always a chance one of Rodriguez or Carrington can get hot and carry Seton Hall. Or both. They’ve been playing well lately. Powell is on a hot streak. But the main factor in the game may come down to how well the Hogs contain Delgado and if they can come close to holding their own on the glass.
PIRATES ON DEFENSE
— For the season, Seton Hall is ranked No. 38 in the nation in defensive efficiency, giving up a tough 95.9 points per 100. The Big East is no joke. The Pirates allowed 104.8 points per 100 in league play, middle of the pack and good for fourth in the conference.
Arkansas is a borderline elite offense. The Hogs average 116.7 points per 100, which ranks No. 26 in the nation. Seton Hall has posted a 117 defensive rating all of 3 times in 32 games this year, once against Creighton and twice against Villanova.
— Seton Hall’s defense is good when set, but Arkansas could pose serious problems if it can clean the defensive glass and get out in the open court. Seton Hall allows 1.122 points per 100 possessions, a sky-high number that is in just the 11th percentile nationally.
— The Pirates have been a man defense for almost 95 percent of their halfcourt possessions.
— None of Seton Hall’s guards are awful defensively but there aren’t any renowned lockdown defenders on the roster. The Pirates are even worse at forcing turnovers than Arkansas (17.6 percent of possessions, No. 231 in the nation) and rarely block shots (6.6 percent of possessions, No. 285).
The Pirates are just solid all around on the defensive end of the court and do an excellent job holding teams to 1 shot. They grab nearly 75 percent of opponent misses, which ranks 35th in the nation. They were even a tad bit better in Big East play, when they ranked second. The lack of easy second-chance points given up helped them hold teams to 49.9 percent shooting on 2-pointers in Big East play, third best in the league.
Arkansas’ guards have been the driving force behind the 25-win season in no small part because of their ability to hit tough shots and score. Seton Hall doesn’t necessarily do a great job preventing those shots, but the Pirates will rebound the lion’s share of the misses.