5 W's: Arkansas-Seton Hall

Arkansas' Moses Kingsley dunks during practice Thursday Mar. 16, 2017 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. The Hogs take on Seton Hall Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

— The who, what, when, where and why of Arkansas' first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with Seton Hall.

When? 

Arkansas Razorbacks (25-9) vs. Seton Hall Pirates (21-11): March 17, 12:30 p.m. CT 

Where?

Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C. 

What common history do the teams have?

Arkansas hasn’t faced any team from the Big East this season, but Seton Hall has played a pair of SEC teams: Florida and South Carolina.

The Pirates lost 81-76 to Florida and beat South Carolina 67-64 when the Gamecocks were without SEC Player of the Year Sindarius Thornwell in December. Arkansas was swept by Florida (81-72 and 78-65) and beat South Carolina 83-76 with Thornwell on the court in mid-February.

Arkansas has only played Seton Hall once, a 71-62 win in December 2010 in Louisville.

Why is this such a hard game to predict?

There isn’t a lot separating these teams in the public eye, evidenced by Vegas, where Arkansas is considered a 1-point favorite by most oddsmakers. The teams play markedly different ways and there’s no real way to know which style will win out until the game begins.

On paper, Seton Hall could give Arkansas trouble for a number of reasons. The Pirates slow the game on offense, ranking 251st out of 351 teams in average offensive possession length in the nation. Arkansas is one of the fastest-operating teams, ranking 32nd nationally. Seton Hall is a dominating rebounding team on both ends of the quarter, grabbing three-quarters of opponents’ misses and a third of their own, both of which rank among the top 36 teams in the country.

But Arkansas could potentially make the Pirates uncomfortable if they can push the pace, while increasing the tempo would also benefit the much-deeper Razorbacks. Seton Hall only plays 7 players in its rotation, something it can do in part because it slows the game down. Arkansas can go 10-deep. Fatigue could become a definite issue late in the game if the Hogs can run. But to run, they have to do a good job on the defensive glass, an area where they’ve struggled this year.

That’s what makes this game so interesting. Arkansas’ strengths are Seton Hall’s weaknesses and vice versa. Who wins a battle of the wills?

Who is Seton Hall’s hardest player for Arkansas to match up with? 

Angel Delgado is a perfectly acceptable. He’s a unanimous first-team All-Big East selection who averages 15.3 points and leads the nation in rebounding (13.1). He has a great combination of physicality and skill that make him a handful to deal with in the paint. Moses Kingsley will get his fourth straight matchup with an all-conference player. He played well against Ole Miss’ Sebastian Saiz and Vanderbilt’s Luke Kornet before being bested by Kentucky’s Bam Adebayo. He should come into Friday hungry.

Junior guard Khadeen Carrington is a fine answer, too. The Pirates’ leading scorer (16.9), Carrington takes and makes a lot of tough shots and has the ability to get hot and carry Seton Hall.

But Arkansas has good guard play to match Carrington. The Razorbacks haven’t been great defensively on the perimeter, but they can at least physically match up with Carrington. They can’t with Desi Rodriguez, a versatile 6-6 combo forward who averages 16.9 points and 5.1 rebounds. Rodriguez can play the 3 or the 4 with equal ability, can shoot, post-up and uses his size and strength to loft silky smooth floaters over the top of overmatched defenders.

Arkansas will likely put Manny Watkins or Jaylen Barford against him when he plays alongside two bigs. Both players give up 3-4 inches. How Arkansas handles Rodriguez’ versatility will be as interesting as the guards’ shootout with Carrington and Kingsley’s mano y mano matchup with Delgado.