LARRY NESS
8* Seton Hall -2.5 vs Pittsburgh
The Pirates have won two of their last three games and the lone loss during this stretch came on the road. Taking two out of three was no small feat either as the Pirates hosted Cincinnati and Louisville plus visited Georgetown during this three game stretch. Seton Hall’s last 7 games have included match-ups with 4 ranked opponents. While the Pirates did lose those four games, three of the four defeats came by a single digit margin. Now they catch the right ranked team at the right time to not only play them tough, but get over the hump and get into the win column against a ranked foe. The Panthers will have a bit of a ‘hangover’ here after losing at home to Georgetown by eight points on Wednesday. Pittsburgh had been spoiled by success early this season as, despite losing four starters from last season’s team, the Panthers were perfect in conference play before losing to the Hoyas on Wednesday. While Pittsburgh has been struggling from the perimeter on offense the Panthers have also been struggling to defend the perimeter on defense. This has led to their last two foes shooting a combined 45.7% from beyond the arc. Now Pittsburgh has to try and stop Jeremy Hazell of the Pirates who already has 175 attempts from beyond the arc this season. The Pirates are coming off of a win that boosts their momentum as they got by the Cardinals Thursday. Seton Hall shot 53% in that game and has confidence that, at home, their shots will continue to fall. Though they lost 89-78 to Pittsburgh last season, the Panthers current roster accounted for only 32 of those 89 points. The guys that accounted for 57 of the points are gone. The Panthers guards are coming off of a very poor shooting effort against Georgetown and Pittsburgh now has to visit a Seton Hall team that does well when off of a Big East win. Over the last three seasons, the Pirates are 11-6 ATS when off of a win over a conference rival. With Hazell a scoring machine on the perimeter, and Herb Pope dominating inside, look for the Pirates to defend their home floor very well here. Pope is a native of the Pittsburgh area and the Seton Hall forward has been anxious for this game to show the Panthers what they’re missing with him being a Pirate instead. Pope is averaging 12.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game. Hazell and Pope combine for a huge inside-outside combo here and the Panthers suffer ‘unbeaten letdown’ as, after suffering their first Big East loss Wednesday, there will be some carry over to this game Sunday afternoon.
8* Seton Hall -2.5 vs Pittsburgh
The Pirates have won two of their last three games and the lone loss during this stretch came on the road. Taking two out of three was no small feat either as the Pirates hosted Cincinnati and Louisville plus visited Georgetown during this three game stretch. Seton Hall’s last 7 games have included match-ups with 4 ranked opponents. While the Pirates did lose those four games, three of the four defeats came by a single digit margin. Now they catch the right ranked team at the right time to not only play them tough, but get over the hump and get into the win column against a ranked foe. The Panthers will have a bit of a ‘hangover’ here after losing at home to Georgetown by eight points on Wednesday. Pittsburgh had been spoiled by success early this season as, despite losing four starters from last season’s team, the Panthers were perfect in conference play before losing to the Hoyas on Wednesday. While Pittsburgh has been struggling from the perimeter on offense the Panthers have also been struggling to defend the perimeter on defense. This has led to their last two foes shooting a combined 45.7% from beyond the arc. Now Pittsburgh has to try and stop Jeremy Hazell of the Pirates who already has 175 attempts from beyond the arc this season. The Pirates are coming off of a win that boosts their momentum as they got by the Cardinals Thursday. Seton Hall shot 53% in that game and has confidence that, at home, their shots will continue to fall. Though they lost 89-78 to Pittsburgh last season, the Panthers current roster accounted for only 32 of those 89 points. The guys that accounted for 57 of the points are gone. The Panthers guards are coming off of a very poor shooting effort against Georgetown and Pittsburgh now has to visit a Seton Hall team that does well when off of a Big East win. Over the last three seasons, the Pirates are 11-6 ATS when off of a win over a conference rival. With Hazell a scoring machine on the perimeter, and Herb Pope dominating inside, look for the Pirates to defend their home floor very well here. Pope is a native of the Pittsburgh area and the Seton Hall forward has been anxious for this game to show the Panthers what they’re missing with him being a Pirate instead. Pope is averaging 12.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game. Hazell and Pope combine for a huge inside-outside combo here and the Panthers suffer ‘unbeaten letdown’ as, after suffering their first Big East loss Wednesday, there will be some carry over to this game Sunday afternoon.
