larry ness
My 15* Big East Game of the Month is on Seton Hall at 9:00 ET. Norm Roberts first four years at St John's did not go so well (48-67) and after three games of the 2008-09 season, he lost his best returning player from last year, the 6-7 Mason (14.0-4.4), for the rest of this season. The Red Storm are not very deep and will enter this game at Seton Hall 12-9 overall and 3-6 in Big East play. While that's not much to speak of, Roberts best season at St John's was two years ago when the team won 16 games, so this year's team could top that win total this year. However, do not expect St John's to gain a win here. Bobby Gonzalez had Seton Hall off to a 9-3 start but the Pirates opened Big East play by dropping SIX consecutive games. The losing streak came to an end with a 65-60 win over slumping Georgetown on Jan 25 and the Pirates made it two conference wins in a row with a 70-67 win over Rutgers last Thursday. The team hasn't played since then (full week off) and that's good, as like St John's, Seton Hall has little depth. It does however, own better overall talent. Hazell, a 6-5 sophomore guard, averaged 12.8 PPG as a freshman but leads the Pirates in scoring TY, averaging 23.4 PPG. He teams with PG Harvey (12.7-4.9 APG) plus senior Gause (8.2) and freshman Theodore (5.4), to form an excellent perimeter group. Mitchell, a 6-6 transfer from Duquesne, is averaging 15.7 PPG and 8.3 RPG, while 6-9 center Garcia (7.0-6.6) has stayed healthy. That's something neither he nor Gause was able to do last year, when Seton Hall fell apart after a 15-6 start (finished 17-15). The injury 'bug' not only hit St John's with Mason being lost for the year but PG Boothe (8.1-4.8 APG) just returned from missing nine games on Feb 1. He teams with sophomore Horne (14.4) and 6-6 big guard Kennedy (13.0-6.8-3.1) to form a solid backcourt. Two 6-8 players, Burrell (9.7-4.4) and Evans (9.6-6.5) are about all St John's has up front. The Red Storm played just two road games prior to Jan 1, losing by 12 at Boston College and 21 at Providence. Since the new year, they've lost at Pitt by 23, Villanova by 19 and West Va by 23. That's 0-5 with the average margin of defeat coming by 19.6 PPG. Let's remember, this Seton Hall team was good enough to beat both USC and Va Tech back in late November in Puerto Rico, so now that the Hall has regained some momentum, beating the poor-traveling Red Storm shouldn't be too much to ask. Big East Game of the Month 15* Seton Hall.
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