The Seton Hall Pirates host the Georgetown Hoyas tonight in Big East College Basketball action. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1. Currently the Betting Odds for the game have the Hoyas favored on the road in this one by a small margin.
Both Georgetown and Seton Hall have taken their lumps in the Big East this season, but even another defeat here by a team shouldn't dash their NCAA Tournament hopes. Each school has eight losses overall, but Seton Hall is just 5-6 in conference play. While the Pirates are still a legitimate tournament team, losing a handful of games down the stretch won't do them any favors. It certainly won't be easy tonight with the Hoyas in town.
Georgetown has lost two straight and three of their last four games overall, yet they are favored here tonight on the road. That should be a pretty decent sign that the Hoyas are a real threat to the Pirates in this one. The Hoyas got beat up on Saturday at Villanova and prior to that lost at home to Providence. John Thompson III needs to get his team back on the right path here tonight and it all starts with D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera. He leads the team in scoring at better than 15 points per contest, but also hands out better than three assists per game and is a solid defender.
Thompson III and his squad have been known to play some zone as well, but they will have to match the intensity of Sterling Gibbs on the perimeter. Gibbs leads the Pirates in scoring at better than 17 points a game and shoots at a 45-percent clip from downtown. Isaiah Whitehead also gives the Pirates a solid shooter from the outside, but he is coming off a very tough game against Marquette, a game the Pirates lost but really had no business losing. Whitehead was just 1-of-11 in that game and scored only three points.
Georgetown is going to need a big game from Josh Smith, too. The Hoyas are not an excellent rebounding team, noted by Smith leading the squad with only six boards per game. Seton Hall isn't great in that regard either and if Smith has a solid game on the glass the Hoyas should be in good shape.
With the Hoyas coming in having lost two straight games overall but still favored on the road, it seems they are the right play here.
Free Pick: Georgetown 66, Seton Hall 60
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