Preview-Seton Hall: The Pirates of East Orange

Mark BlankenbakerFebruary 22, 2013

Winners of two straight, the 10^th ranked Cardinals 21-5(9-4) return to action tomorrow at noon in The Ville to face the struggling Seton Hall Pirates 13-14(2-12). The two teams squared off previously this season on January 9^thin East Orange, New Jersey at the Prudential Center, where the Pirates held their own against a then banged up Louisville team for about 30 minutes when the Cards were finally able to pull away for good and win by a score of 73-58. Gourgi, recently back from his broken wrist, led the way with a double-double racking up 16 points and 14 rebounds, while sophomore power forward Brandon Mobley scored 18 points and added seven rebounds in his team’s losing effort. A key factor as to why the Pirates were able to keep the game close, only trailing by 2 at the half, were the struggles of Peyton and Russ. The starting guards combined to go 4-17 from the field, and chipping in just 7 and 11 points respectively.

The Pirates, coached by former Cards assistant Kevin Willard, drop anchor in The Ville starved for a win. The team has suffered defeat in 8 straight games and has lost 12 of their last 13, many of which haven’t even been close. Currently sitting in second to last in the Big East, the Pirates can boast wins over last place South Florida and perennial doormat DePaul. A one point nonconference victory over Stony Brook, a team that typically makes its way into the NCAA tournament each year from the American East conference, may be the team’s most significant victory of the season to date. To make matters worse for the Pirates, earlier this week Mobley, the starting power forward and team leader last time they faced the Cards, was lost for the season after dislocating his shoulder a second time. Mobley had been averaging a respectable 9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game prior to his season ending surgery.

Without question though Seton Hall’s most prolific player is junior shooting guard/small forward Fuquan Edwin. Despite being somewhat hobbled by an ankle injury sustained in a game at Pittsburgh, the third year swingman and former Big East Player of the Week is averaging 17.1 points per game, while shooting an impressive 45.3% from the field and 41.4% from three point range. Edwin also pitches in 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game and is a threat to score from anywhere on the court. Much like last month’s contest in which the Cards defensively honed in on Edwin, limiting him to just 13 points and 4-14 shooting, a major key for victory will unquestionably be containing him again and limiting his scoring chances.

Another impact player for the Pirates, and intriguing storyline, is sophomore point guard Aaron Cosby from right here in The Ville. Cosby shined on the court at Manual and later J-Town High Schools, before finishing up at a prep school in Massachusetts. In playing nearly 30 minutes a game (29.7), Cosby is averaging about 12 points (11.9) and 3 assists (2.6) per game, shooting 40.9% from the field and 36.8% from behind the arc.

In all, Seton Hall is a beat up team that is threatening to fall into last place in the conference. However that makes them potentially dangerous as they are desperate for a victory, and you know that Willard will have his squad fired up for his return to the Yum! Center. Though armed with some legitimate talent, the Pirates are very top heavy and essentially do not have any consistent secondary scoring. Though the Pirates may not be sent packing as quickly as the British during the Battle of New Orleans, in the end the Cards should win this one going away.

Side Notes:

Coach P absolutely owns his former assistants, compiling a 31-9 record against them overall.
Pitino is 5-0 all time against Kevin Willard.
A U.S. History reference in a post about basketball? …What?
Since joining the Big East the Cards are 6-2 vs. Seton Hall, and 3-0 against them in Louisville.
And finally, pirates from New Jersey? Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, thoughts?

Word

Go Cards, Beat Seton Hall!

Louisville Cardinals Season Statistics:

Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FG%	FT%	3P%
Russ Smith	26	29.8	18.4	3.8	2.8	2.1	0.0	2.5	.402	.819	.320
Chane Behanan	25	27.3	11.2	7.4	1.1	1.6	0.5	1.7	.507	.535	.091
Peyton Siva	26	31.1	10.0	2.2	6.1	2.1	0.1	2.9	.431	.877	.325
Wayne Blackshear	25	21.5	9.2	3.5	0.7	0.9	0.2	0.7	.436	.705	.337
Gorgui Dieng	19	31.6	9.1	10.3	2.1	1.2	2.7	1.7	.477	.671	.000
Luke Hancock	26	22.1	6.6	2.8	1.4	1.0	0.0	1.1	.353	.692	.321
Montrezl Harrell	26	17.2	5.7	3.8	0.2	0.7	0.7	0.7	.587	.477	.000
Kevin Ware	25	16.6	4.0	1.6	0.8	0.9	0.0	1.0	.435	.643	.364
Stephan Van Treese	23	11.8	2.0	3.1	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.3	.679	.636	.000
Zach Price	14	8.1	1.4	1.4	0.0	0.1	0.4	0.4	.533	.667	.000
Tim Henderson	17	3.5	0.8	0.4	0.2	0.4	0.1	0.2	.333	.000	.250
Michael Baffour	4	2.5	0.5	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	.000	1.000	.000
Logan Baumann	4	2.8	0.5	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	.000	1.000	.000
Jordan Bond	5	3.4	0.0	0.6	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.0	.000	.000	.000

Seton Hall Pirates Season Statistics:


Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FG%	FT%	3P%
Fuquan Edwin	27	31.5	17.1	5.7	1.9	2.6	0.4	2.3	.453	.698	.414
Aaron Cosby	25	29.7	11.9	2.5	2.9	0.4	0.0	2.6	.409	.732	.368
Eugene Teague	27	28.0	11.0	7.3	1.5	0.3	0.4	2.8	.554	.554	.000
Brandon Mobley	22	21.4	9.0	5.5	0.7	0.3	1.0	1.6	.496	.780	.434
Patrik Auda	5	25.4	7.6	3.4	1.2	0.6	0.4	1.2	.500	.625	.167
Brian Oliver	20	22.0	7.3	3.9	1.0	0.7	0.2	1.7	.342	.923	.348
Kyle Smyth	27	24.5	4.8	2.3	2.1	1.0	0.1	0.7	.345	.895	.337
Haralds Karlis	25	18.3	3.2	2.4	1.0	0.4	0.2	0.7	.325	.696	.208
Kevin Johnson	19	8.2	2.7	2.2	0.0	0.2	0.4	0.3	.500	.452	.000
Tom Maayan	27	22.6	2.1	1.9	3.4	1.5	0.1	2.9	.386	.353	.308
Freddie Wilson	8	5.4	1.4	0.4	0.8	0.1	0.0	0.5	.500	.000	.200
Connor Laverty	2	2.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.000	.000	.000
Aaron Geramipoor	15	7.0	0.9	1.5	0.0	0.3	0.1	0.3	.333	.500	.000