A key Big East matchup takes place in New Jersey tonight, as Louisville visits Seton Hall with a chance to move to the positive side of the ledger for both teams.
Game #72. Seton Hall will look to snap a three-game losing streak when it hosts Louisville tonight at the Prudential Center. Since opening the season 15-2 (4-1), consecutive losses to South Florida, Villanova and Notre Dame have dropped the Pirates into a ninth place tie with Louisville heading into this evening’s game. The play of Seton Hall’s seniors Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope was key to the team’s hot start but both have struggled of late. Theodore has just 14 assists to 10 turnovers during the losing streak while Pope is shooting only 35.8% from the floor in Big East play, including an ugly two for 16 shooting night against Notre Dame earlier this week. As for Louisville, the Cardinals have won three of their last four games since dropping four of five between December 28 and January 10. Rick Pitino has Kyle Kuric back in the lineup after an ankle injury while freshman Chane Behanan seems to be hitting his stride, averaging 14.3 PPG over his last three outings. Peyton Siva continues to struggle at the point guard position but he did score 16 points in Louisville’s win over Villanova on Wednesday night.
This is a pivotal game between two teams that would be solidly in the NCAA Tournament if it began today, though neither team is anywhere close to being a lock. One is trending down and the other seems to be on its way up but there are still nine Big East games remaining for each club after tonight. We’ll find out a lot about both of these teams and whether or not they can stay in the middle to upper part of the Big East at the Rock tonight. Tip time is 8:00 PM EST. We hope to see you then for RTC Live.