BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Georgetown @ Seton Hall

January 19, 2007



Georgetown completes their road swing through New Jersey in a rare Friday night game as they travel to the Meadowlands to meet Seton Hall. On Wednesday, the Hoyas held Rutgers to 13 points in the 1st half in their win at the RAC to even their conference record at 2-2.

Seton Hall has won all three of their conference home games to date and sits ahead of Georgetown in the Big East standings at 3-2. The Pirates escaped Wednesday with a 69-68 win over Providence as the Friars' last second attempt to win rolled off the rim.


Here are the pregame stories and previews from around the internet:

Seton Hall/Georgetown Scouting Report (Courier News)
Hoyas Work on Quick Turnaround (Washington Post)
Garcia Lifts Hall's Hopes to Contend in Conference (Star-Ledger)
Seton Hall Starting to Step-up (Star-Ledger)
Hall's Garcia Makes Stylish Return (NorthJersey.com)

Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW


I have a feeling Georgetown will be glad when this one is over! This will be the Hoyas third road game of the week. The oddysey started Saturday night with a late tip at Pittsburgh and after a quick trip home, the Hoyas were off to New Jersey for a Wednesday game at Rutgers. They stayed in New Jersey, practicing at Princeton on Thursday, for tonight's game with Seton Hall at Continental Airlines Arena. A brutal stretch that will really tes thr Hoyas mental resolve, especially their thin backcourt that will see pressure from Seton Hall all game long.

After tonight, Georgetown returns home for four of their next six games. They can not afford to look past tonight's game as Seton Hall is coming together and are especially tough at home where they have won all three league contests so far. However, the Hoyas definitely present their toughest home challenge to date.

Georgetown has already played one game on a similar short turnaround and they were beaten by Villanova as they had a very difficult time against the pressure used by the Wildcats. Seton Hall is going to come at the Hoyas in a similar way, using fullcourt and 3/4 court traps and presses with their smaller line-up. If Georgetown can get past the press and set-up their offense, they should find their mis-matches inside with Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green. However, their Princeton-style offense will have to be run quicker, because Seton Hall is not going to allow them to get into their offense quickly or easily. The think Hoyas backcourt of Jonathan Wallace, Jesse Sapp and Jeremiah Rivers, and maybe Tyler Crawford, are going to have to be sure with the ball and take advantage of the mis-matches the Hoyas have. Georgetown is deeper, but much of the depth is very inexperienced.

Seton Hall is definitely brimming with confidence and are enjoying their new style of play under Bobby Gonzalez. They will run and press all game and the addition of John Garcia inside gives them a little more size and muscle to match-up with a team like the Hoyas. However, the added depth that Garcia provides will be neutralized tonight because senior Grant Billmeier injured his knee in the win over Providence and is unlikely to play tonight. Not sure how ready Garcia is to play more than 10-12 minutes after his first game action came just a day ago. Seton Hall is a thin team and the emotional win on Wednesday has Bobby Gonzalez concered about fatigue and they play a team that definitely forces you to play for the entire shot clock on both ends of the ball. Seton hall relies on their perimeter games, tired legs late could make it very tough on the Pirates as every possession against Georgetown is a long one and an important one.

Georgetown is currently a 6-pt favorite and a projected 8-pt winner by Pomeroy. Those numbers look pretty good to me. Seton Hall will cause some problems for the Hoyas with their pressure, but Georgetown's defense will make it tough for Seton Hall to score and when their legs tire in the 2nd half, I think Georgetown pull away.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 70 Seton Hall 62