Game 22 - Georgetown (8-13) @ Seton Hall(14-8)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: February 7, 2024
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
How to Watch: FS2
Matchup History: Georgetown leads all-time series 61-58
Last Meeting: Seton Hall def. Georgetown 74-70 on 1/9/24
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: Georgetown +13
Over/Under: 141.5
Prediction: Georgetown 59, Seton Hall 89
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Head Coach: Ed Cooley (1st season, 8-13 record at Georgetown)
Record: 8-13 (1-9, 10th in Big East)
Last Time Out: Lost vs. #9 Marquette 91-57 on 2/3/24
Player to Watch: Jayden Epps
The Georgetown Hoyas have lost their last two home games by a combined 58 points, losing to Butler by 24 and #9 Marquette by 34.
Against Marquette, Georgetown was doubled up in the first half, trailing 44-22 at the break.
The Hoyas turned it over 19 times in the game while allowing 14 MU three’s, including 7 from Kam Jones, who finished with a game-high 31 points.
“This is some uncharted waters for us as a group, as a staff,” Georgetown Head Coach Ed Cooley said following the game. “Very disappointed in our energy, effort, and connectedness…we have to figure it out…I have to do a much, much better job as a head coach to get our guys connected, to buy into where we’re trying to go.”
Coming into the 24 point loss to Butler last week, Georgetown lost a 92-91 heartbreaker on the road against Xavier before flopping against the Bulldogs at home.
Last weekend, Georgetown played Providence tightly on the road before returning home and falling by 34.
“We take five steps forward and 32 steps backwards,” Cooley said. “We have ten games left, we have a lot of soul searching…we have to keep battling, not pointing fingers, and make sure we stay together.”
The first of those ten remaining games comes on Wednesday night as the Hoyas hit the road to Newark, NJ to take on Seton Hall.
The two sides played just 29 days ago, with the Pirates coming out on top 74-70 in a tightly contested game.
For Georgetown, once again all eyes fall to Jayden Epps, who needs to get out of a shooting slump if the Hoyas want to have any chance against Seton Hall.
Epps is 15 for his last 54 from the field over the last three games. That is just 28% shooting from the field, including 21% from beyond the arc.
Georgetown goes as Epps goes. And if Epps is on, the Hoyas will at least make it interesting. If he’s off, we could see another result similar to what happened against Butler or Marquette.
Head Coach: Shaheen Holloway (2nd season, 31-24 record at Seton Hall)
Record: 14-8 (7-4, 4th in Big East)
Last Time Out: Won @ DePaul 72-39 on 1/30/24
Player to Watch: Kadary Richmond
Seton Hall is firmly in the mix as a bubble team with roughly one month to go in the regular season.
The Pirates are currently listed as the “last team in” in ESPN Joe Lunardi’s Bracket prediction for the NCAA Tournament.
Seton Hall currently sits 4th in the Big East standings at 7-4 in the league and 14-8 overall. The Pirates are the only team in the Big East to have already beaten the top two teams in the league, beating #1 UConn by 15 and #7 Marquette by 3.
And yet, entering Wednesday night’s game against Georgetown, the Pirates have lost three out of four with the lone win coming against DePaul on the road by 33.
The losses include a triple OT loss to Creighton, a four point defeat vs. Providence, and an 18 point loss at Marquette.
All season, Seton Hall has won its games by playing great defense. The Pirates rank 212th nationally in points scored per game, but are giving up just 68.8 PPG, which ranks 98th in the country.
The main thing Shaheen Holloway’s team has going for it is the play of Kadary Richmond, who got injured in the triple overtime loss to Creighton on January 20, but returned against DePaul last Tuesday.
Against the Jays, Richmond had a triple double, scoring 21 points while hauling in 11 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists.
In his return against DePaul, he played just 18 minutes, scoring 6 points while adding 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Just as Georgetown goes as Epps goes, it’s even more so for Seton Hall and Richmond.
He leads the Pirates in points per game, assists, rebounds, and steals.
In the first meeting against Georgetown, Richmond dropped 20 points to go along with 8 boards and 8 assists.
If he has a similar statline on Wednesday, the Pirates will be set up well to complete the season sweep of the Hoyas.
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