It’s the best time of the year – tournament time.

The Seton Hall Pirates (16-13, 8-10 BIG EAST), make their yearly trip to Mohegan Sun Arena to kick off the Big East Tournament with a matchup against the DePaul Blue Demons (12-19, 4-14 BIG EAST).

The Pirates wrapped up their season with a seven-point loss at home to the now #21 Creighton Bluejays, 72-65. Although Creighton is ranked and 24-4 this season, Seton Hall had them on the ropes. The Hall had a one point lead going into the fourth quarter, but then Creighton’s offense really stepped up. 25 points in the final 10 minutes was able to outpace the Pirates, who struggled from both the field and from three.

Meanwhile, DePaul closed out the regular season on a six-game losing streak, including a 91-78 loss to Seton Hall in South Orange. This losing streak could be a bit misleading, since their last two losses were by a combined five points. Their final game against Villanova was very winnable. Five Blue Demons had 10 or more points and they shot 41.2% from three. Their issue was scoring from the charity stripe, going 7-of-14 overall and 3-of-8 in the fourth quarter of their two-point loss.

In order to get a better understanding of this matchup, let’s look back at their game on Feb. 17. It was a full group effort from the Hall, with Micah Gray and Savannah Catalon scoring 20+ points, and three other Pirates with 13 or more. As a team, Seton Hall shot 46.5% from the field and a respectable 36% from three, along with going 17-of-19 from the line.

DePaul’s only true bright spot was star guard Anaya Peoples, who was two assists shy of a 25-point triple-double. Jade Edwards was able to chip in 11 points off of the bench, but they were the only Blue Demons in double-figures.

The goal seems simple to Seton Hall – let anyone else beat you. Peoples is going to do what she does but try and stop everyone else. DePaul has four players who average around eight to 11 points a night, but there is no true second star to go along with Peoples. The Hall did a great job of limiting DePaul’s supporting cast in the first game, and that should be the gameplan again going forward.

On offense, the Pirates have to get excellent basketball from their starting five and jump to an early lead. When teams find themselves down in games, usually the three-point shot is their best friend. Unfortunately for the Pirates, they’ve been cold from the arc this year, only shooting 30%. This includes their 3-of-17 performance in the recent Creighton loss.

It also needs to be a bounce back game for the guard tandem of Gray and Catalon. The two combined for 2-of-17 from the field against Creighton, including Gray going scoreless in 24 minutes. Seton Hall relies on them for a lot of offense, and they’ve got to keep pace with DePaul’s 71.5 points per game average.

Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with Ryan Henry and Ryan Johnston on the call. Pre-game coverage will start at 1 p.m. on 89.5 FM WSOU.

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Seton Hall Takes on the Blue Demons to Kick Off the Big East Tournament