The Seton Hall University Pirates welcome the Villanova Wildcats into the Prudential Center on Saturday afternoon in a battle of Big East rivals. The #The 15th ranked Pirates are coming off a tough loss to Providence to open Big East play. They bring a 9-2 record into this matchup but will be short handed as they battle Covid within the program. The absence of Ike Obiagu and Tyrese Samuel will be something that Seton Hall needs to overcome to prevail this afternoon. The Pirates are expected to only have eight players ready for today based on the protocols.
The #The 22nd ranked Villanova Wildcats come into the game at 8-4 off a victory against Xavier. The Wildcats are led by Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels. Coach Jay Wright’s team will be missing one of their top guards, Caleb Daniels, who is also out based on Covid Protocols. “We’re being extra careful with him,” Wright said, “He’s fine, he doesn’t really have any symptoms but our medical people are being extra cautious so I can’t tell you when we get him back.”
How to watch Seton Hall vs.Villanova
Time: 2:00 ET
TV: CBS
Watch Online: CBS.Com
Since the reconfigured Big East launched this rivalry has been one of the top in the conference. The two schools have a strong respect for each other and have played in some very memorable matchups in the past. The nationwide audience on CBS will be in for a competitive matchup between two top teams.
Seton Hall is led by Jared Rhoden, Myles Cale, and Alexis Yetna. They will look for a bounce-back performance from Jared Rhoden to lead them to a victory. Yetna will be one of the keys for Seton Hall as they will be without two of their top big men. If Yetna and Trey Jackson can step up for Obiagu and Thomas the Pirates can prevail.
Additional Notes- The Pirates are 6-0 to start the season at the Prudential Center. Villanova leads the all-time series 79-43. This will be Villanova’s sixth game this season against a Top-25 team. They are 2-3 in those games to start the year. Seton Hall is expecting a large crowd for this New Year’s Day match-up