The Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball program will look for their first statement win of the season Tuesday, as the Pirates host No. 8 Connecticut Huskies in a Big East Conference game (7 p.m. on SNY) at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The Pirates (12-2, 1-1 Big East) are searching for their first victory this season over a top 25 team, while UConn (12-1, 2-0) is trying to avoid a post-new year letdown.
On Friday, Seton Hall rebounded nicely from its Wednesday blowout loss, 75-49, to No. 1 Syracuse Orange with a solid 67-48 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Senior point guard Jordan Theodore tallied 18 points and eight assists, while sophomore forward Fuquan Edwin netted a team-best 19 points for the Pirates, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Mountaineers.
Entering Wednesday's contest, senior forward Herb Pope leads SHU in scoring (18.6 points per game) and rebounding (10.9 per game). However, the 6-foot-8, 236-pound forward has struggled in his first two conference games averaging just 8.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg.
Meanwhile, sophomore guard Jeremy Lamb is pacing the Huskies in scoring (18.9 ppg), while freshman center Andrew Drummond is averaging 10.0 ppg and is tops in rebounding (6.8 rpg).
UConn has earned seven straight victories since losing, 68-63, to the University of Central Florida, Nov. 25. On Saturday, the Huskies host Rutgers University at 8 p.m.
For more on the Seton hall Pirates, visit the SB Nation blog South Orange Juice, while The UConn Blog has everything on the Huskies.