Georgetown to challenge Seton Hall's home win streak (Jan 13, 2018)
As a Hall of Fame center, Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing can appreciate the exploits of No. 13 Seton Hall's Angel Delgado.
"He (Delgado) controls the backboards and when you can do that you're going to win a lot of games," said Ewing.
Georgetown (12-4, 2-3 Big East) will attempt to control Delgado when the Hoyas meet Seton Hall (14-3, 3-1) on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Delgado has grabbed at least one offensive rebound in 112 of 115 career games. His 4.5 offensive boards per game this season rank fourth in the country.
Overall, Delgado's 11.6 rebounds per game rank sixth in the nation. He has feasted against Georgetown. In six games against the Hoyas, Delgado is averaging 14.3 points and 13.7 rebounds, and he is shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 72.0 percent from the free-throw line.
Delgado's ability to distribute the ball and find the open man has been an important aspect of his game, and has allowed the Pirates' offense to click. He is averaging 3.1 assists per game this season, the most among non-guards in the Big East and tied for 11th-best overall. During league play he has already had three games with five or more assists.
The Pirates are 10-0 at home this year and are seeking their 13th consecutive home victory at the Prudential Center.
Delgado notched his NCAA-leading 63rd career double-double, and Ismael Sanogo scored a career-high 14 points, but Seton Hall ran into a tough Marquette squad on the road that made 11 3-pointers in the Golden Eagles' 84-64 win on Tuesday night at BMO Harris Bradley Center. It was the Pirates' worse loss since a 92-70 decision at Villanova last February.
"No one is pitching a shutout in this league," said Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard. "It's just not happening. I would like to have played better. We battled back so well at Butler and did so many good things; we expended energy at Butler and we didn't have enough in the tank (to rally at Marquette). Butler-Marquette, that's a tough road swing.
"They (Marquette) got a lot of rebounds out of transition. We defended well for the first parts of possessions. But we let guys get free runs and get some big offensive rebounds and that didn't help. Those are killers. They're a good basketball team. If (Markus) Howard's not going but (Andrew) Rowsey gets going, you're going to be in for a tough night.
"They switched up looks on him (Delgado), kept him a little off balance. He had two or three passes out for open threes that we missed. It's not like he didn't pass; we didn't have the same crispness that we've had."
The Hoyas are led by junior center Jessie Govan, who averages 18.1 points and 11.8 rebounds. His rebounding average is tied for third in the country and leads the Big East. He has benefited from the tutelage of his coach.
"He's (Ewing) definitely shown me some stuff, showed me some tricks to get easy buckets," said Govan. "And how to defend better because he was a great defender, and that's something I'm trying to work on more this year, my defense.
"He's done a real good job with me. He's really taken me under his wing and he doesn't let me slack at all. So, I'm just taking it one game at a time and trying to get us victories."
