Seton Hall, Marquette meet in Big East semis
Seton Hall (19-12, 10-9) vs. Marquette (24-8, 13-6)
Big East Conference Tourney Semifinals, Madison Square Garden, New York; Friday, 8 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the Big East championship game is up for grabs as Seton Hall and Marquette are set to do battle. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last played each other on March 6, when the Pirates outshot Marquette from the field 43.3 percent to 38.7 percent and hit 10 more free throws en route to the 73-64 victory.
SENIOR STUDS: Seton Hall's Myles Powell, Quincy McKnight and Michael Nzei have combined to account for 56 percent of the team's scoring this season, including 92 percent of all Pirates points over the last five games.
FUELING THE OFFENSE: Powell has either made or assisted on 54 percent of all Seton Hall field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 27 field goals and 13 assists in those games.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Pirates have recently converted buckets via assists more often than the Golden Eagles. Marquette has an assist on 43 of 76 field goals (56.6 percent) across its previous three games while Seton Hall has assists on 47 of 74 field goals (63.5 percent) during its past three games.
STIFLING DEFENSE: Seton Hall has held opposing teams to 42.9 percent shooting, the lowest percentage among all Big East teams.
