Seton Hall Primed for Revenge Against Creighton

The Seton Hall Pirates’ three-week wait for revenge is over as they face No. 17 Creighton in a marquee Big East showdown Wednesday night at Prudential Center. The Bluejays (11-4 SU, 6-9 ATS) handed the visiting Pirates (9-6 SU, 10-5 ATS) an ugly 89-53 loss to gain the upper hand in the race for second place in the conference – but oddsmakers see this one as a near toss-up.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Creighton comes in as a 1.5-point favorite, a 4.5-point drop from their previous meeting back on January 6. The total has held steady at 147.5, one point lower than their last encounter.

Creighton News & Notes

The Bluejays have a little momentum coming into the rematch, bouncing back nicely from narrow losses to Butler and Providence with a 74-66 triumph over No. 23 Connecticut last time out.

The Creighton offense hasn’t quite rebounded, though, having averaged just 70 points over the past three games to drive its 2020-21 season average down to 80.6 – still good for 41st overall in the nation.

With the Pirates expected to provide a much greater challenge Wednesday than they did three weeks ago, the pressure will be squarely on the shoulders of Creighton scoring leader Denzel Mahoney to continue his recent success. Mahoney (15.4 ppg) has scored 20 or more points in three of the last four games, including a 20-point showing in that win over the Huskies.

Seton Hall News & Notes

The Pirates have been largely inactive since their January 6 drubbing, having played just twice since. They looked good in both of those contests, earning an eight-point road win over DePaul before coming up just short in a 76-74 loss to No. 3 Villanova. Most importantly, they shot north of 52 percent in both games after connecting at just a 33.3 percent clip against the Bluejays.

Team scoring leader Sandro Mamukelashvili (18.4 ppg) fared well in that game with 14 points, but he’s going to need a lot more help: Only one other player scored in double figures, while Mamukelashvili accounted for nearly 30 percent of the team’s 17 total field goals in the game. Look for more out of guard Jared Rhoden (15.8 ppg), who shot just 2-for-7 against Creighton last time out.

Betting Pick: Seton Hall +1.5 (-110)

Sometimes, good teams have bad games – and that certainly appears to have been the case in the first meeting between the teams. Look for a well-rested Seton Hall team to rebound at home and give Creighton a lot more trouble this time around.