The 13th ranked Seton Hall Pi- rates now have an overall record of 20-7, including 12-3 in the Big East, with only three games left in conference play before the chaos of March ensues.
The Pirates have experienced plenty of ups and downs throughout this season. From the early season struggles in non-conference play, injuries to key players, to the great wins over top ranked Mary- land and Villanova this season, and to the recent No. 10 ranking on the AP Top 25 rankings few weeks ago, the Pirates look to add more good accolades in the very near future.
The Pirates are a strong team, but if they want to achieve their goal to go on a deep NCAA Tournament run this upcoming March, the need to be complete enough that they will have other players bring in strong contributions outside of Myles Powell.
The Pirates have had good performances from senior players such as Quincy McKnight and Romaro Gill throughout the year, along with improvements from sophomore forward Jared Rhoden, who has become a reliable option for the Pirates averaging 9.2 points per game.
The one player that will be key to the Pirates performing well in big games is the 6-foot-11 forward Sandro Mamukelashvili. Mamukelashvili, who missed 10 games after enduring a hard fall against Iowa State in December, has been the Pirates third leading scorer with 10.9 points per game, which is also his career high in points per game as well. He has proven to be an important floor spacing big, shooting around 37% from deep on 2.5 attempts a game.
Mamukelashvili does not need to be Powell in order to make this team stronger, but he must be a consistent offensive weapon down the stretch. During the games he has played in which the Pirates have won, he has averaged around 12.4 points per game. His three- point shooting has also been very elite when the Pirates win with him playing. Up until his injury, Mamukelashvili shot around 45% from behind the arc. During the Feb. 8 match against Villanova, Mamukelashvili shot 3-for-5 from deep which helped the Pirates pull the biggest win of Big East play this season.
Along with his offensive input, the Pirates have also been successful when he has provided his defensive effort. For most games where Mamukelashvili has played and the Pirates have won, he usu- ally gets around one to two blocks per game. If Mamukelashvili can give the Pirates this sort of production for the rest of the season, especially against the upcoming matchups against Villanova, the Big East Tournament, and in the NCAA tournament, he can be the hidden key for the Pirates to achieve their prized ambitions in the following weeks ahead.
Ryan Beltran can be reached at Ryan.Beltran@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @RyanB591011.
