College Hoops Picks Jan. 29, 2009: Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Seton Hall Pirates

Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ Seton Hall Pirates
Thursday, Jan. 29—9:00 PM EST

Preview

Seton Hall (1-6, 10-9) is coming off their first Big East win of the season after upsetting Georgetown last Saturday. This is the second time this season Seton Hall has upset a ranked team, the first coming in November when they upset a then-ranked USC team.

Rutgers (0-7, 9-11) is one of the two winless in conference play Big East teams remaining. They have had a very tough schedule recently, but they have fallen short against their weaker opponents (they lost to St. John's by 11, Cincinnati by 12). The good news is that after they face Seton Hall, they take on the other winless Big East team (DePaul) before traveling to DC to take on Georgetown and then facing Seton Hall for the rematch of Thursday's game.

The Pirates have a favorable schedule coming up—they face Rutgers twice in their next three games, and in the middle take on St. John's. They could very well be in the middle of the Big East pack after this stretch if they can muster up wins in all three games.

The key to Seton Hall's success is Jeremy Hazell—the Pirates sophomore guard averaging 22.7 points per game and is shooting .341 from beyond the arc.

Stats

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Rutgers	9-11	0-7	7-7	149	61	65.5	66.7
Seton Hall	10-9	1-6	7-5	115	47	76.4	74.4

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Rutgers	42.7	41.8	28.9	28.4	72.3	39.1	5.9	11.1	15.1
Seton Hall	44.1	43.5	30.2	32.6	73.0	37.9	8.8	12.6	12.5

Prediction

Current Line: Seton Hall -8.0

Rutgers ATS: 7-7, 5-5 when underdog
Seton Hall ATS: 7-5, 2-2 when favored

The Pirates are averaging almost 11 more points per game than the Scarlet Knights, but are also allowing almost nine more points than Rutgers averages offensively. The Scarlet Knights have scored 59 points in each of their last three games while losing by 12, 19, and 11 points in each of the games. Had Rutgers actually scored in the last three minutes of the St. John's game, though, it would have been much closer.

Mike Rosario, the Scarlet Knight's freshman guard, should continue to find his stride. As he becomes more comfortable at the college level, Rutgers should begin to find some success.

Pick: Rutgers +8.0

*All statistics for this article have come from StatSheet.com*

*This article is also featured on CFBPlace.com—and soon to be featured on CBBPlace.com*