Florida A&M @ Seton Hall preview

Seton Hall nearly knocked off No. 3 Michigan State last week but didn't let that disappointment snowball and bounced right back by crushing Saint Louis. The 13th-ranked Pirates will try to make it back-to-back victories when they host Florida A&M on Saturday.

Seton Hall features one of the best players in the country in senior guard Myles Powell, who is averaging 22.5 points despite one game in which he failed to score in four minutes before leaving with an ankle injury. Powell returned with 37 points in the loss to Michigan State and poured in 26 in the 83-66 triumph over Saint Louis, helping to reestablish the Pirates as players on the national scene this season. "We knew that this game was important," Powell told reporters after the win. "We feel like we should've won (against Michigan State) and we wanted to send a message across the country that we're for real and that the team that they saw on Thursday could play with anybody in the country. We wanted to come out here and show we're for real." The Rattlers are still looking for their first win but pushed South Dakota to the buzzer in an 85-82 setback on Monday.

TV: Noon, ET, Fox Sports 2

ABOUT FLORIDA A&M (0-4): Rattlers senior guard Rod Melton Jr. scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting against South Dakota after totaling 17 points on 5-of-30 shooting in the first three games. Slightly more consistent is fellow guard MJ Randolph, who struggled in the first two games but averaged 14 points on 8-of-9 shooting over the last two contests. Florida A&M will play its next nine games on the road, including stops at Power Five schools Kansas State, Tennessee, Washington State and Iowa State.

ABOUT SETON HALL (3-1): The Pirates are Powell's team but depend on a deep roster that includes junior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili. The Georgia native scored 17 points against Saint Louis and is averaging 13.5 to go with six rebounds, and went a combined 4-of-10 from 3-point range over the last three games to help extend opposing defenses. Mamukelashvili is able to drift away from the basket thanks to the presence of 7-2 center Romaro Gill, who totaled nine blocked shots in the last two games.

TIP-INS

1. Powell needs 36 points to tie Walter Dukes (1,789) for 10th on Seton Hall's all-time scoring list.

2. Rattlers F Bryce Moragne leads the team in field goal percentage at 60 percent.

3. The Pirates head out for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament next week, where they will face No. 11 Oregon and could run into No. 8 Gonzaga.

PREDICTION: Pirates 91, Rattlers 73