Creighton @ Seton Hall preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 17, 2019 ) Seton Hall 81, Creighton 75

Seton Hall continues to rack up a bunch of firsts as it heads into the homestretch of the regular season, beginning with Wednesday's Big East showdown against visiting Creighton. The 10th-ranked Pirates, who have won two straight and four of the last five games against the No. 21 Bluejays, won at No. 16 Villanova for the first time since 1994, giving them their first 10-1 start in conference.

The win at Villanova, which broke a streak of 17 straight defeats there, also gives the Pirates their first 6-0 start in Big East road games, but there is plenty of work to do with five games remaining against teams ranked in the Top 25, including a rematch with Villanova on March 4 and another with Creighton on March 7. Myles Powell led the way against the Wildcats, scoring 19 points while passing Jeremy Hazell (2007-11) to become the school's all-time leading in 3-pointers (330). "I thought those (non-conference) games really prepared us for an unbelievable atmosphere like it was at Villanova and also a tremendous basketball team," Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard told the media. "I'm going to let these guys enjoy the win, but I think Creighton's as good as anybody in the conference so we have to get ready for a team that plays at a different pace and a different style." The Bluejays and sophomore guard Marcus Zegarowski rebounded from a poor effort at Providence by scoring 94 points, their most points in the Big East contest this season, in a home win Saturday over St. John's.

TIME: 6:30 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT CREIGHTON (18-6, 7-4 Big East): Mitch Ballock is closing in on a milestone and a record for the Bluejays, who haven't won at Seton Hall since 2016. The junior is 64 points shy of reaching 1,000 career points and needs eight 3-pointers to pass Tad Ackerman (82) for the most by a junior in school history. Ballock has made a 3-pointer in 23 consecutive games, the sixth longest streak in school history and 10 games fewer than teammate and leader Ty-Shon Alexander, and Creighton is 10-0 this season when he makes four or more triples, including wins at Villanova, DePaul and Xavier in Big East play and at Arizona State.

ABOUT SETON HALL (18-5, 10-1): With the return of Sandro Mamukelashvili to full health, Jared Rhoden went back to a reserve role against Villanova, but that didn't stop him from producing. The sophomore guard had nine points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes against the Wildcats and is averages 10.7 points and seven rebounds in Big East games. Rhoden is shooting a robust 51.3 percent from the field and 45.2 percent from the 3-point line in league games, both well above from his overall rates for the Pirates, who are eighth in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency (89.3) according to Kenpom, which could come in handy when facing a Creighton squad that is sixth nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency (116.9).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Powell, who has 2,122 career points, needs 25 points to also pass Hazell for third on the school's all-time scoring list before he can set his sights on Nick Werkman (2,273) and Terry Dehere (2,494).

2. The Bluejays have five road wins against Top 25 teams since 2016-17, a number topped by only Duke and Virginia, who have eight apiece.

3. Creighton is 6-12 as a ranked team when facing a like club, and have dropped four straight games in that scenario.

PREDICTION: Seton Hall 76, Creighton 71