For the third time in the last four years, Seton Hall will be in the semifinals of the Big East tournament. And this was by far the Pirates’ easiest quarterfinal win over that span, as they eased past sixth-seeded Georgetown, 73-57 late Thursday night. But the win wasn’t without drama, at least of the medical kind.
Myles Powell scored 31 points, including a tournament-record 29 in the first half, but limped awkwardly off the court after being hit in the thigh on a drive. But he eventually returned to the bench and insisted he was fine in numerous post-game interviews, and that he merely had tweaked a foot.
Here are the takeaways:
Shredded Cheese? As noted, Powell seemed fine after the game. He didn’t have a noticeable limp and his feet were not swollen. Of course, he still will need to receive plenty of treatment so that the foot doesn’t stiffen up. I’m sure some people will say, with the NCAA tournament now apparently a cinch for The Hall (19-12), he should sit out tonight’s semifinal against Marquette and not risk aggravating the injury. But that is not how competitors, especially those as intense as Myles Powell, think. If he feels well enough, it figures he will be out there. But coach Kevin Willard needs to monitor him even more than he usually does.
Seton Hall came out focused. With the roller-coaster ride this young team has had, it was valid to wonder how the Pirates would play after a pair of satisfying victories in the final week of the regular season. As it turned out, The Hall played an almost perfect first half. The Pirates shot a blistering 58.1 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent from three-point range on their way to a 53-28 lead. Ten Georgetown turnovers led to 20 Seton Hall points and the Pirates had eight assists and only three turnovers. Powell was an incredible 10-for-14 from the field and 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. Powell said he didn’t know his 29 first-half points were a tournament record, and said, “It’s truly an honor and a blessing from The Man above.”
The second half was a different story. The Pirates stumbled to a woeful 23.3 shooting percentage and were fortunate that Georgetown’s miscues and poor shooting kept the Hoyas from getting closer than 14 points. Willard, of course, wanted to work the clock with the big lead, but The Hall lost its aggressiveness. “Coach said to slow it down, but we took it as "SLOW IT DOWN", said Sandro Mamulekashvili, trying to explain the lethargic offense. “We started to think too much. … I feel like we still had some good looks, but we missed them.”
Marquette poses a big challenge. If Powell is healthy, it figures to be quite a scoring duel between him and Big East player of the year Markus Howard. Powell made it clear after the game he likes and respects Howard, but he also made it clear that not being named Big East POY gave him some extra motivation going into Thursday’s quarterfinal game.
Howard, who had been held in check by St. John’s in the Red Storm’s two wins over the Golden Eagles this season, flipped the script in Thursday night’s early quarterfinal with a game-high 30 points. He shot 8-for-15 from the floor after going 7-for-32 in the two prior meetings. Like Powell, Howard can get to the rim and also can score from three. And he was 11-for-11 from the foul line Thursday. Look for Quincy McKnight again to be matched up on him.
Looking at the other semifinal. The most intriguing thing about the Xavier-Villanova matchup is that Xavier is the only team left in the Big East field that isn’t safely in next week’s NCAA field. So the Musketeers, whose defense turned a nine-point first-half deficit against a desperate Creighton team (which now probably finds itself on the outside of the NCAAs looking in) into a seven-point halftime lead, will have to beat the defending national champions and the Marquette-Seton Hall winner to gain the automatic bid. That is their only way into The Dance. It won’t be easy. As noted in this space before, Jay Wright and his team take this event quite seriously, and never give the impression they are playing with house money. The Wildcats turned up the intensity when Providence tied Thursday's game in the second half.
COMMENTS?
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
Myles Powell scored 31 points, including a tournament-record 29 in the first half, but limped awkwardly off the court after being hit in the thigh on a drive. But he eventually returned to the bench and insisted he was fine in numerous post-game interviews, and that he merely had tweaked a foot.
Here are the takeaways:
Shredded Cheese? As noted, Powell seemed fine after the game. He didn’t have a noticeable limp and his feet were not swollen. Of course, he still will need to receive plenty of treatment so that the foot doesn’t stiffen up. I’m sure some people will say, with the NCAA tournament now apparently a cinch for The Hall (19-12), he should sit out tonight’s semifinal against Marquette and not risk aggravating the injury. But that is not how competitors, especially those as intense as Myles Powell, think. If he feels well enough, it figures he will be out there. But coach Kevin Willard needs to monitor him even more than he usually does.
Seton Hall came out focused. With the roller-coaster ride this young team has had, it was valid to wonder how the Pirates would play after a pair of satisfying victories in the final week of the regular season. As it turned out, The Hall played an almost perfect first half. The Pirates shot a blistering 58.1 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent from three-point range on their way to a 53-28 lead. Ten Georgetown turnovers led to 20 Seton Hall points and the Pirates had eight assists and only three turnovers. Powell was an incredible 10-for-14 from the field and 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. Powell said he didn’t know his 29 first-half points were a tournament record, and said, “It’s truly an honor and a blessing from The Man above.”
The second half was a different story. The Pirates stumbled to a woeful 23.3 shooting percentage and were fortunate that Georgetown’s miscues and poor shooting kept the Hoyas from getting closer than 14 points. Willard, of course, wanted to work the clock with the big lead, but The Hall lost its aggressiveness. “Coach said to slow it down, but we took it as "SLOW IT DOWN", said Sandro Mamulekashvili, trying to explain the lethargic offense. “We started to think too much. … I feel like we still had some good looks, but we missed them.”
Marquette poses a big challenge. If Powell is healthy, it figures to be quite a scoring duel between him and Big East player of the year Markus Howard. Powell made it clear after the game he likes and respects Howard, but he also made it clear that not being named Big East POY gave him some extra motivation going into Thursday’s quarterfinal game.
Howard, who had been held in check by St. John’s in the Red Storm’s two wins over the Golden Eagles this season, flipped the script in Thursday night’s early quarterfinal with a game-high 30 points. He shot 8-for-15 from the floor after going 7-for-32 in the two prior meetings. Like Powell, Howard can get to the rim and also can score from three. And he was 11-for-11 from the foul line Thursday. Look for Quincy McKnight again to be matched up on him.
Looking at the other semifinal. The most intriguing thing about the Xavier-Villanova matchup is that Xavier is the only team left in the Big East field that isn’t safely in next week’s NCAA field. So the Musketeers, whose defense turned a nine-point first-half deficit against a desperate Creighton team (which now probably finds itself on the outside of the NCAAs looking in) into a seven-point halftime lead, will have to beat the defending national champions and the Marquette-Seton Hall winner to gain the automatic bid. That is their only way into The Dance. It won’t be easy. As noted in this space before, Jay Wright and his team take this event quite seriously, and never give the impression they are playing with house money. The Wildcats turned up the intensity when Providence tied Thursday's game in the second half.
COMMENTS?
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
