Some thoughts and observations from Seton Hall’s thrilling 82-79 come-from-behind victory over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon, the 18th-ranked Pirates’ eighth consecutive victory, The Hall’s longest such streak since it won eight in a row from Nov. 22 to Dec. 23, 2011.
Party like it’s 1999
Well, that’s what Seton Hall was (not quite) doing at halftime, with Myles Powell stuck on 1,999 points after being limited to six first-half points. But he got it going in the second half, finishing with 29 on the day to give the senior guard from Trenton 2,022 for his illustrious career. There appeared to be a brief tussle for the game ball between Powell and a St. John’s staffer, and, no, the milestone was not announced in the arena. No matter. Powell got the ball back and the Pirates got the victory. Powell’s 3-for-5 from beyond the arc marked the first time post-concussion that he shot better than 35.7 percent from long distance.
It was a trey by Powell with 7:36 to go that put The Hall ahead for the first time all day, 64-61, and a driving layup with 28.8 seconds left gave the Pirates some precious breathing room, 78-75. “At the end of the day, all that matters is the W,” Powell said. “(I’m) blessed to be in this situation.”
“It means I got a lot of wins,” a smiling Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said of Powell’s milestone.
Points added because a point was made
Twice early in the second half, Myles Cale drained what looked like three-pointers, even from my vantage point on the other side of the court. The Seton Hall support staff felt the same way, and argued the point. So at the 15:22 mark, the first media timeout of the half, two more points magically appeared on the scoreboard for Seton Hall, cutting the deficit from 51-45 to 51-47 at the time. Obviously, those two points eventually loomed large.
Give the officials credit for going to the monitor and eventually correcting their mistake.
Taking better care of the ball
The biggest difference between the two halves was the fact the Pirates did a better job of valuing the ball and thus valuing their possessions in the final 20 minutes. Seton Hall had only four turnovers in the final half after committing 15 in the first half, as the Pirates had all sorts of problems with the Johnnies’ quick hands and pressure defense. Quincy McKnight, who had only 11 turnovers in the previous seven games, was charged with five in the first half alone.
But he had none after halftime, and without Seton Hall’s miscues fueling its offense, St. John’s stalled in the halfcourt.
Seton Hall fans deserve a hand
Crowd estimator extraordinaire Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press believes approximately 3,000 Seton Hall fans were part of the announced attendance of 10,428, and they certainly made their presence felt as the second-half comeback was taking place. In fact, at one point late in the game, a very loud “Let’s go, Pirates’ chant broke out, and although the St. John’s fans certainly were into the game, they could not quite muster up enough noise to drown out that of their rival. The Garden mix-master had to resort to a video message from one of the St. John’s players exhorting the crowd to get loud. This is the better venue for this rivalry, but Carnesecca Arena in Queens would provide the Red Storm with much more of a home-court advantage.
What’s next
Already 6-0 and a perfect 4-0 on the Big East road, Seton Hall (14-4 overall) begins a three-game home-stand against Providence on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., followed by games against DePaul on Jan. 29 and Xavier on Feb. 1. It will be The Hall’s first meeting against the Friars this season, but both DePaul and Xavier will be seeking revenge for home losses. DePaul notched its first conference win of the season Saturday by upending Butler. Willard said that forward Sandro Mamukelashvili might be available for that game.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
Party like it’s 1999
Well, that’s what Seton Hall was (not quite) doing at halftime, with Myles Powell stuck on 1,999 points after being limited to six first-half points. But he got it going in the second half, finishing with 29 on the day to give the senior guard from Trenton 2,022 for his illustrious career. There appeared to be a brief tussle for the game ball between Powell and a St. John’s staffer, and, no, the milestone was not announced in the arena. No matter. Powell got the ball back and the Pirates got the victory. Powell’s 3-for-5 from beyond the arc marked the first time post-concussion that he shot better than 35.7 percent from long distance.
It was a trey by Powell with 7:36 to go that put The Hall ahead for the first time all day, 64-61, and a driving layup with 28.8 seconds left gave the Pirates some precious breathing room, 78-75. “At the end of the day, all that matters is the W,” Powell said. “(I’m) blessed to be in this situation.”
“It means I got a lot of wins,” a smiling Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said of Powell’s milestone.
Points added because a point was made
Twice early in the second half, Myles Cale drained what looked like three-pointers, even from my vantage point on the other side of the court. The Seton Hall support staff felt the same way, and argued the point. So at the 15:22 mark, the first media timeout of the half, two more points magically appeared on the scoreboard for Seton Hall, cutting the deficit from 51-45 to 51-47 at the time. Obviously, those two points eventually loomed large.
Give the officials credit for going to the monitor and eventually correcting their mistake.
Taking better care of the ball
The biggest difference between the two halves was the fact the Pirates did a better job of valuing the ball and thus valuing their possessions in the final 20 minutes. Seton Hall had only four turnovers in the final half after committing 15 in the first half, as the Pirates had all sorts of problems with the Johnnies’ quick hands and pressure defense. Quincy McKnight, who had only 11 turnovers in the previous seven games, was charged with five in the first half alone.
But he had none after halftime, and without Seton Hall’s miscues fueling its offense, St. John’s stalled in the halfcourt.
Seton Hall fans deserve a hand
Crowd estimator extraordinaire Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press believes approximately 3,000 Seton Hall fans were part of the announced attendance of 10,428, and they certainly made their presence felt as the second-half comeback was taking place. In fact, at one point late in the game, a very loud “Let’s go, Pirates’ chant broke out, and although the St. John’s fans certainly were into the game, they could not quite muster up enough noise to drown out that of their rival. The Garden mix-master had to resort to a video message from one of the St. John’s players exhorting the crowd to get loud. This is the better venue for this rivalry, but Carnesecca Arena in Queens would provide the Red Storm with much more of a home-court advantage.
What’s next
Already 6-0 and a perfect 4-0 on the Big East road, Seton Hall (14-4 overall) begins a three-game home-stand against Providence on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., followed by games against DePaul on Jan. 29 and Xavier on Feb. 1. It will be The Hall’s first meeting against the Friars this season, but both DePaul and Xavier will be seeking revenge for home losses. DePaul notched its first conference win of the season Saturday by upending Butler. Willard said that forward Sandro Mamukelashvili might be available for that game.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
