by JP Pelman
PISCATAWAY – An already bad week got even worse for Seton Hall on Saturday with a scary injury to one of the top players in the country.
Myles Powell sat out the second half of a 68-48 blowout loss to Rutgers at the RAC after suffering a concussion in the first half because of two significant blows to the head and could miss multiple games. Coach Kevin Willard said after the game that Powell has a “pretty bad concussion” and has been placed in the concussion protocol.
Powell hit the back of his head on the floor of the RAC while taking a charge from Montez Mathis 2:24 into the game. Later in the half, he bumped heads with teammate Tyrese Samuel. Willard said.
Willard removed Powell from the game during the under-4 minute timeout.
Willard recalled, “He asked me, ‘why are we practicing at Rutgers?’ I kinda looked at him because I was wondering what the heck he was doing out there. … With a concussion, you’ve really got to be careful.”
Willard added, “Luckily, he’s starting to come through it a little bit right now, so we’ll watch him overnight.”
Powell’s concussion occurred six days after Seton Hall’s second-leading scorer, power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, suffered a fractured right wrist in a loss at Iowa State. So now the Pirates’ top two scorers could be on the shelf for awhile.
Mamukelashvili’s absence was noticeable against the Scarlet Knights, as fill-in starter Jared Rhoden and Tyrese Samuel totaled 3-for-13 shooting and nine points at the 4 spot. Powell had six points in 15 first-half minutes, and The Hall managed only 11 points in the first 11 minutes of the second half without him.
Rutgers scored the first 14 points and led 26-5 as an overflow crowd of 8,329 made its presence felt from the jump.
“I didn’t do a very good job getting these guys ready for this atmosphere,” Willard said.“
They kind of had us back on our heels a little bit to start the game,” said Quincy McKnight, who had a team-high 11 points. “Coming out of halftime without Myles it became tough for us. … They threw the first punch and had us on our heels the whole game.”
McKnight indicated it was scary to see Powell in distress.
“We came down and I called out a play and he kind of just looked at me. He was holding his face.”
Soon afterward, Powell was subbed out for good. “He was out of it a little bit,” McKnight said.
Seton Hall, which was ranked 22nd, certainly will fall out of the Associated Press poll. But will the Pirates fall out of the national consciousness, too? The Maryland game suddenly looms as the last chance to get an attention-grabbing non-conference win, and SHU must do it short-handed.
“I still have the same amount of confidence in this team,” Willard said.
McKnight agreed, saying, “Everybody’s still confident. Everybody’s still going to come out and play their game and play hard for Coach and for the name on the front of our jerseys.”
But Willard, McKnight and everyone else now must find a way not only to compensate for the loss of Mamukelashvili, but also the sixth leading scorer in the nation, starting Thursday in Newark versus the No 4 Terripins. Maryland will slip in the polls after a loss at Penn State earlier in the week.
PISCATAWAY – An already bad week got even worse for Seton Hall on Saturday with a scary injury to one of the top players in the country.
Myles Powell sat out the second half of a 68-48 blowout loss to Rutgers at the RAC after suffering a concussion in the first half because of two significant blows to the head and could miss multiple games. Coach Kevin Willard said after the game that Powell has a “pretty bad concussion” and has been placed in the concussion protocol.
Powell hit the back of his head on the floor of the RAC while taking a charge from Montez Mathis 2:24 into the game. Later in the half, he bumped heads with teammate Tyrese Samuel. Willard said.
Willard removed Powell from the game during the under-4 minute timeout.
Willard recalled, “He asked me, ‘why are we practicing at Rutgers?’ I kinda looked at him because I was wondering what the heck he was doing out there. … With a concussion, you’ve really got to be careful.”
Willard added, “Luckily, he’s starting to come through it a little bit right now, so we’ll watch him overnight.”
Powell’s concussion occurred six days after Seton Hall’s second-leading scorer, power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, suffered a fractured right wrist in a loss at Iowa State. So now the Pirates’ top two scorers could be on the shelf for awhile.
Mamukelashvili’s absence was noticeable against the Scarlet Knights, as fill-in starter Jared Rhoden and Tyrese Samuel totaled 3-for-13 shooting and nine points at the 4 spot. Powell had six points in 15 first-half minutes, and The Hall managed only 11 points in the first 11 minutes of the second half without him.
Rutgers scored the first 14 points and led 26-5 as an overflow crowd of 8,329 made its presence felt from the jump.
“I didn’t do a very good job getting these guys ready for this atmosphere,” Willard said.“
They kind of had us back on our heels a little bit to start the game,” said Quincy McKnight, who had a team-high 11 points. “Coming out of halftime without Myles it became tough for us. … They threw the first punch and had us on our heels the whole game.”
McKnight indicated it was scary to see Powell in distress.
“We came down and I called out a play and he kind of just looked at me. He was holding his face.”
Soon afterward, Powell was subbed out for good. “He was out of it a little bit,” McKnight said.
Seton Hall, which was ranked 22nd, certainly will fall out of the Associated Press poll. But will the Pirates fall out of the national consciousness, too? The Maryland game suddenly looms as the last chance to get an attention-grabbing non-conference win, and SHU must do it short-handed.
“I still have the same amount of confidence in this team,” Willard said.
McKnight agreed, saying, “Everybody’s still confident. Everybody’s still going to come out and play their game and play hard for Coach and for the name on the front of our jerseys.”
But Willard, McKnight and everyone else now must find a way not only to compensate for the loss of Mamukelashvili, but also the sixth leading scorer in the nation, starting Thursday in Newark versus the No 4 Terripins. Maryland will slip in the polls after a loss at Penn State earlier in the week.
