Seton Hall University
2-2
Grand Canyon
3-2
Powell Goes For 40 to Lead Pirates Past Grand Canyon
11/23/2018 12:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Powell's 40 point-performance is just the 15th in Seton Hall history. Harden, the reigning NBA MVP, had 40 while playing for Arizona State against UTEP in 2008. The overall record including overtime is 44 points, held by Jared Brownridge of Santa Clara in 2015.
Powell and the Pirates advance to the Wooden Legacy semifinals and will face either Hawai'i or Utah Friday night at 11:30 p.m., live on ESPN2 and AM970 The Answer.
Grand Canyon was led by Damari Milstead, who had 21 points off the bench.
Ice in them veins, @Myles_MBP_23. #MPFor3️⃣ #HALLin pic.twitter.com/zjFxmVYB9c
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) November 23, 2018
Turning Point
Seton Hall led for 36 of the 40 minutes in the game and had a 10-point lead, 63-53, with 9:10 remaining in the second half. But the Lopes used a flurry of three-pointers to stay within striking distance. With 2:07 remaining, Grand Canyon grabbed a one-point lead on Michael Finke's three-pointer, making it 73-72.
Powell drew a foul on the next possession and made one of two free throws to tie the game, but the Lopes quickly answered as Milstead made a bucket in the paint down low to make it 75-73.
With the clock ticking, junior Quincy McKnight (Bridgeport, Conn.) dished out to Powell on the perimeter, and the three-point sniper drilled the basket to give him 38 points and give the Pirates the advantage, 76-75.
Seton Hall then got a huge defensive stop on the other end, and McKnight got the rebound and was fouled by the Lopes as he was trying to push the ball up the court. Though Seton Hall struggled all night with free throws, McKnight calmly sank both shots to make it a three-point lead.
The Pirates again came up big, getting another stop on defense, and this time sophomore Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) came up with the rebound and sent a fast break pass to Powell, who made the layup to reach 40 points and put The Hall on top, 80-75, with 15 seconds remaining.
Then Powell made the play on the defensive side, cutting off a pass and finding Cale on the break, and the sophomore delivered the cake topper, dropping down a ferocious dunk to send Seton Hall to the seven-point win.
Inside the Numbers
- Seton Hall shot a whopping 62.2 percent for the game, making 28 of 45 field goal attempts. The Pirates were 50 percent from three at 6-for-12 and they were 60.6 percent at the free throw line (20-for-33).
- Grand Canyon shot 44.6 percent for the game, going 25-for-56. The Lopes made 11 three-pointers but it took them 30 shots to get there (36.7 percent), and they were 12-for-16 at the free throw line (75 percent).
- The Pirates out-rebounded the Lopes, 30-25, and out-scored them in the paint, 34-24.
- Seton Hall recovered from its assists issues to dish out 15 on 28 made field goals.
- Powell went 12-for-16 overall, 5-for-7 from three and 11-for-14 from the free throw line to account for his 40 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds, had four assists and had two steals in 38 minutes.
- Powell scored 21 of his 40 in the first half. It's the third time in his career he's scored at least 20 in a half, though the first two times were second-half performances. He's the first Pirate to drop 20 in a first half since Desi Rodriguez did it against DePaul in January 2017.
- Sophomore Taurean Thompson (New York, N.Y.) had a nice night off the bench with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and he had two blocked shots. He had eight of the 12 points in an important second half performance.
- Cale set a new career high with five assists to go with his eight points.
- McKnight had 11 points, four assists, five rebounds and two steals in another terrific night for him.
News & Notes
- Powell joins an elite group of Pirates. Here are the all-time 40-point performances in Seton Hall history:
- 1. 52 Nick Werkman vs. Scranton, 1/29/64
2. 49 Nick Werkman vs. St. Peter's, 1/22/62
3. 48 Nick Galis vs. Santa Clara, 12/22/78
4. 47 Dawan Scott vs. Cal-Bakersfield, 12/20/77
5. 47 Les Fries vs. Brown, 12/22/21
6. 42 Nick Werkman vs. St. Francis (PA), 2/16/63
7. 42 Nick Galis vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, 2/24/79
8. 41 Khadeen Carrington vs. Creighton, 2/15/17
41 Jeremy Hazell vs. West Virginia, 12/26/09
41 Terry Dehere vs. St. John's, 2/17/93
41 Marco Lokar vs. Pittsburgh, 2/20/90
41 Walter Dukes vs. King's, 12/13/52
13. 40 Jamel Jackson vs. VMI, 12/12/09
40 Sterling Gibbs vs. Illinois State, 11/24/14
40 Myles Powell vs. Grand Canyon, 11/22/18
- 1. 52 Nick Werkman vs. Scranton, 1/29/64
- This was the first all-time meeting ever between Seton Hall and Grand Canyon.
- The Pirates advanced to the semifinals of an eight-team tournament for the first time since winning the Paradise Jam in 2014 and fourth time under head coach Kevin Willard. The 2010 Pirates went to the semifinals of the Paradise Jam but finished third, and the 2011 Pirates went to the semifinals at the Charleston Classic and ultimately was the tournament runner-up.
- The Pirates are now 66-7 since the start of the 2015-16 season when leading by seven or more at any point in the contest.
- Powell surpassed Randy Duffin (1974-78) and Ty Shine (1998-02) to move into 44th place all-time in Seton Hall scoring history. Powell now has 989 career points and is poised to become the 44th Pirate to reach 1,000.
Up Next
Seton Hall will play for a spot in the Wooden Legacy title game Friday night against either Hawai'i or Utah at 11:30 p.m., Eastern live on ESPN2 and AM970 The Answer.
