Powell Scores 30 in Defeat to No. 4 Xavier

Wednesday, February 14

Cincinnati, Ohio

9 p.m.

Seton Hall University

17-9, 6-7BE

102

Xavier

24-3, 12-2BE

Seton Hall

Xavier

102

2/15/2018 12:16:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX (PDF)

CINCINNATI - Sophomore Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) scored a career-high 30 points, but the Seton Hall men's basketball team was overwhelmed by No. 4 Xavier's three-point shooting as the Musketeers made 14 of 29 shots from behind the arc to earn a 102-90 win over the Pirates Wednesday night at Cintas Center.

Seton Hall (17-9, 6-7 BIG EAST) was resilient the entire game, scoring 65 second-half points, easily the most in a half this season, to whittle a 25-point deficit down to six. Powell had 24 of the 65 second-half points himself.

Freshman Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) also had a breakout game with a career-high 17 points, and senior Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) had 20 points.

Trevor Bluiett led the charge for the Musketeers (24-3, 12-2 BIG EAST) with 37 points.

Turning Point
Xavier's three-point shooting hurt the Pirates early as Bluiett couldn't miss. He dropped five triples in the first half, and Xavier as a team made nine as it built a 45-25 lead going into halftime.

The Pirates came out in the second half and fought back. A 32-16 run mid second half brought the Pirates to within six as Mamukelashvili had 13 of the 32 points, and Powell delivered some huge buckets. A block by senior Ismael Sanogo (Newark, N.J.) led to a Powell three on the fast break. Then Mamukelashvili cleaned up a miss with a huge offensive rebound that turned into another Powell three to make it 87-81 with 3:41 to play.

The large deficit proved to be too large to overcome though. Coming out of the media timeout, Xavier connected on a layup, and the Pirates turned the ball over on consecutive possessions, leading to the Musketeers reclaiming a 10-point lead. Rodriguez got The Hall to within seven on a three-pointer at 2:10, but Xavier went 10-for-10 at the free throw line in the final minute to clinch it.

Inside the Numbers

Seton Hall shot 31-for-72 from the field (43.1 percent), including 23-for-42 in the second half (23-for-42). The Pirates were 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) from three and 17-for-19 (89.5 percent) from the free throw line.
Xavier shot 30-for-56 overall (53.6 percent), 14-for-29 from three (48.3 percent) and 28-for-35 (80 percent) at the line.
The Pirates out-rebounded Xavier, 33-30, and used 14 offensive rebounds to produce 23 second chance points.
The Pirates had 17 assists on their 31 field goals and only turned the ball over nine times.
Powell had a career-high 30 points, the first Pirate to reach 30 points in a game this season. He was 10-for-20 from the field, 5-for-12 from behind the arc and 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
Rodriguez recorded his 21st career 20-point game and 10th of the season as he delivered 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds.
Mamukelashvili had a career-high 17 points on 5-of-7 from the field, 1-for-1 from three and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots.
Freshman Jordan Walker (Port Washington, N.Y.) had a career-high five assists.

News & Notes

Despite the loss, The Hall still leads the all-time series over Xavier 10-8.
Delgado surpassed John Allen (2001-05) for 20th place all-time in scoring history and now has 1,471 points.

Up Next
Seton Hall is back at home Sunday afternoon when it hosts DePaul at Prudential Center at 1 p.m. FS1 will carry the national television broadcast with Dave Sims and Jim Spanarkel on the call. The dynamic duo of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the radio broadcast on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on Sirius 83, XM 83 and the Pirate Sports Network.

Sunday is Kids Day and the first 500 children can pick up a free growth chart at the Kids Zone, which will also feature face painting and temporary tattoos. The Sapphires are also hosting a youth clinic, and Pirates fans can sign their children up and purchase a ticket to the game online. Regular tickets are also available at Ticketmaster.com.