No. 12 Pirates Drop Nail-Biter to No. 3 MSU, Despite Powell's 37

Thursday, November 14

Newark, N.J.

8:30 p.m.

Seton Hall University

2-1,0-0Big East

Michigan State

2-1,0-0Big Ten

Michigan St.

Seton Hall

No. 12 Pirates Drop Nail-Biter to No. 3 MSU, Despite Powell's 37

11/14/2019 11:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score HOME BOX SCORE (PDF)GALLERY

NEWARK, N.J. – Senior Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) erupted for a season-high 37 points, but the No. 12 Seton Hall men's basketball team dropped a back-and-forth affair with No. 3 Michigan State, 76-73, before 14,051 raucous fans at Prudential Center Thursday night in a Gavitt Tip-Off Games matchup. The attendance was the third-highest for a Pirates game at The Rock and the highest ever for a weeknight game.

Powell did his scoring on 12-for-27 shooting, which included six three-pointers. The Associated Press Preseason All-American and BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year also had six rebounds and two assists.

Junior Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) added 12 points on the strength of three made three-pointers and pulled down four rebounds. Senior Romaro Gill (St. Thomas, Jamaica) had eight rebounds and five blocked shots.

Turning Point
In a back-and forth affair that featured nine ties and 14 lead changes, Michigan State took a 63-58 lead with 6:06 left in regulation on the strength of an 8-2 run. The Pirates then made a run of their own. A timely three-pointer by junior Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tsbili, Georgia) with 4:25 to play cut its deficit to just one point, 66-65. Then, with 3:30 to go, sophomore Anthony Nelson (New York, N.Y.) found Powell off a screen at the top of the key for another three-pointer, and The Hall claimed a 68-66 lead. On the next possession, Powell did it all by himself. With two Spartans in his face, he drilled a step-back three-pointer to put Seton Hall up five.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, the lead was short-lived. Michigan State drilled three-pointers on back-to-back possessions with under two minutes left to take a 72-71 advantage. Powell was fouled with 44 second left, and he made both free-throws to give the lead back to The Hall, 73-72.

After a timeout, Michigan State's Malik Hall scored a layup around senior Romaro Gill's (St. Thomas, Jamaica) out-stretched arm to put the Spartans back on top, 74-73 with 22 second remaining. The Pirates had two chances in the waning moments to answer, but couldn't find the equalizer.

Gallery: (11/15/2019) Men's Basketball vs. Michigan State

Inside the Numbers:

Seton Hall was 26-for-60 (43.3%) from the floor for the game, while Michigan State was 27-for-65 (41.5%). The Hall was 11-for-28 (39.3%) from three-point range, while the Spartans were 12-for-27 (44.4%).
The rebounding battle was close with Michigan State edging Seton Hall, 40-to-37. The Spartans had the advantage on offensive rebounds, 14-to-9, and second-chance points, 13-to-4.
Seton Hall was 10-for-15 (66.7%) from the free-throw line, while the Spartans were 10-for-17 (58.8%).
The Hall forced 14 Michigan State turnovers, while the Spartans forced 17 Pirate turnovers.
Powell had a season-high 37 points on 12-for-27 shooting, which included six three-pointers and 7-for-9 shooting from the free-throw line. He also had six rebounds and two assists. The 37 points are the second-most in his career.
Cale finished with 12 points and was 3-for-4 from beyond the three-point arc.
McKnight dished out six assists with only two turnovers.
Gill had a team-best eight rebounds to go with five blocked shots.

News & Notes:

The loss drops Seton Hall to 2-1 on the young season, while Michigan State improves to 2-1.
The Pirates drop to 0-4 all-time against Michigan State.
Seton Hall is now 128-60 all-time at the Prudential Center, including a 69-11 mark in non-conference games.
The Pirates drop to 2-2 against Big Ten teams in the annual Gavitt Tip-Off Games.
Seton Hall is now 2-10 all-time against teams ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25. Additionally, The Hall is now 157-54 all-time when nationally ranked itself, and 15-3 specifically when ranked No. 12.
With his first three-pointer tonight, Powell moved into sole possession of third place on Seton Hall's career three-pointers made list. He now has 279 for his career and trails only Terry Dehere (315) and Jeremy Hazell (328).
With 37 points tonight, Powell became only the 11^th player in Seton Hall history to surpass the 1,700-point mark for his career.

Up Next:
Seton Hall will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 17 when it takes to the road for the first time this season for a contest at Saint Louis University. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Eastern. The game will be televised on ESPNU while Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will call it on the radio on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network.