Seton Hall University
16-9, 7-6BE
Creighton
13-13, 4-9BE
Pirates Again Roar Back to Defeat Creighton
2/17/2019 6:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Down six points to Creighton with 4:33 remaining in the game and still down four with under three minutes left, the Seton Hall men's basketball team finished the game on a 14-2 run with junior Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) hitting the tie-breaking three-pointer with 48.5 seconds left to lift the Pirates past the Bluejays, 81-75, Sunday at CHI Health Center Omaha. Back on Feb. 9, it was the nearly the same scenario as Seton Hall trailed Creighton by six, 54-48, with 3:43 left on the clock.
Powell was one of four Pirates to score in double figures, finishing with 19 points. Sophomore Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) led The Hall with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, classmate Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) posted 17 points and nine rebounds, and junior Quincy McKnight (Bridgeport, Conn.) added 16 points and tied a career high with six steals, including four in the final 2:42 of the game.
Seton Hall (16-9, 7-6 BIG EAST) earned its third quadrant one victory of the season as well as its 12th KenPom Top 100 victory (based on KenPom rankings right after the game). The Pirates are now in sole possession of third place in the BIG EAST, pending the result of tonight's St. John's-Villanova game.
Â
YES!!! HERE WE COME!! Pirates deliver a HUGE team-effort victory at Creighton!!! #HALLin
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) February 17, 2019
Pirates Win presented by @LifeStorage pic.twitter.com/Q25O0no1Hl
MYLES. POWELL. ONIONS! #HALLin pic.twitter.com/9ByfDTGP3j
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) February 17, 2019
Turning Point
After a quick start, cold stretches, and a burst of three-point shooting, it came down to Creighton holding a six-point lead, 73-67, with 4:33 remaining. Mamukelashvili got a pass from Powell to convert a layup before the media timeout, making it a four-point game. The Pirates proceeded to get nine consecutive defensive stops to completely change the momentum of the game.
McKnight was the catalyst; his pick-six of Mitch Ballock ended in a dunk to make it a two-point game, and then two possession later, he stripped Davion Mintz, and on the break, Cale drew contact in the lane and made an acrobatic paint jumper and drew a foul. He missed the free throw, leaving the game tied at 73-73 with 1:37 remaining.
McKnight, a leading candidate for BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, again created havoc with a steal on Creighton's next possession, though his dunk attempt was blocked by Ty-Shon Alexander. Mamukelashvili collected the offensive rebound to give The Hall another shot.Â
The Pirates then put the ball in Powell's hands, and he went one-on-one with his defender on the wing, pulled up and swished home a three at 48.5 on the clock, giving the Pirates their first lead, 76-73, since the 12:40 mark.
After Mamukelashvili blocked a Mintz shot out of bounds, McKnight notched his fourth steal in a span of 2:11, stripping Marcus Zegarowski with 32 seconds to play. From that point on, the Pirates did their work at the free throw line going 5-for-6 to ice the game.
Inside the Numbers
- Seton Hall shot 49.2 percent (30-for-61) from the field, 44.4 percent from three (12-for-27) and 64.3 percent at the free throw line (9-for-14). Creighton shot 42.4 percent overall (25-for-59), 35.7 percent from distance (10-for-28) and 75 percent from the stripe (15-for-20).
- The Pirates and Bluejays each grabbed 35 rebounds, but The Hall took advantage of the paint better. The Pirates outscored the Bluejays in the paint, 34-28, and in second chance points, 11-3, despite the fact that Creighton had 11 offensive rebounds.
- After Seton Hall committed 10 turnovers in the first half, the Pirates finished with only 13. Creighton had 12, and the Pirates generated 16 points off those giveaways.
- Seton Hall had 15 assists on its 30 made field goals.
- The Pirates had four players in double figures, led by Cale, who had 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting overall, 2-for-5 from three.Â
- Powell had 19 points, 16 coming in the second half, and was 5-for-10 from the three-point line. He also had six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
- McKnight had 16 points, 14 coming in the second half, on 6-of-11 shooting. He had four assists against just one turnover and tied a career high with six steals, four coming in the game-changing end of game. The last time a Pirate had six steals in a game was Powell against Georgetown back on Jan. 13, 2018.
- Mamukelashvili had 17 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
- This game featured 12 ties and 10 lead changes.
- Seton Hall has swept the season series with Creighton and now leads the all-time series 14-6. This was The Hall's third-ever win in Omaha; the Pirates also won here in 2015 and 2016.
- This was Seton Hall's third NET quadrant one victory of the season. The rankings consistently fluctuate, but it is likely that four of Seton Hall's final five games will also be quadrant one games.
- In the rankings as of the end of this game, Seton Hall also now has 12 KenPom Top 100 victories.
- This was the 16th time since December 2015 that the Pirates have won a true road game when the attendance was over 8,500. This is the third one this season, joining Maryland and Xavier.
- Seton Hall is now 78-10 (.886) in its last 88 games when holding at least a seven-point lead at any juncture of the contest. The Pirates had led by as many as 10 in the first half.
- Senior Michael Nzei (Makurdi, Nigeria) earned his 84th win as a Pirate, tying him with John Leahy (1991-95) and his former teammates Khadeen Carrington, Angel Delgado, Desi Rodriguez and Ismael Sanogo (2014-18) for fifth all-time in Seton Hall history.
- With his 19 points, Powell surpassed Adrian Griffin (1992-96) for 24th all-time on Seton Hall's scoring list. He now has 1,426 career points.
Up Next
Seton Hall has a big home game at Prudential Center Wednesday against Xavier. Tip time is 7 p.m., and the game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the radio call on WMCA 570 AM, simulcast on Sirius 134, XM 202 and the Pirate Sports Network.
Tickets to Wednesday's game are available at SHUPirates.com/SHUvsXU.
