The Hall Drops Championship Thriller to Villanova

Saturday, March 16

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

6:30 p.m.

Seton Hall University

20-13

Villanova

25-9

Seton Hall

Villanova

3/16/2019 9:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEW YORK - In another instant BIG EAST Tournament classic between the Seton Hall men's basketball team and Villanova, the Pirates went punch-for-punch with the top-seeded Wildcats and came up two point shorts as Villanova came away with a 74-72 victory to claim the 2019 BIG EAST Tournament title Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Junior Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) had another fantastic performance inside The Garden, finishing with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists. He was named to the BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team, as was junior Quincy McKnight (Bridgeport, Conn.).

Freshman Anthony Nelson (New York, N.Y.) was outstanding in the second half and finished with a career-high 12 points. Sophomore Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) had 10 points, and sophomore Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) had 14 rebounds.

This was the fourth tournament meeting between Seton Hall and Villanova and all four of them were decided by two points or fewer:

March 13, 2014 - Seton Hall 64, Villanova 63 (Quarterfinals)
March 12, 2016 - Seton Hall 69, Villanova 67 (Final)
March 10, 2017 - Villanova 55, Seton Hall 53 (Semifinals)
March 16, 2019 - Villanova 74, Seton Hall 72 (Final)

Turning Point

This was a typical Seton Hall-Villanova clash that made for great television drama. The two teams went back and forth. Villanova led by as many as nine, and the Pirates led by as many as five. The Wildcats took their nine-point lead with three minutes remaining, but The Hall, as it has all season long, fought back.

Nelson got an "and-one" layup and made the free throw to cut it to six, and the defense intercepted a pass that resulted in Powell going in for a driving layup to make it a four-point game, 68-64, with 2:26 to go. Villanova answered with a Saddiq Bey dunk, then both teams traded free throws.

With under a minute to play, and Villanova up three, Seton Hall elected to play defense and drew an offensive foul on Eric Paschall. The Pirates converted when Powell drove to the basket and cleaned up his own miss with a put-back layup, making it 73-72 with 15 seconds to go. The Hall fouled Paschall, who went 1-for-2 at the line. Seton Hall was down only two, 74-72, with the ball.

Powell got the ball in his hands, and his stepback game-winning attempt hit the back of the rim. Villanova traveled while corralling the rebound, leaving 0.4 seconds on the clock, but the Pirates were unable to make an alley oop connect.

Inside the Numbers

Seton Hall shot 40.6 percent overall (28-for-69), 28 percent from three (7-for-25) and 81.8 percent at the charity stripe (9-for-11). Villanova shot 41.5 percent for the game (22-for-53), 35.5 percent from three (11-for-31) and 73.1 percent at the line (19-for-26).
Villanova out-rebounded Seton Hall, 41-36, but the Pirates had the edge on second chance points, 17-12, and was dominant in paint points, 42-18.
The Pirates committed only seven turnovers on the night while Villanova had 14.
Powell delivered 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting overall, 4-of-9 from three. He added five rebounds and four assists. It was his 22nd 20-point effort of the season, and he ended up averaging 26.0 points in the three-game tournament.
Nelson was the team's second leading scorer with a career-high 12 points, all of them coming in the second half. He was 4-for-8 from the field, had two assists, a steal and a block and did not turn the ball over in 16 minutes.
Mamukelashvili grabbed 14 rebounds to go with his seven points.
Senior Michael Nzei (Makurdi, Nigeria) had eight points, four rebounds and two assists.
Cale had 10 points and two assists.

News & Notes

This was Seton Hall's fourth BIG EAST Tournament final appearance but first defeat. The Pirates had won the championship in 1991, 1993 and 2016.
In their conference tournament history, the Pirates are now 3-4 all-time against Villanova, 3-1 in championship games, 5-2 as the No. 3 seed, 2-6 against the No. 1 seed and 13-27 when the lower seed in the game.
This was the 118th all-time meeting between Seton Hall and Villanova. The Wildcats are Seton Hall's most frequent opponent.
Powell and McKnight were named to the BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team. Powell averaged 26.0 points and 4.7 assists over the three games. McKnight averaged 9.7 points and 2.7 assists, but more importantly he played incredible defense on star guards James Akinjo, Markus Howard and Phil Booth throughout the tournament.
Powell surpassed John Morton (1985-89) and Fuquan Edwin (2010-14) to move into 14th place in Seton Hall all-time scoring history. He now has 1,636 points.
Powell also now has 757 points this season, which is the fifth-most in Seton Hall single-season history, and second-most in the BIG EAST era.
Nzei now has 696 career points, 81st all-time at Seton Hall.

Up Next
The Seton Hall Pirates have done enough to earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament. They will await their fate and watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 6 p.m., on CBS. Stay tuned to SHUPirates.com and the men's basketball Twitter @SetonHallMBB for the most up-to-date information.