Seton Hall University
Villanova
22-8
Pirates Do It Again! Shock No. 23 Villanova, 79-75
3/9/2019 2:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Junior Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) led the Pirates with 20 points on the strength of four made three-pointers to go with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, in a strong all-round effort.
Sophomore Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) finished with 19 points, and was a career-best 6-for-8 from three-point range. Freshman Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) erupted for a career-high 15 points, and was 3-for-4 from downtown. Sophomore Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) finished with a monster game of 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.
The victory clinches a .500 or better season in BIG EAST Conference play and third-place finish for a fourth consecutive year. It also secures Seton Hall a first-round bye and top-six seed in the upcoming 2019 BIG EAST Championship. Furthermore, the Pirates now have four wins over NET Top 30 teams, six "Quadrant 1" wins and a combined 11 "Quadrant 1 +2" wins, which could become 12 or 13 depending on how the NET rankings shake out.
UPDATE (10:35 p.m.): Seton Hall has secured the third seed in the 2019 BIG EAST Championship and will face No. 6 seed Georgetown Thursday, March 14 inside Madison Square Garden at 9:30 p.m.
THAT'S HOW YOU CLOSE THE REGULAR SEASON! This one was for you, Mikey! #HALLin pic.twitter.com/BeAPY4Vz4F
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 9, 2019
Turning Point:
Seton Hall's hot shooting picked up where it left off to start the second half. Cale's three-pointer in the corner just 1:25 into the second stanza gave The Pirates their largest lead of the game, 44-28. The defending national champions charged back though with a 13-0 run to cut The Hall's lead to 44-41 with 14:47 remaining.
Leading 50-45, The Hall again put distance between itself and Villanova. Back-to-back three-pointers by Rhoden and Powell, sandwiched around a huge block by Mamukelashvili on a dunk attempt by Villanova's Jermaine Samuels, extended the Pirates' lead to 56-45 with 11:36 left.
The Wildcats again clawed back, and a pair of free throws by Gillespie cut the Pirates' lead to a single point, 66-65, with 3:57 to go. However, The Hall never allowed Villanova to draw even. A Cale three-pointer with 1:27 boosted Seton Hall's lead back up to eight points, 73-65. Villanova didn't go quietly, cutting the lead to three points, 74-71, on a trio of free-throws by Phil Booth with 44 second to go, but the Pirates iced the game on the free-throw line.
Seton Hall's defense was impressive to start the game, forcing four turnovers, including a pair of shot-clock violations, and causing Villanova to miss seven of their first 10 shots. Cale stole the ball in the Wildcat backcourt and found a streaking Rhoden for a layup that put The Hall on top, 16-10, with 12:02 left in the first half, and forced a Villanova timeout.
In a span of 30 seconds, Rhoden drained a three-pointer in the corner, Collin Gillespie responded with a three for Villanova, and then Powell came down and nailed another for Seton Hall to put the Pirates up, 22-15, with 10:21 to play before halftime.
Down nine, Villanova went on an 8-0 run to cut The Hall's lead to only one point, 24-23, but the Pirates had a run in them as well. The Hall scored 10 unanswered, and a three-pointer by Powell put them on top, 34-23, with 2:57 left in the first half. The lead grew to as many as 14 on a put-back by Mamukelashvili, but a three-pointer by Villanova's Eric Paschall with 29 seconds left sent The Hal into the break with a 39-28 advantage.
BOOM!!! We finish out the regular season with a HUGE win! Check out the highlights from the victory over #23 Villanova! #HALLin pic.twitter.com/6HtdC8aqjF
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 9, 2019
Inside the Numbers:
- Seton Hall was 23-for-58 (39.7%) from the floor for the game, while Villanova was 23-for-47 (48.9%). Both teams lit it up from three-point range, shooting an identical 13-for-27 (48.1%).
- The Pirates out-rebounded Villanova, 35-to-30, thanks in large part to 18 from Mamukelashvili. The Hall had 18 offensive rebounds, generating 13 second chance points.
- The Hall was 20-for-27 (74.1%) from the free-throw line, compared to 16-for-18 (88.9%) for Villanova.
- Seton Hall forced more turnovers, 14-to-9, and scored 13 points off them, compared to just five points for the Wildcats.
- The Hall was better on the fast break, out-scoring Villanova, 17-to-7.
- All of Villanova's points came from its starters. Seton Hall's bench out-scored the Wildcats, 17-to-0.
- Powell finished with a team-high 20 points on the strength of four made three-pointers. He also had seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
- Cale had 19 points and was a career-best 6-for-8 from three-point range.
- Rhoden tallied a career-high 15 points and was 3-for-4 from three-point range in only 13+ minutes of action.
- Mamukelashvili had 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass in an Angel Delgado-like performance.
- Nzei, playing in his final home game, had 10 points and three rebounds.
Let's hear from some of the guys after today's huge win over No. 23 Villanova. TEAM EFFORT! #HALLin pic.twitter.com/wfNs8znvtb
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 9, 2019
News & Notes:
- The victory improves Seton Hall to 18-12 overall and 9-9 in BIG EAST play, while Villanova falls to 22-9 overall and 13-5 in conference games. It's the fourth straight year that Seton Hall has recorded at least a .500 BIG EAST record and finished in third place in the standings.
- The victory earns Seton Hall a bye and secures a top-six seed in next week's BIG EAST Championship.
- Seton Hall improves to 42-75 all-time against the Wildcats and splits the 2018-19 season series. The victory also snaps a six-game losing streak in the series.
- Seton Hall is now 80-11 (.879) in its last 91 games (dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season) when holding a lead of seven or more at any point during the contest.
- Today's win is the 86th during Nzei's tenure at Seton Hall, which ties former Pirate Chris Davis for fourth-most for a player in Seton Hall history.
- Nzei tied Jeff Robinson (2009-11) for 85th all-time in scoring at Seton Hall with 667 points.
- With the win, Seton Hall is 3-2 this season and 13-15 since the 2016 season against Associated Press ranked teams.
- Powell topped the 20-point mark in a game for the 19th time this season and the 27th time of his career.
- Seton Hall's 13 made three-pointers today match its season-high.
- Mamukelashvili's 18 rebounds are the most by a Pirate since Angel Delgado's legendary 23-rebound performance vs. Kansas in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
- Seton Hall's attendance today of 16,114 is the second-largest crowd for a Pirate game since moving to the Prudential Center.
3 SEED!
— Seton Hall Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) March 10, 2019
We'll be activating #PiratesAfterDark next Thursday night when we play our BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal against either DePaul or Georgetown at 9:30 PM on @FS1! #HALLin pic.twitter.com/SOIwuLNccu
Up Next:
With the 2018-19 regular season complete, Seton Hall will now begin play at the 2019 BIG EAST Championship at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, March 14. Their opponent and start time won't be known until all games have been completed today. FS1 will have coverage of Thursday's quarterfinals, and Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will have the radio call on AM970 The Answer. Stay tuned to SHUpirates.com for more information.
UPDATE (10:35 p.m.): Seton Hall has secured the third seed in the 2019 BIG EAST Championship and will face No. 6 seed Georgetown Thursday, March 14 inside Madison Square Garden at 9:30 p.m.
