NEW YORK — Apparently when Seton Hall ended its regular seasons with back-to-back victories over BIG EAST powers Marquette and Villanova last week, the Pirates weren’t kidding around.
Or were they just getting started?
One game after Marquette’s Markus Howard electrified the Madison Square Garden crowd with his 30-point performance in a win over St. John’s, Seton Hall’s Myles Powell took it to an entirely different level as he scored 29 of his game-high 31 points in the first half when the Pirates put the game away with a 25-point halftime lead as the Hall rolled into the semifinals with a dominating 73-57 victory over Georgetown in the BIG EAST quarterfinals Thursday night.
The third-seeded Pirates will now face No. 2 Marquette in the nightcap of Friday night’s semifinal doubleheader. The Pirates and Golden Eagles split their season series this year.
Powell was so explosive in the first half that he actually outscored the entire Georgetown team as the Pirates led 53-28 at halftime. His 29 points set a new tournament record for points in a half, breaking the old mark of 27 set by former Creighton star Doug McDermott in a win over DePaul in the 2014 tournament.
“I know what my teammates need,” Powell said. “Coach (Kevin Willard) always tells me to pick up the energy and get your guys going so I was just trying whatever I needed to do for my team to get going and for us to get the W.”
Powell’s first-half performance bordered on the ridiculous.
When he sank a pair of free throws with just over 3:00 left in the half, the Pirates led, 45-21 and Powell had 24 points. When he canned a jumper with just over 2:00 left to play, the score was 50-25 and Powell was still outscoring the Hoyas with 26 points. And when he drilled a three-ball from deep with 1:40 to play, with the roar of the crowd now near deafening levels, Powell had 29 points as the Hall led 53-28 at the break.
Powell was oblivious to being the new owner of a BIG EAST Tournament record until he was informed after the final horn.
“I didn’t know that,” said Powell, who now has eight 30-point games this season. “(Seton Hall Sports Information Director) Tom (Chen) just told me walking out of the locker room. But it’s truly an honor and a blessing from the man above.”
Powell wasn’t nearly as active in the second half as he scored just two points, with those coming in the first few minutes of the half. But the Pirates got solid contributions from players like Sandro Mamukelashvili, who logged a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. There was also Myles Cale, pouring in 14 points and Mike Nzei, who added seven points and eight boards. So it was OK if Powell took some much-deserved rest time in the second half.
So where does Powell’s first-half performance rate with his coach. Surprisingly, not as high as you might expect.
“It’s going to sound crazy (but) that’s what I see every day,” Willard said. “So I don’t think it’s any different. I’m surprised, I’ll be honest. But I’m just as surprised we haven’t seen more of that. I think he’s played unselfish all year, which is maybe one of the reasons. Any time he steps on the floor, I expect to see that. So do his teammates, to be honest. It wasn’t like we were shocked in the locker room. It was kind of just Myles being Myles.”
Georgetown, which once trailed by as many as 28 points in the game, shaved their deficit in a half when a layup by Trey Mourning pulled the Hoyas within 60-46 with 9:55 to play. But that would be as close as they would get as five straight points from Quincy McKnight and a layup by Nzei quickly bumped the Pirates’ lead back to 67-49 and the Hall never let Georgetown get closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
Now it’s off to face BIG EAST Player of the Year Markus Howard and a Marquette team the Pirates defeated in New Jersey just over a week ago.
“The good thing is we just played them (last Wednesday),” Willard said. “The reviews will be quicker. The guys will understand what we’re doing. We’ll make some adjustments offensively and a few tweaks defensively. But for the most part we have to deal with one of the best players in the country.”