The Hall Stages Another Rally, Comes Up Short at MU

Saturday, January 12

Milwaukee, Wis.

2 p.m.

Seton Hall University

Marquette

Seton Hall

Marquette

The Hall Stages Another Rally, Comes Up Short at MU

1/12/2019 4:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX (PDF)

MILWAUKEE - The Seton Hall men's basketball team staged another BIG EAST rally, overcoming a 13-point deficit to take a late lead at No. 21 Marquette, but the Golden Eagles found a way to prevail at home, 70-66, Saturday at Fiserv Forum. Junior Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) scored 21 points to lead the Pirates, and three other student-athletes scored in double figures.

Powell narrowly missed a double-double as he posted nine rebounds as well as three assists. Junior Quincy McKnight (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored 13 points, grabbed six boards and set a new career high in assists with seven. Sophomore Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks, and senior Michael Nzei (Makurdi, Nigeria) was 6-of-7 from the field for 12 points.

The Pirates' defense locked in on the offensively potent Golden Eagles in the second half, holding them to 32 percent shooting and zero made three-pointers in the final 20 minutes.

Seton Hall is now 12-5 overall and 3-2 in the BIG EAST while Marquette, which was led by Markus Howard's 26 points, improves to 14-3 overall, 3-1 in the league.

Turning Point
After a rough first half littered with turnovers, the Pirates found themselves down 10, 40-30. But they made great adjustments on defense to stop Marquette's attack while coming alive offensively, tying the game up at 14:07 of the second half on a Powell triple.

Marquette got the lead back up to five on a Sacar Anim three-point play with 12:27 left, but The Hall's defense began to lock down, holding the Golden Eagles scoreless for over four minutes while McKnight, Powell and sophomore Taurean Thompson (New York, N.Y.) all made baskets to put the Pirates in front, 52-49, with 8:34 to play.

The matchup was back-and-forth from there, and Seton Hall took its last lead of the game with 3:05 remaining when Howard turned the ball over and Powell made Marquette pay with a three-pointer to make it 63-62, Pirates.

Seton Hall got a stop when Mamukelashvili blocked a Howard jumper, but Theo John came down with the offensive rebound and drew a foul. He made two free throws to put the Golden Eagles back on top 64-63.

It was 67-65 when the Pirates got the ball with under 20 seconds remaining. McKnight attempted a three-pointer from the left wing to try to take a lead, but it was off the mark. John again went to the line, sank one of two to put Marquette up three points with seven seconds left, and the Golden Eagles then opted to foul to put Seton Hall at the free throw line rather than allow a game-tying three attempt.

McKnight made the first free throw, and intentionally missed the second. Sam Hauser came up with the carom, and he iced the game with two more free throws.

Inside the Numbers

Seton Hall shot 42.2 percent (27-for-64) for the game, 31.6 percent (6-for-19) from three and 66.7 percent (6-for-9) at the free throw line. Marquette shot 40.7 percent from the field (22-for-54), 26.1 percent from three (6-for-23) and 83.3 percent at the line (20-for-24).
The game was littered with turnovers, 37 in all. Seton Hall forced Marquette in 20 turnovers and scored 27 points off those giveaways. The Pirates themselves gave it away 17 times, though only five in the second half, and Marquette scored 19 points off them.
The nine free throws Seton Hall attempted was a season low.
Powell delivered his 10th performance of 20 points or more on the season, finishing with 21. His nine rebounds match a career high first set against NC State last season. Powell is averaging 22.6 points per game overall and 21.6 points per game in conference.
McKnight set a new career high in assists with seven and added 13 points and six rebounds. He played stellar defense on Howard in the second half, as the Golden Eagles star only had eight points after halftime compared to 18 in the first half.
Mamukelashvili connected on a trifecta of three-pointers and finished with 13 points.
Nzei continues to be efficient with his shots, making six of seven for 12 points.

News & Notes

Seton Hall falls to 7-19 all-time against Marquette and has now suffered defeats in three straight.
The Pirates are now 1-1 against the Associated Press Top 25 this season. When including teams ranked in the Coaches Poll and not the AP Top 25, The Hall is 2-2 (loss at Nebraska, win at Maryland).
The Hall failed to score 70 points for the first time since the Dec. 1 loss to Louisville.
This was Seton Hall's ninth game decided by five points or fewer this season, including five of the last six.
The Pirates held Marquette 10.2 points under their season average.

Up Next
Seton Hall will conclude a stretch of four-out-of-five road games Tuesday night at Providence. Tip-off against the Friars is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be nationally televised on FS1. Dave Popkin and John Fanta will be the radio duo on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on XM 380 and the Pirate Sports Network.