Seton Hall overcomes slow start to take down Georgetown in Newark

Despite coming out of the gates slow, the Seton Hall Pirates bounced back with a strong performance at the Rock as the Pirates take care of the Georgetown Hoyas 74-61 to improve to 4-1 in the conference.

The turning point was towards the middle part of the first half right as Georgetown’s Marcus Derrickson had to sit with two fouls and the game entered the under eight media timeout.

Derrickson had been putting his stamp on the game. He left the floor and the 1993 Big East Champion Seton Hall team happened to honored on the court during that timeout.

Everything changed after that.

Georgetown had led by 10 in the first half and the Pirates used a 33-10 run to close out the half up 44-31.

Ismael Sanogo and Myles Powell were the catalysts on defense making plays and getting steals. Seton Hall scored 14 straight points to finish the first half.

“I just see my opening and keep going,” Powell said. “Coach (Willard) has been telling me that he needs me to bring the energy. Today I came in wanting to rebound (from the Marquette loss) and be great on the defensive end.”

Myles Powell and Desi Rodriguez led the way for Seton Hall with 19 points a piece. Both played a big role in the run at the end of the first half and closed out the Hoyas in the second half.

“Myles, for me, is the best shooter in the conference no doubt,” Angel Delgado said. “I don’t care what people say. Myles is the best shooter in the country.”

Delgado had yet another double-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists despite getting all he could handle from Derrickson and Jessie Govan down low.

“I thought it was a fierce battle,” Coach Patrick Ewing said. “The referees let them battle. (Govan) battled him, bumped him and made him work for everything. Jessie just didn’t get it done today.”

It was a sold out crowd at the Prudential Center on Saturday as the Pirates honored that 1992-93 Seton Hall team that won a Big East Championship.

When they were honored during the under eight media timeout, it seemed to inspire the Pirates to fight back.

“Of course, we saw those guys stand up with the trophy,” Delgado said. “We want to be like them. We want to be that type of team. We just picked it up and said ‘let’s do it for them.’”

The coach of that team, P.J. Carlesimo was at practice on Friday and preached that it is important to be good now. Every game is important for Seton Hall and the Pirates turned it on when they had to in order to finish off the Hoyas.

As far as this season is concerned, the Pirates needed to bounce back after they struggled in Milwaukee earlier this week. Georgetown’s great start certainly didn’t help things, but Seton Hall’s defense was the catalyst during the comeback.

“Play with a lot of passion and heart,” Sanogo said. “We came out a little slow which everyone could see, but we just have to play hard.”

Sanogo also chipped in eight points and six rebounds while making an instant impact off the bench in what was a crucial win.

“Very important,” Sanogo said. “You don’t want to lose games at home in the Big East. It’s tough. We want to stay at the top right now and not want to lose to Georgetown.”

The Hoyas to their credit battled in this game. Derrickson finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Govan had 11 points and five rebounds, but had trouble dealing with Delgado in the second half. Kaleb Johnson had 13 points and made some shots early, but after the avalanche from Seton Hall it quickly turned into their day.

Seton Hall honored one of the best teams the school has ever had as the current team trying to be another great team was able to get back on track.

“It’s surreal,” Sanogo said. “We're happy to be part of something bigger than ourselves.”