With Seton Hall’s tournament hopes fleeting, they needed a big win. Myles Powell made sure they got it.
The game looked good for the Pirates early. Marquette started the game with four straight turnovers. Despite the turnover troubles, 14 in the first half, Seton Hall couldn’t pull away. Strong defense and Sam Hauser’s 14 points led Marquette to a 37-31 lead at the half.
Despite Markus Howard’s foul trouble confining him to the bench early in the second half, Marquette expanded their lead. With Sam Hauser still on fire, Marquette led by 13 with 9:45 left. Then came Myles Powell. He scored 15 the rest of the way including a pull up three that gave the Pirates the lead with 2:28 to go. Jared Rhodes and Michael Nzei would combine 6 for 6 from the line in the final minute to close the game. Finishing on an 18-0 run, Seton Hall pulled off the win 73-64.
Powell led the Pirates with 34 points on 11-25 shooting. He also added five rebounds and five assists. Nzei finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Myles Cale, who’s main mission was harassing Markus Howard, had nine points and eight rebounds.
While still on in the bubble, this win could propel Seton Hall into the tournament. Fox Sports bracketologist Howie Schwab called the broadcast after the game to announce he had moved the Pirates from the First Four Out to the Last Four In. The Pirates have another chance to earn a resume boost in their final game against Villanova.
Sam Hauser led Marquette with 25 points and nine rebounds. While Theo John added 6 points and 6 rebounds, the other starters struggled. Howard, Joey Hauser and Sacar Anim combined to shoot 7-32 (21.9%) from the field and 2-15 (13.3%) from 3.
Turnovers are going to be the headline for Marquette. They’ve been a problem all season and the problem seems to have gotten worse. Over the past five games, Marquette’s turnover numbers have been 15,14, 18, 22, and 18. While this is obviously scary and a definite issue the team needs to address, this game highlights another problem the Golden Eagles have: they struggle in late close-game situations. Howard is a great one-on-one player and can hit big shots, but he becomes much easier to defend when the defense knows that’s all Marquette is going to do. After teams have finished on runs of 12-1, 16-6, and now 18-0 on Marquette, they have an obvious flaw that Wojo will need to address.
Seton Hall moves to 16-12 and 8-9 in the Big East. The Pirates move into a tie with St. John’s and Xavier for for fourth in the conference (.5 game back of 8-8 Georgetown for third). Seton Hall hosts Villanova on Saturday in a matchup with big tournament implications.
Marquette’s losing streak moves to three in a row as they fall to 23-7 and 12-5 in the Big East. The losing streak blew Marquette’s chance at a sole win of the regular season championship. Now a game back of Villanova, Marquette can only hope to tie. The Golden Eagles close out the regular season at home Saturday against Georgetown.