Kevin Willard knew exactly what he was doing when he uttered the words that sent shock- waves through the Seton Hall basketball community following the Pirates’ 74-71 loss to Providence two weeks ago.
The 13th ranked Seton Hall Pi- rates now have an overall record of 20-7, including 12-3 in the Big East, with only three games left in conference play before the chaos of March ensues.
In a college basketball landscape that features prolific one-and-done freshman stars year in and year out, the Big East continues to thrive on player development and veteran success. The last one- and-done to attend a Big East School was Henry Ellenson of Marquette in 2015-16. Ellen- son was drafted 18th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft to the Detroit Pistons. He is the only player to truly be one- and-done in the Big East since the conference’s realignment in the 2014-15 season.
Excitement, upsets, and under appreciation are all things that seem to happen withing the Big East conference of the NCAA men’s basketball program. How- ever, if there was one thing these teams are not used to, it is one and done basketball players.
If you ask the basketball gods how they would have ended the 74-72 nail-biting victory for Seton Hall over Butler on Wednesday night, it happened exactly like it they would have liked.
No. 10 Seton Hall, once down by as many as 25, stormed back on the road at Providence but saw time run out as the Friars defeated the Pirates 74-68 behind a career-night from Alpha Diallo.
Myles Cale was relegated to riding the pine to start the game on Feb. 5 against Georgetown. For the 6-foot-6 junior, it was the first time that he was not on the floor for the opening tip for Seton Hall since his freshman year – the Round of 32 loss to Kansas that ended the Pirates’ hopeful March run.
When it comes to college hoops, regional rivalries have consistently dominated the minds of local fans and created. In New Jersey, Rutgers and Seton Hall sit just 30 miles from each other and have left New Jersey split. The schools grew a disdain for each other during their 23 years together in the Big East, but conference realignment has stripped the rivalry of the in-conference stakes that the matchups once included. While the Big East provided a framework for Rutgers and Seton Hall to face once, twice, or even three times each season, the split has put each school into a position to make an effort to face the other each year creating a novelty to a once frequent rivalry.
As Myles Powell launched up a three with 1.4 seconds left and saw it fall, the usually exuberant superstar looked defeated instead in a clear indication of the effort his team put forth against a steady Creighton team on Wednesday night. Powell finished at an abysmal 3-for-16 overall from the field and 1-for-11 from beyond the arc as Seton Hall fell, 87-82, for the second straight time at the Prudential Center.
Before Seton Hall star Myles Powell’s senior year began, he found himself on multiple national award watchlists. From the Wooden Award watchlist for national player of the year to the Jerry West Award for the best shooting guard in the country, Powell was in the running for most of the country’s prominent in awards.
The battle for supremacy in the Big East Conference moves to the Wells Fargo Center this weekend as Seton Hall visits Villanova for the first time this season.
In the world of selling anything, making the customer interested in the product is the key. In the world of Seton Hall University basketball, the product usually sells itself, especially in the case of this year.
It seems that in any given year, you can’t watch or discuss college basketball without hearing about that team or that player. Remember Zion Williamson’s tenure at Duke and Trae Young’s Oklahoma? How about the Kentucky squad that won 38 consecutive games in 2014-15 before stumbling in the Final Four?
One conversation with Myles Powell is all it takes to realize he is different than other star players in college basketball.
Solutions by The State News
