In an old-fashioned shootout between the Big East’s two leading scorers, Myles Powell’s team got the better of Markus Howard’s squad.
Powell went for 23 points on 8-of-22 shooting with seven rebounds, three steals and two assists as Seton Hall beat Marquette, 69-55, before 12,707 at Prudential Center for their sixth straight win. Romaro Gill added 10 points and six rebounds while freshman Tyrese Samuel went for eight points and five boards.
The Pirates’ last loss was nearly a month ago (Dec. 14) when they were routed by Rutgers by 20 points at the RAC in a game in which Powell suffered a concussion that ended up keeping him out of two games.
“I feel like Seton Hall’s playing our best basketball and that’s why we’re on a six-game winning streak right now,” Powell said. “Everybody feels good.”
Howard, the leading scorer in Division 1, entered this game averaging 26.8 points per game, and finished with 27 points on 8-of-20 shooting while being guarded by Shavar Reynolds, who in August was upgraded to a scholarship player from a walk-on.
"it's about time Shavar guarded somebody else like that," Powell quipped. "I mean, I get that treatment every day in practice so to finally see him come out and make somebody else work like that, I'm happy for him."
Seton Hall is now 12-4 overall and stands as the only 4-0 team in the Big East entering Wednesday’s tilt at fellow Big East unbeaten Butler, the No. 6 team in the nation.
"it's a big one and they're really good," Pirates coach Kevin Willard said of the Bulldogs. "[Coach] LaVall Jordan has done as a good a job as anybody in college basketball...They're just not Kamar Baldwin, they have guys that can get you and they're as good a team as there is defensively."
This is just the second time in program history the Pirates have started 4-0 in the league. The 1992-93 squad also got off to a 4-0 start in conference play and ultimately won the Big East regular-season and tournament titles.
The game marked only the second contest in college basketball this season that featured two Associated Press Preseason All-Americans squaring off in Powell and Howard. The other was when Powell and the Hall lost to Cassius Winston and Michigan State on Nov. 14.
"I think Myles Powell is arguably the best player in college basketball so you get a chance to see those two guys play in a high-level college basketball game, it's pretty fun," Willard said.
Seton Hall has now won three of the last four meetings with Marquette, including an 81-79 decision in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals last March.
Marquette (11-5, 1-3) lost its second straight and third in four outings.
After trailing 24-13 during a stretch where Powell managed just two points, Seton Hall closed the first half on a 27-13 run to enter the intermission up 40-37.
Powell had 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting at the break, while Howard scored 18 on 5-of-10.
With the game tied at 45-all, Seton Hall used an 11-0 run keyed by four points from Anthony Nelson to go-ahead 56-45.
Seton Hall’s defense kept Marquette scoreless for five and a half minutes during the run.
After Marquette closed within 58-53, Seton Hall rattled off five straight highlighted by a dunk from Gill off a sweet dish from Powell to push the lead to 63-53.
Seton Hall will take to the road for their next two contests beginning with a bigtime matchup at No. 6 Butler (15-1, 3-0).
Butler entered the day at No. 5 in the KenPom rankings, with Seton Hall at No. 16.
On Jan. 18, the Pirates will face St. John’s in the annual Howard Garfinkel game at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm (12-5, 1-3) secured their first league win Saturday at the Garden over DePaul.
RECRUITS ON HAND
Seton Hall hosted a number of recruits, including junior guard Zion Harmon of Marshall County (KY) who is on his official visit this weekend. Also expected were Rahsool Diggins (Archbishop Wood), Jakai Robinson (National Christian Academy), Jordan Riley (Brentwood), Max Edwards (Our Savior Lutheran), (Jaquan Sanders (Our Savior Lutheran) and Jaquan Harris (St. Thomas Aquinas).
Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media.