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We are starting to feel like we are in 2016.
A superstar taking over. A cast of confident support getting better by the game. An otherwise precarious NCAA tournament place is no longer in doubt.
Seton Hall, seeded third, is one win away from equaling the group led by Isaiah Whitehead as champion of the Big East tournament after the semifinal victory of 81-79 over second-seeded Marquette in a sold-out garden featuring a fight half way through the second half and three ejections.
Myles Powell played Whitehead, scoring 18 of 22 points in the second half after setting a Big East tournament record for most points in the half with 29 th against Georgetown. The Pirates refused to go, gathering from 12 in the first half and surviving the expulsion of Sandro Mamukelashvili. Michael Nzei, Quincy McKnight and Romaro Gill all failed in what has become a crowds festival on the right with seven technical fouls and 85 free-throw attempts. There were also words exchanged after the match between the two teams.
The Pirates have almost lost a six-point lead in less than a minute, in part because of freshmen, Jared Rhoden, who missed a wide open dunk and got called for a technical foul to have been suspended on the rim. But after Shavar Reynolds made a free throw with 7.2 seconds to go, the Big East player, Markus Howard, missed a winning 3-pointer, which sent the Pirates back to the final of the Big East tournament.
Emotions were already high, with the pro-Seton Hall crowd unhappy with the officials after technical fouls from coach Kevin Willard and Mamukelashvili when the evening took a dramatic turn. Seton Hall was down 53-50 when Powell was completely ruled out by Marquette Theo John striker. A skirmish ensues. Three players – Mamukelashvili, John and Sacar Anim from Marquette – have been sent off. Powell thought he was also ejected and entered the locker room. But he was called for a flagrant foul, not a second technical foul.
Moments later, he was back on the floor and received a thunderous ovation. Powell committed four fouls and Willard did not immediately integrate him into the match. But after Howard scored three points and Marquette led six points at 10:04 of the end, Powell was back and he immediately felt his presence. He scored three straight points to give Seton Hall a 64-63 lead in 6:33 to go and a five-to-five lead after a Quincy McKnight rider at 4:13 of the end.
The first half concerned actors. Powell scored only four points on a shot in five. Howard was injured on his left wrist and missed his six shot attempts in 13 minutes. But the support actors of each team played well. The Hauser brothers, Sam and Joey, scored 23 points on 9 shots out of 13, allowing Marquette to overtake Seton Hall, 24-12, early. Mamukelashvili and Nzei were active in painting for the Pirates, combining for 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Pirates defense kept them out for the first 20 minutes as they shot 37% of the field and made only 3 attempts out of 14. The Pirates forced nine Marquette turnovers and defended the well 3, limiting the Golden Eagles to 4 of 13 shots in depth. McKnight scored a first-half 12-5 in the first half, allowing Seton Hall to stop just three minutes from the end, a good spot considering Powell's half medal and shots off target of the team.
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