It’s fitting that the program that has dealt Seton Hall its fair share of heartbreak over the years was the one to come into the Prudential Center and put a damper on Myles Powell, Quincy McKnight, Romaro Gill and Asiah Avent’s senior night celebration. Facing a season sweep at the hands of Pirates in front of a record-setting Prudential Center crowd, Villanova dialed in and delivered an A-plus performance en route to a 79-77 victory on Wednesday night. The Wildcats clicked on all cylinders offensively throughout the night, firing at a 52% clip from the field and 41% from three. Seton Hall pushed Villanova to the brink in the second half, cutting its lead to slim margins multiple times. The Pirates had the lead down to 78-75 with 13 seconds left to play and had a chance to win on their second-to-last possession, but Myles Powell's attempt from beyond the arc was off the mark. Two Shavar Reynolds free throws on a loose ball foul made it 78-77 and Seton Hall had one last chance to win, but Myles Cale's three from the corner as time expired as was no good. Saddiq Bey led Villanova scorers with 20, while Justin Moore and Jermaine Samuels both chipped in 19. Sandro Mamukelashvili led Seton Hall with 20 points. Quincy McKnight finished with 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Myles Powell shot only 5-18 from the field and 3-10 from three in the final home game of his college career. Villanova jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, establishing that it would not be rolling over despite facing a season-sweep at the hands of the Pirates. Seton Hall had no issue sticking close with the Wildcats, but Villanova’s hot start shooting the ball propelled it to an early lead. At the under-12 timeout, the Wildcats held a 17-14 lead behind 60% shooting from the field and a 67% clip from three. Villanova’s prolific start from the field was not enough to keep Seton Hall down for long, though. Quincy McKnight converted consecutive baskets to tie the score at 21 before Shavar Reynolds hit a free throw to give Seton Hall its first lead of the night at the 7:37 mark. The Pirates held a slim 27-25 lead at the under-four timeout thanks to 10 points from McKnight, seven from Sandro Mamukelashvili and seven from Powell, but Villanova got hot once again coming out of the timeout to re-take a 33-30 lead heading into halftime. Seton Hall cut Villanova’s lead to 35-34 in the opening minutes of the second half before a 6-0 spurt put Villanova up seven, prompting a Kevin Willard timeout. Things didn’t get any better for the Pirates immediately after the timeout, as Powell promptly fouled Saddiq Bey on a three-point attempt, giving him a four-point play and Villanova a 10-point lead. The Pirates answered right back, preventing Villanova from blowing the game open. An alley-oop dunk by Romaro Gill and a three by Myles Cale made it 45-39 and forced a Jay Wright timeout. The Wildcats came out of the timeout on fire, though, hitting a series of threes to build a 53-39 lead in a matter of minutes. Seton Hall came back with a 5-0 spurt of its own, but still trailed 55-45 at the under-12 timeout. Shavar Reynolds got the Pirates back in the game with two corner threes, both of which were set up by Powell, to make it 57-52 with under 10 minutes to play. Villanova answered with a three following Reynolds’ second make, but Sandro Mamukelashvili went coast to coast for an and-one to make it 60-54 at the under-eight timeout. The two teams traded blows leading up to the next media timeout, but four straight field goals pushed Villanova’s lead to 71-63 at the under-four – a lead that proved to be enough for the Wildcats despite Seton Hall's best efforts with under a minute remaining. Seton Hall concludes its regular-season slate on Saturday afternoon with a trip to Omaha to take on No. 11 Creighton. A win against the Jays would give the Pirates an outright Big East title. Tyler Calvaruso can be reached at tyler.calvaruso@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @tyler_calvaruso.
Comments
