JP's 5 Thoughts: Seton Hall thumps Georgetown

Michael Nzei (1) and Myles Powell (13) combined for 48 of Seton Hall's 90 points as Pirates defeated Georgetown in convincing fashion. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, NJ -- It feels like it's been ages since the Seton Hall Pirates actually had a comfortable lead and held it. 

But in their most complete performance of Big East play, the Pirates used an aggressive energy and an efficient offense to blast a young, but talented Georgetown team, 90-75, in the first of two meetings against the Hoyas this year.

Here are the five thoughts:

1. Energy

Seton Hall came out ready to go tonight. After going back and forth early, the Pirates upped the ante on both ends of the floor, going on a 17-2 run in a six-minute span that gave them a double-digit lead they would never relinquish. 

"The biggest thing I've been hammering out the last three, four days of practice is that we have to come out more aggressive offensively," head coach Kevin Willard said. "Everybody. And I thought Myles Powell, even through he missed his first three shots, he came out aggressive shooting the basketball, and I think that set the tone."

Indeed, after a very quiet first half before a supercharged second half against Creighton, the Pirates ran plays for Powell to get their leading scorer into the game quickly. Powell ended up with 30 points tonight, and while he only went 8-for-20 from the field with a couple of ill-advised attempts (more on that in a second), he got to the free throw line 10 times and made every shot from there, a telltale sign of aggressiveness on the offensive end.

The whole team picked up on it, too, as the Pirates ended up getting to the line 22 times and converting 19 of their attempts for an 86 percent clip. But while Powell gave the Pirates a big early lift on the offensive end, the man I was most impressed with tonight was...

2. Nzer-gy

Michael Nzei has been a steady presence inside all year for the Pirates, the elder statesman on a young overall team. He's the type of player who always plays solidly, but is rarely spectacular. Tonight, he was exceptionally good. He also got involved in the game early, and then proceeded to out-hustle everyone else on the floor en route to 18 points and nine rebounds, eight of which were on the offensive end.

Most impressively, he channeled Ish Sanogo on the defensive end. The Pirates switched a bunch tonight, which meant Nzei was tasked with, at times, guarding guys who are smaller and quicker than he is. He was able to stay in front of those players, and really keyed what ended up being a pretty stout team defensive effort.

"Mike's been playing phenomenal," Willard said. "We're trying to get him the basketball a little more when he has smaller guys on him because he has a real good knack for scoring."

And score he did. Unless Georgetown had someone right on top of him in the post, the Hoyas couldn't stop him from putting the ball in the hoop with that baby hook shot of his. He also continued an upward trend in conference play of shooting around 80 percent at the free throw line, making four of five attempts tonight.

3. Halting The Hoyas

Georgetown is a team that is clearly talented, and loves to push the tempo and get its young talent out in space where it can make plays. I also tweeted before the game that the Hoyas owned the top rebounding offense and the second-best rebounding margin in the Big East entering tonight, and that the Pirates could not afford a similar performance on the glass as they had against Creighton.

Seton Hall took care of that on all fronts. While inside force Jesse Govan was tough to contain (20 points on 8-of-14 shooting), freshman guards James Akinjo and Mac McClung were neutralized by the defense of Quincy McKnight among others.

"I thought Q really started the game off defensively in our press, I thought he was great," Willard said. "He really worked (Akinjo). I thought both Myles and him kind of got him out of rhythm. For a young guard in this league, he's really good, both him and McClung, I think, are going to be really special players."

Akinjo finished with only six points on 1-for-6 shooting with three turnovers and just one assist. As for McClung, he hit an early three-pointer, but picked up two quick fouls and was basically invisible from there on out, finishing 1-for-5 from the floor with three giveaways himself.

As for the rebounding? Seton Hall out-boarded the Hoyas 38-30. Mission accomplished.

4. Listening To Teacher

Seton Hall played so well for so much of the game tonight that the few spurts where it didn't play as well may be overshadowed. There were a couple of five-point runs, as well as a 9-0 run that wrapped around the halftime break.

For all of these spurts, one of the reasons they happened was shot selection, when the Pirates' offense wasn't flowing well. Powell was guilty of a few of these, others were just momentary gaffes. Either way, whenever Georgetown did start to cook a little bit, Willard called timeout.

Here's how those stretches went: Out of halftime, the Hoyas scored the first two points to cap their biggest run of the game, at 9-0. Seton Hall then got back to its offense and rattled off a 9-2 spurt of its own. Later, after a 6-0 run by the Hoyas cut the lead down to 13, the Pirates did the same thing and went on a 6-0 run of their own out of the timeout. 

The point is that the Pirates played well tonight, and when they didn't play well, they responded to the coaching and resumed playing well. This team may be young still on paper, but generally, out of timeouts, the players have been able to execute what Willard has told them to do. 

5. Confidence In A Crowd

With the victory tonight, the Pirates pulled into a tie for third place in the crowded Big East with St. John's at 6-6. Seton Hall came in to this two-game homestand needing to get two wins, and it took care of business. The Pirates have a quick trip to Creighton up next, which is another big game after the Bluejays lost at Xavier in overtime tonight. Greg McDermott's team will be eager to get in the win column after three straight defeats on the road.

But this game was big not just for the standings. For the first time in a while, Seton Hall put forth a performance it could really hang its hat on as a whole team. With so many close contests, especially since conference play began, the Pirates have had to fight for everything. Tonight, they got to enjoy a big lead for a while, and came away with their largest margin of victory since they beat Sacred Heart by 14 in mid-December.

"I think it's important to play well right now," Willard said after the game. "I think it's important that you're playing well and you're starting to feel confident about your team."

Seton Hall was basically on the bubble by most folks' projections entering tonight, but as longtime scribe Jerry Carino put it in the media room afterwards, the Pirates looked the part of an NCAA Tournament team in this game. Whether they can continue this performance into their next couple games remains to be seen. But for tonight, Seton Hall gave an effort its fans can be quite proud of.