JP's 5 Thoughts: Seton Hall clamps down without Powell to beat Stony Brook

With Myles Powell out for most of afternoon due to sprained ankle, Sandro Mamukelashvili picked up slack for Seton Hall, leading Pirates with 17 points in win over Stony Brook. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- It was not an ideal day for the 12th-ranked Seton Hall Pirates in any regard. 

With Michigan State looming on the horizon, Stony Brook came to Walsh Gymnasium for the first time since the 2012 NIT, and was determined to give the Hall a fight just like that night seven years ago.

And that was before an ankle injury to their star just three-and-a-half minutes into the game. But the Pirates persevered, as they are so used to doing, using a big second half to end up pulling away for a 74-57 victory, improving to 2-0 on the season.

Here are the Thoughts:

1. Powell Goes Down

On a transition drive with the game still young, Myles Powell drove the left side of the line and was contested well into a bit of an awkward shot. He came down on a defender's foot, limped off the floor with what turned out to be a sprained left ankle, and would not return to the game.

Obviously, all thoughts for the rest of the half rested with the Pirates' star player, who means literally almost everything to the program. In the second half, it was back to business for the most part as the game remained close, but what of Powell?

"Myles is getting X-rays right now," head coach Kevin Willard said after the game. "He got a really good ankle sprain, it's going to be a while. More than likely, no chance (he'll play) on Thursday."

While that does sound a bit grim, especially since Myles himself and the entire fan base have been looking forward to that game for so long, keep in mind that Willard does have a track record of assuming the worst when it comes to injuries, and the Pirates have also been very cautious in the past when having players coming back from injury. Stay tuned.

2. Sea-sick

Although the Pirates did score eight straight points without him early, Seton Hall's offense struggled to find its footing in the first half without Powell, falling down to 31 percent shooting by the break. All through that time, the Seawolves -- led by point guard Makale Foreman's 11 points -- gained confidence and began to realize they had a shot. 

It brought back some bad memories of the last two meetings against Stony Brook for Seton Hall: The first round of the 2012 NIT, and the following regular season at Prudential Center, both games that were narrow Seton Hall victories not decided until the final seconds. Obviously, there were completely different players and coaching staffs involved, but for a while there, it felt like it would again come down to the wire against the Seawolves.

But this game did no such thing.

3. Big Guys Being Big

With Powell out of commission, Sandro Mamukelashvili stepped up his game. He got off to a hot shooting start before Powell went down, but after Stony Brook made their run, his emotional intensity went up a few ticks. He concluded the first half with a dunk to cut the Pirates' deficit to two points, and in the second half, he picked it up even more, finishing with a game-high 17 points along with five boards and a pair of assists on 6-of-11 shooting. 

Speaking with him after the game, he said that as a junior in his third season in the program, he saw the opportunity to step up and produce, and had the confidence to do so. For a while in the second half, he was the Pirates' offense.

Meanwhile, 7-footer Romaro Gill, who picked up two first-half fouls -- including one on a three-point shooter -- went scoreless in the first half, but stepped up big-time as well. He chipped in nearly a double-double in the second half alone, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. His plus-18 rating led not just the Pirates, but every player in the game at the end, with no Seton Hall player contributing more on the scoreboard or on the glass in the final 20 minutes. 

"Having Ro back out there really helped us," Willard said. "Ike (Obiagu) was still struggling from his sprained ankle (against Wagner) -- that's why Ikey didn't play as much. But the reason we struggled last year a little bit in the middle of the season is that Ro missed seven games. He gives us a presence, he knows what he's doing offensively. He knows who he is and doesn't try to be who he's not, and that's the biggest thing."

Seton Hall doesn't win this game going away like it did without its big men.

4. Defense Stands Tall

When Powell went out, the question was, "where do the Pirates go to replace his scoring output?"

The answer is "nowhere," because no one can equal his scoring prowess. But they also didn't need to, because their second-half defense was outstanding. They held the scrappy Seawolves to just 30 percent shooting after the break, including a 1-for-11 mark from three-point range. So what changed?

"I thought we played really good defense in the first half," Willard commented. "But as we started missing shots, we got a little deflated. I think we were able to shut down No. 1 (Makale Foreman) and made them take some tough shots, got on the break and got some easy buckets."

Foreman, who led Stony Brook with 16 points in the game, scored only five on 2-for-6 shooting in the second half. Give credit to Shavar Reynolds in particular, who ended up with nine points, four assists and three rebounds in the box score, but who did his best work in ways that don't get reflected by statistics -- he was right in Foreman's hip pocket -- and Stony Brook just didn't have the firepower to continue to hang tough once the Hall shut off the perimeter.

5. Conquering Sparta

Now comes the toughest task: National Player of the Year candidate Cassius Winston, Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, and the Top 5-ranked Michigan State Spartans. It was going to be a mountain of a game anyway, but the Pirates will most likely be without their own star player for what should be a sold-out Prudential Center contest on Thursday night in prime time.

When asked what will be the toughest part of dealing without Powell, Willard mentioned that he will need to find a rotation that worked, adding that trying to find said rotation was one of the things that cost the Hall in the first half. But one thing is certain: The only way Seton Hall will be able to slay the dragon, so to speak, with or without Powell, is to come together as a unit like it did on Saturday. The Pirates will need that defensive toughness, that togetherness, to be able to sink the Spartans' ship on Thursday night, with or without Powell.

Powell is the unquestioned leader of this group, and time and again, he uses the word "brothers" to describe his relationship with his teammates. That will be put to maybe its biggest test to date this week, and I, for one, can't wait to see how it all goes down.