JP's 4 Thoughts: Powell's monster half sends Seton Hall to semifinals

Myles Powell's 31 points included Big East tournament-record 29 in first half as Seton Hall defeated Georgetown to move into semifinals. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEW YORK -- Holy cow.

The Seton Hall Pirates faced the Georgetown Hoyas in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, with the Hoyas needing not one, but several wins to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. 

And then Myles Powell took that away with a dizzying record barrage of scoring that had Madison Square Garden rocking and rolling, and despite Georgetown's best efforts in the second half, it was enough for a 73-57 victory to send Seton Hall to the semifinals.

Here are the 4 Thoughts:

1. The Powell Show

Where were you during the first half of the game on Thursday night? If you were at The Garden, you witnessed history. 

In a year where Myles Powell has taken over so often, put his talents on display so much, nothing he has done before tops the awesome performance he put on in the first 20 minutes. He scored a new Big East Tournament record (for a single half) 29 points, shooting 10-of-14 from the field and 4-for-7 from deep. 

In the process, Madison Square Garden showed why there's no arena like it in the world. The World's Most Famous Arena is spoken about with reverence because of all the legendary performances it has housed, and Powell's belongs up there. He had everyone in the place, except maybe the outnumbered Georgetown fans, hanging on his every move, every dribble, and every shot.

It was astounding to witness, and I feel privileged to have done so with my own two eyes. He basically took any hope that the Hoyas had of winning the game, and shredded it to little tiny bits. Powell finished with 31 points, the third-most ever by a Seton Hall player in the Big East Tournament.

2. The Powell Injury

With under four minutes remaining and Seton Hall up comfortably, Powell drove inside and came up a little gimpy, favoring his left leg. He then exited the court and briefly went back to the locker room, causing all of the Seton Hall fans to hold their breath.

But Powell eventually returned to the bench, and he was asked about the injury after the game.

"I feel great," the junior star said. "I'll be ready for tomorrow."

Crisis seemingly averted. We'll take him at his word.

3. Defending MSG

Before Powell started cooking with gas and burning the place to the ground, Seton Hall really started its roll on the defensive end. The Pirates started to turn the young Hoyas over, and turned those giveaways into points on the other end nearly every time in the first half. They finished with 20 off of only 10 forced turnovers before halftime, and it was the kind of team defense the Pirates are known for when they're really going good: The solid rotations, help-side defense, and timely recovery. 

"I like where we are," head coach Kevin Willard said. "I think we understand concepts well defensively. We're complicated, we do complicated things on defense to get teams not to be comfortable, and because our concepts are down, I think that's why we've played some really good halves of basketball."

In addition to what the Hall did, Jay Wright said something interesting after his Villanova Wildcats dispatched with Providence early in the day, that young players -- when they get their first experience at MSG in the Big East Tournament -- tend to struggle a bit. The Hoyas went through some of that tonight, while the Seton Hall players -- who obviously had two games that were Big East Tournament-like earlier this year against Kentucky and St. John's -- handled themselves well, led of course by Powell.

4. Golden Eagle Preview

With the win, Seton Hall gets to take on Marquette, a team it just beat with a gigantic second-half comeback engineered by (who else?) Powell that saved its NCAA hopes nine days ago in Newark.

Marquette is coming off a similar dominant win over St. John's in the quarterfinals where its star player, Markus Howard, went off for 30 points himself. Willard spoke about the matchup tonight.

"I think the biggest challenge is obviously Markus had a great game (tonight)," Willard said. "I thought he played under control and got everyone involved, and I think that's what makes him hard to defend."

"The good thing is that we just played them on Wednesday," he added. "The review will be quicker, and the guys will understand what we're doing. We'll make some adjustments offensively and a few tweaks defensively, but we have to deal with one of the best players in the country."

It is the third time in the last four years that Seton Hall has advanced to the semifinal round, losing in a heartbreaker to Villanova in 2017 after taking it all the way the previous season. It will be a great matchup and grand atmosphere against the Golden Eagles, whose fans were out in full force earlier in the evening.

Stay with us at Daly Dose Of Hoops for coverage tomorrow night.