JP's 5 Thoughts: Powell, Pirates stun Marquette with late run

Myles Powell's 34 points led Seton Hall on game-ending 18-0 run to upset Marquette Wednesday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, NJ -- Wednesday night was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent in the Christian faith, a time of solemnity and prayer.

And in Newark, Myles Powell responded to Seton Hall's prayers by leaving Marquette in ashes after torching them for 34 points, including 12 straight during a game-ending 18-0 Pirates run, in a 73-64 victory that gave the team's NCAA tournament hopes a big boost at Prudential Center.

Here are the 5 Thoughts:

1. What Else Can You Say?

I mean, really. Much ink has been spent in praise of Seton Hall's electric scorer, but however much that ends up being, it still won't be enough. Seton Hall was down 13 points, 59-46, with 9:45 remaining, and called timeout. 

Powell, who had been trying to force the issue unsuccessfully for a few straight possessions, and with Seton Hall sitting on just a single made three-pointer for the whole game, hit a step-back, corner triple that bounced on the rim a few times before dropping. It turned out to be the first three points in a 27-5 Seton Hall run to close out the game.

"When I hit that three in front of my bench that bounced up on the rim and then I came down and got a layup," Powell said when asked what was the turning point of the game. "(From there), things just started flowing."

Head coach Kevin Willard concurred with his superstar.

"That Myles Powell three, when it hit the rim and backboard and went in, I just think it kind of relaxed them a little bit, and gave him the opportunity," Willard said. "I kind of just saw it in his eyes that he was going to take over, and he was just phenomenal the last five minutes."  

Indeed. The Pirates and Golden Eagles traded hoops until the 4:22 mark, when with the Hall down 64-55, McKnight made a layup that kicked off the game-ending 18-0 spurt. It was Powell who took over from there, scoring 12 straight points to put the Pirates ahead for good, including a go-ahead three-pointer from right near the sideline that the whole arena knew was going in when he released the shot.

Asked what his mentality is in that situation, a situation that he has found himself in so often this year, Powell had two words:

"Kill everything."  

Quincy McKnight summed it up nicely as well.

"When he gets hot like that, there's nobody in the country that can guard him...except me," the junior guard said with a smirk.

2. McKnight-time for Markus Howard

Speaking of Quincy McKnight, he may have only had five points in the game, but he added six assists against just one turnover, and three steals. What also shows up is the final line of Marquette's superstar guard Markus Howard, his primary assignment on defense: Six points, five assists, and five turnovers on 2-of-11 shooting.

It was a virtuoso defensive effort against one of the best players in the nation for a guy who has done it to so many opponents this year. Down the stretch, one possession sticks out to me: The Golden Eagles ran a set to try and get Howard the basketball, and were unable to do so as McKnight fought through a double screen, then stuck to him like glue on the perimeter for the rest of the possession, which resulted in a Sam Hauser miss as part of the aforementioned game-sealing run.

Willard extolled McKnight's defense on Howard in the first half, when he was held scoreless until the final minute of the stanza, but it was a consistent effort as well whenever Howard was on the court. 

"He's the defensive player of the year in the Big East," Powell said. "He does it night in and night out. He does it to me in practice. We believe in him and that was the big thing coming in. (We said) 'Quincy, show us where your heart is, it starts with you on defense.'"  

3. Very Superstitious

In a season with so much unpredictability, and with the pressure on every college basketball team in this mad month of March, teams sometimes turn to something new, anything that can keep the mojo up and the spirits high.

The Pirates have done a couple of things, and the first is a time-honored tradition from the sport of ice hockey: Playoff beards, at least for the staff.

"So, (my brother and I) are having a contest," Willard said. "I think he's Italian or something, because I don't know how he's growing that beard the way."

Pointing at himself, Willard continued.

"This is now like, two weeks, and it's terrible looking...and then Tony Testa, our trainer, he just started two days ago, and he looks like Sylvester Stallone in Cobra. I can't do it, but we're calling it the playoff beard, so we're all going to keep them and we're all going to grow them. I'm going to lose, but as long as we win games, I don't really care."  

That's not to say the players don't have some superstitions themselves, as McKnight revealed to me afterwards.

"We talk about sneakers that we want to wear before the games," McKnight said. "Me, Myles Powell and Myles Cale have been trying to match sneakers. (Powell)'s in the locker room saying, 'Oh, I don't know if I want to play in these because we lost in these,' or, 'I don't know if these have enough ammo in them for me to score." And we're just like 'What?' Every pair of sneakers you put on, you're going to score."

To each his own. As the saying goes, it's only crazy if it doesn't work.

4. #TheCusterStreak

Tonight's incredible win for the Pirates kept a long streak alive. No, not the Pirates' NCAA tournament streak: There are still games yet to be played, although tonight's result definitely makes you feel better about it continuing for a fourth straight year.

No, I'm referring to the most-remarkable streak that no one outside of the Pirates' fan base is probably aware of, and it involves Fox Sports announcer Brian Custer. The play-by-play man has now been on the call for 20 Seton Hall games over the last couple years. And with tonight's win, Seton Hall is now 20-0 with Custer on the microphone. If it wasn't real, I don't think I would believe it. Rest assured, though: Kevin Willard knows about it.

"Oh, yeah! Brian Custer's getting the biggest...I have a bottle of wine that I bought a couple of years ago in Napa," Willard said. "I'm actually sending it back to the guy, and I'm gonna get it engraved for him and I'm gonna send it to him. He looked over at me with like, 12 seconds to go, smiling, and I said, 'I'm gonna call Fox and say, 'Why can't I get Brian Custer, why can't I get him on my game every time?' It's unbelievable, but I'll take it, man, I love that guy."

5. Dancing Time?

Coming into tonight, Seton Hall was basically right on the bubble. Even with recent losses to Xavier and Georgetown, many still had the Pirates in the dance, albeit as one of the last couple teams in the field. Their non-conference strength of schedule, the best in the Willard era, has saved them so far, with the MSG win over Kentucky and true road win over Maryland boosting them past similar teams with far less non-conference street cred.

Going into the St. John's game, we said that Seton Hall would need to win two of its final four games to make it to the Dance, with the stipulation that they would likely not sweep their final two home games against Marquette and Villanova. But then the Pirates lost at St. John's and at Georgetown, and so things got even more difficult.

But now, the outlook is rosier. The Pirates have another opportunity to cement their case heading into the Big East Tournament against the Wildcats on Saturday, against a Villanova team that, while not the Wildcats of the last three years, is still ranked and formidable, led by one of the best coaches in the country.

Powell had this to say of the team's mentality heading into the game tonight:

"We knew what was on the line," he said. "We were just fighting for what we've been fighting for all year. We knew we had an opportunity tonight, and we seized the moment."  

The Pirates will need that same March mentality against Villanova on Saturday. What is comforting for Seton Hall fans in big-game situations, of course, is that they have a big-game player, a player who seizes those moments.

Put simply, sometimes, it comes down to this, as it did on Wednesday: Seton Hall has Myles Powell, and the other team doesn't.