JP's 5 Thoughts: Seton Hall bests Marquette in wild contest to advance to Big East championship

Myles Powell drove past Marquette and into Big East championship as Seton Hall survived Golden Eagles and nine combined technical fouls to win Friday's semifinal. (Photo by Fox Sports)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEW YORK -- Seton Hall's quarterfinal win over Georgetown was memorable for all the right reasons, with Myles Powell setting the tournament record for points in a half. 

The Pirates’ semifinal win over Marquette? It's going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons in what can only be described as the most utterly preposterous basketball game I myself have ever witnessed in a decade of covering Seton Hall basketball. Seton Hall somehow won the game, 81-79, and will play Villanova in a rematch of the 2016 Big East Title game for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament Saturday night.

Here are the Thoughts:

1. #RefShowApocalypse

Dear Lord in Heaven, what a display.

There are #RefShows, and then there's what happened at the Garden in this game. What was a scrappy, chippy, hard-fought game turned into all-out mayhem in the second half when Powell was fouled hard going to the basket by Sacar Anim with 12:48 remaining. Powell went crashing into the cheerleaders, and chaos ensued as Marquette's Anim and Theo John as well as Powell and Seton Hall's Sandro Mamukelashvili got into it.

Here's an explanation from lead official James Breeding via a pool reporter:

"So the initial play when 13 white, Powell, for Seton Hall drives, he is fouled, common foul by 2 (Anim) for Marquette. After that foul, the ball's now dead, Theo John contacts him in a vulnerable position, we deemed the contact severe and ejected him for a flagrant technical foul. That's kind of sequence one. After that happened, we then had 13 for Seton Hall get up and get into a verbal altercation with 2 for Marquette. They were assessed a double technical foul. That was the second technical foul on 2 for Marquette. By rule, he's ejected for two unsporting technical fouls. It was the only the first technical foul on 13 for Seton Hall. His play in the first half where he received a flagrant personal foul is not a technical foul. So by rule, he can play with one flagrant personal foul and one technical foul. You have to have two technicals to be ejected. The last part of that sequence is, 23 white (Mamukelashvili) for Seton Hall comes in and makes unsporting contact that we deemed severe in nature, and he was ejected for a flagrant technical foul."

Powell left the floor thinking he was ejected, but then assistant coach Duane Woodward ran back to the locker room and grabbed Powell, letting him know that he was not ejected. 

And that was only the beginning. The rest of the game, Breeding, Tim Clougherty and Jeff Clark called the game tight, and really, they had no choice but to do so given the circumstances. The game had already spiraled out of control.

But down the stretch, there were two other ridiculous technical fouls, one called on Quincy McKnight for walking away after he was whistled for a foul on Markus Howard, which Breeding called “reacting in an unsporting manner,” and then one on Jared Rhoden for hanging on the rim after missing a dunk. 

In all, there were NINE technical fouls called in the game in addition to the 49 personal fouls called. Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski lamented in his press conference that the players didn't decide the game on either team, and he was absolutely right: It got to a point where it turned into a war of attrition, and to have such a contest with a trip to the conference title game on the line only compounded the outrage felt by every fan in the stands not to mention the thousands more watching on TV.

The good news for Seton Hall? None of the technicals were deemed acts of fighting, so there will be no suspensions heading into tomorrow. But it's the silver lining to the dark cloud that will hang over this game for years to come.

2. Quintessential Quincy

Now on to the actual basketball. Howard, the Big East Player of the Year, came in riding a 30-point masterpiece in Marquette's dissection of St. John's in the quarterfinals, but his last meeting with Quincy McKnight resulted in just 2-of-11 shooting and six points.

Tonight, Howard was smothered again by McKnight, who earns Player of the Game in my eyes. The sharpshooter shot an astounding 1-for-15 from the field, almost all of that while being guarded by the Pirates' junior point man. He hurt his non-shooting wrist late in the first half, and that did not help matters. Plus, while he got to the free throw line 24 times, shooting more than half of Marquette's attempts for the game, he missed six free throws as well.

Then, when all the carnage started with the officiating, it was McKnight that took the reins offensively, scoring 11 of his 18 points down the stretch. He also contributed four assists and only one turnover, and while he did end up fouling out with about one minute to play, he spent most of the night defending Howard AND avoiding foul trouble, his Achilles heel this season.

He made the difference for the Pirates late, as did a certain seven-footer...

3. Golden Gill

The other difference-maker was Romaro Gill. When Mamukelashvili was ejected, Seton Hall was down a big man in their (at this point) three-big rotation, and that meant major minutes for Gill. The big man played nearly 19 minutes in the game, and scored six points with five rebounds.

But he was also a plus-17, the best rating on the entire Pirates team, and had four points and four rebounds down the stretch after the aforementioned big scrum. It served as a reminder that while his stats may not be eye-popping, Gill has had several games this year where he's been arguably the biggest difference between the Pirates winning and the Pirates losing. 

4. Posting Up

Gill was part of the equation, but all the Seton Hall big men played well in this one. Michael Nzei played in his program-record 133rd career game, and in his Nzei-like way, put up 14 points and 15 rebounds, not to mention 8-of-10 shooting at the free throw line, before fouling out. It was also his 88th career win, putting him into a tie for third place with the legendary Terry Dehere on the Seton Hall career victories list.

Meanwhile, Mamukelashvili was one of the key factors in the Pirates not getting run off the floor by the Hausers early. After putting up a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Georgetown win, he had 10 points and six boards tonight, along with two blocks. Coming off 12 points and 18 boards in the season finale against Villanova, that's three straight solid games for the polysyllabic sophomore as he continues to get steadily more confident out on the floor.

5. We Meet Again

It's Seton Hall vs Villanova for all the Big East marbles, and the league's automatic bid to the Big Dance. 

The Pirates now get to dance with the Wildcats in an exact rematch, seeding included, of the 2016 title game, and head coach Kevin Willard had some thoughts on how this year's team is similar to that program-changing squad of sophomores led by Isaiah Whitehead.

"This team reminds me a little of (2016)," he said. "We're young, we play hard, we're scrappy, we're led by a phenomenal player just like we were with Isaiah. (Myles) has kind of done the same thing as Isaiah, he put the team on his back and stayed with it. It's a testament to him, he's an emotional kid, and he's our leader, and he's done a phenomenal job."

All throughout the new Big East era, two things have been certain: Villanova dominating the league, and Seton Hall being by far the most effective foil to that dominance. The Pirates have beaten Villanova four times overall since the start of the 2013-14 season, including the 2016 title game and the season finale this year. They also have three other losses by two points or fewer, including one in overtime.

Consider also that Villanova has won eight straight games at the Big East Tournament and 13 of its last 14. The loss that preceded the streak? The Sterling Gibbs buzzer-beater. The only loss in the streak? The 2016 title game. Both times, the Wildcats fell to the Pirates.

The Wildcats needed overtime and a sudden finding of its offense against Xavier in the other semifinal, riding senior leader Phil Booth to a comeback victory. Will that extra time affect the perpetual number-one seed? We shall see. Madison Square Garden will be full to the brim and ready to go, and Seton Hall has another chance to show its fans and the conference just how much it has grown over the course of this year.

In the words of Jack Buck, we will see you tomorrow night. Even if, thanks to this preposterous game, it's technically tonight.