Seton Hall's gallant effort reveals maturation from start to finish

Kevin Willard and Seton Hall defied expectations this season, coming from eighth-place preseason prediction to two points shy of Big East championship. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEW YORK —  It was set up so beautifully, and ironically, on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Here was Seton Hall, having survived a barrage of fouls and attrition to beat Marquette the night before, and advance to play Villanova, the top dogs (cats?) in the Big East, in a rematch of the epic 2016 title game.

The game lived up to the billing, as the two teams — the perennial favorite and the constant foil — went toe-to-toe for 40 minutes, displaying the trademark Big East grit that has marked the league for its entire existence. In the end, it was the Wildcats who held on at the end, sending the Pirates to the tough loss in a reversal of 2016. 

But it was how the Pirates got there, both in the game and in the season, that struck me as the buzzer sounded and the scoreboard read "Villanova 74, Seton Hall 72."

Think back to the beginning of the year. The Pirates had just lost one of the most-decorated and successful recruiting classes in their history, and were left with a roster that presented a lot of questions that did not truly have answers. Fast-forward to Saturday night, and it's a totally different team, one primed for another trip to the Big Dance.

That kind of transformation does not happen without strong leadership, and Myles Powell — who led the Pirates with 25 points in the defeat — has been that focal point for the Hall. I asked him about his leadership role in helping mold the team from a team everyone thought would end up in the NIT all the way to the Big East final and a fourth-straight NCAA Tournament.

"When I was a freshman, I remember the seniors talking to me and doing the little things to show me how to be involved with the team," Powell said. "Me and Mike (Nzei), we've tried to pass that on to the younger guys. We go to them with all love, talk to them as brothers, and they listen. That's the best part, they want to get better. When you have a group of guys like that, it makes it ten times easier."

But with this team, it's also a two-way street, as Nzei pointed out in the locker room. 

"It started with Coach," the fifth-year senior said of Kevin Willard. "He put us all in a position where we could hold ourselves accountable. I've been down a lot of times, and one of the younger guys picked me up. They've been down a lot of times, and I've picked them up. It hasn't just been one player, we always look within ourselves to pick (the team) up.

"The growth for these young guys has been really tremendous," Nzei added. "I saw them from when they got here to where they are now, and they have made big improvements."

The biggest example of those improvements in the championship game itself was Anthony Nelson. The freshman point guard played his best game against the Wildcats after coming in for a hobbled Quincy McKnight, who tweaked his groin in the early second half. He scored a career-high 12 points in 16 minutes, played admirable defense on Villanova senior point guard Phil Booth, and gave the Pirates a chance to come back and win.

But it goes beyond Nelson. All throughout this season, the youthful Pirates have gained experience, learned from it, and kept on fighting. Sandro Mamukelashvili was a bit timid and not as confident in his skills at the beginning of the season. Well, on Saturday, he scored seven points and snagged 14 rebounds to cap off a tournament in which he averaged nearly a double-double, and coupled with the regular season finale against the Wildcats, has now scored 41 points along with 48 rebounds (10.3 points, 12.0 rebounds on average per game) in his last four contests.

Romaro Gill barely saw the floor for much of non-conference play, but down the stretch came on strong, helping save Seton Hall's bacon in the semifinals and adding six points to the cause in the title tilt. 

As a result of all this growth, the true story of the 2018-19 Seton Hall Pirates turns out to be not the story a rebuilding season, but the tale of a team that came together and matured as a single unit. They truly enjoy each other, and it shows in the way they talk about each other in addition to how they come together on the court. That environment has in turn fostered a culture where players like Mamukelashvili, Nelson, Gill and Myles Cale could improve and play as they have down the stretch this season.

As for the skipper? He's thrilled with the journey.

"I can't talk enough about how proud I am of this team," Willard said. "This team has been so much fun to coach, so much fun to be around, so much fun to battle with. This (loss) hurts because I think both teams laid it out on the line, and we had a big, big shot to win it, but I think it shows more about the heart and character of these kids. We've gotten down, and these guys keep fighting, they keep believing, no matter what's going on within the flow of the game."  

Seton Hall lost a tough game to a tough team, but the Pirates have more basketball to play. Their late-season surge has led them back into March Madness, and Willard had a telling final quote that illustrated just how far they've come.

"I have such great confidence in the team that they'll bounce back," he said. "To be honest with you, I'm looking forward to the NCAA Tournament. I have more confidence in my team than I think I ever have."

One thing is certain: His team will be ready for the challenge, and face it like what it is: A family.