Game Preview: Seton Hall set to face Villanova in Big East Tournament Championship (3/16/19)

Date: March 16, 2019

By Dagen Hughes

 

For the third time this season, Seton Hall will face off with Villanova, now with a chance at the Big East Conference crown. The Pirates defeated Marquette, 81-79, in a wild semifinal game. Villanova, the one-seed, defeated Xavier in the first semifinal, 71-67 in overtime.

 

Seton Hall will be making their fourth appearance all-time in the Big East Championship game. The Pirates are 3-0 all-time on the final day of the tournament. The game last night featured a little bit of everything. The Pirates were able to walk away with a victory in a game that resulted in eight technical fouls, 85 free throws, and three ejections. It was none other than Myles Powell leading the way for the Pirates as he finished with 22 points and seven assists. Quincy McKnight also provided a solid compliment to Powell by adding 18 points and four assists.

 

In the earlier semifinal, Villanova was able to complete the comeback against Xavier and punch their ticket to the final for the fifth straight season. Phil Booth dropped 28 points, dished five assists, and grabbed seven rebounds. Jermaine Samuels helped the Wildcats to victory with 17 points and nine rebounds. It was a late tip-in by Eric Paschall that pushed the game to overtime, before the Wildcats were able to come away with the victory.

 

This will be the second time in four seasons that these two teams will face off in the Big East Championship game. The last meeting came in 2016, and the Pirates were able to walk away with the victory in a thriller from Madison Square Garden. Coach Kevin Willard can see some of the same traits of that team in his squad this season.

 

“We play really hard. We're scrappy. We're led by a phenomenal player, just like we were with Isaiah (Whitehead), who's as good as any player I've ever coached, but he's (Powell) kind of done the same thing as Isaiah. He's kind of put a team on his back and stayed with it. It's a testament to him that he's an emotional kid and he's our emotional leader and he's our leader, and he's done a phenomenal job, just like Isaiah did.”

 

Tonight’s matchup is set to tip-off at 6:30 p.m. and WSOU will have the pregame coverage starting at 6:15 p.m. Dalton Allison and Chris Famularo will have you covered before tip-off, while Matt Ambrose and Frank Frasco will be calling the game live for Madison Square Garden.

 

Dagen Hughes can be reached at dagen.hughes@student.shu.edu.

 

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