Seton Hall gets the job done against Marquette, 88-79

Date: February 29, 2020

By: Michael Daly

The Seton Hall Pirates (21-7 overall record, 13-3 Big East record) held off the Marquette Golden Eagles (18-10 overall record, 8-8 Big East record) with a nine-point victory, 88-79.

The game began with a layup by Sandro Mamukelashvili, but Marquette responded with a Markus Howard three-ball 46 seconds into the contest, leading 3-2 over Seton Hall. Within the first five minutes of action, both sides were trading blows with Seton Hall leading 9-8 at the 15:36 waypoint.

Ike Obiagu checked into the game following the under-16 media timeout and made his presence known with a ferocious slam. Seton Hall had the 14-8 lead with 14:17 to go in the opening half.

In just over a minute, the Pirates extended their lead to 10 points, 20-10, at the 13:04 mark. Romaro Gill was called for a foul at the 9:10 mark on Koby McEwen and both attempts were swished by McEwen, trailing Seton Hall, 25-18.

Jared Rhoden continued his successful shooting performance in the first half with a basket from downtown that extended Seton Hall’s lead to 12 points, 32-10, at the 7:09 point. The Pirates went more than two minutes of play before they scored again until Myles Powell drove inside and laid the ball in with 4:44 remaining.

An immediate response was heard from Howard as he nailed a transitional three on the left arc, which made it a 34-27 deficit for the Golden Eagles with 4:32 to go. Powell and Myles Cale hit consecutive three-pointers with over one-minute remaining. Marquette trailed by 11 points until Howard closed out the half with a layup and the score was in favor of Seton Hall by nine, 44-35.

Gill kicked off the second half for the Hall with two dunks in just more than one-minute in. Seton Hall led 48-35. The Pirates pulled away from Marquette at the 16:37 mark with a 56-38 thanks to a Mamukelashvili jumper on the right side. With 12:25 left in the game, Rhoden gave Seton Hall a 23-point lead with a three-pointer, 69-46.

Howard and Greg Elliott teamed up for back-to-back three-balls and the Golden Eagles trailed 77-60 with 8:13 remaining. At the 4:24 mark, the well ran dry for Seton Hall as they hit only one of their previous seven attempts from the field. After Sacar Anim hit a three-point shot for Marquette, Mamukelashvili answered back with a three of his own and the Pirates were ahead 84-68 with 3:43 to go.

Just when it looked like the Pirates had everything under control, Anim claimed five quick points for Marquette. Seton Hall would keep Marquette at bay, and they won the game, 88-79.

The highly anticipated showdown between Powell and Howard did not disappoint, as Powell scored 28 points and Howard kept Marquette around with 37 points. Seton Hall finished the game shooting 53.3% from the field.

The Prudential Center will host Seton Hall’s next game on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. against Villanova.

Michael Daly is the Web Editor at WSOU Sports and can be reached at wsousportswebeditor@gmail.com.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Men's Basketball