COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Having already stunned powerhouses from the Southeast Conference and Big Ten, Seton Hall appears more than ready to make some noise in the Big East.
Myles Powell scored 27 points, Myles Cale added 23 and the Pirates used a late surge to defeat Maryland 78-74 Saturday, their second big upset in a two-week span.
Seton Hall (9-3) will bring a five-game winning streak into the conference opener against St. John’s next weekend. The run of success includes an overtime stunner against then-No. 9 Kentucky on Dec. 8 and this one against a Maryland team that was ranked earlier this month.
“We can be very good,” Powell said. “We’re right where we want to be. We’re 9-3, we control our own destiny and we’re looking forward to Big East play.”
Seton Hall trailed 56-54 before Powell and Cale combined to score the Pirates’ next 16 points for a 70-64 lead with 1:56 left.
After a 3-pointer by Anthony Cowan Jr. got the Terrapins to 72-71 with 34 seconds remaining, Cale hit two foul shots and Powell followed a Maryland misfire with a pair of free throws to make it 76-71.
Powell went 8 for 14 from the floor, hitting three from behind the arc, and made all eight of his foul shots.
Coming off a 10-day layoff, Maryland (9-3) fell behind early and hurt itself by going 12 for 20 from the foul line and missing 17-of-25 3-point shots.
But coach Mark Turgeon understood that Seton Hall had a lot to do with the Terrapins’ shoddy performance.
“That’s a really good team,” Turgeon said. “It’s getting better and played really well today.”
He added: “Let’s be real. They made free throws and we didn’t. They made open shots and we didn’t.”
Seton Hall shot 50 percent in the second half and finished 18 for 21 at the foul line.
“I feel like we’re perfect,” Cale insisted. “We’re really good where we’re at right now. Got good victories under our belt.”
Bruno Fernando had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Terrapins, Cowan scored 15 and Jalen Smith had 14.
“We’ve got to have more players play better,” Turgeon said.
Maryland trailed 52-51 before Cowan hit a jumper and backcourt mate Darryl Morsell nailed a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired for a 56-52 lead with 7:50 left. The Pirates momentarily moved back in front before Eric Ayala connected from beyond the arc and Smith added a follow-dunk to make it 61-57.
But the Terrapins could not fend off the feisty Pirates. A 3-point play by Powell and two straight baskets by Cale put Seton Hall up 68-64 with 2:46 remaining.
“We’re not scared of anybody just because they got a name of their jersey,” Cale said. “It doesn’t mean nothing.”
Fernando scored 13 points, and Maryland recovered from a poor start to take a 34-30 halftime lead.
The Terrapins opened 2-for-8 shooting with three turnovers and fell behind 16-5 after Seton Hall made seven of its first 11 shots.
“We looked like we hadn’t played in a while,” Turgeon said.
It was 26-21 before Fernando made a layup, a dunk and two free throws to give the Terrapins their first lead.