Myles Powell stared at the basket in disbelief. Now, with just 1.4 seconds left on the clock and the result decided, the ball finally dropped through the hoop.
The superstar senior wasn’t himself, and neither was Seton Hall’s typically stifling defense. All the positive momentum from the weekend’s first road win at Villanova in 26 years didn’t carry over into Wednesday night.
No. 23 Creighton took advantage, handing the 10th-ranked Pirates their second straight home loss, 87-82, in front of 9,736 at Prudential Center, moving the Bluejays to within two games of Big East-leading Seton Hall with six games remaining.
Powell had a miserable night, scoring 12 points on 3 of 16 shooting, and the Bluejays’ balanced scoring attack — five players reached double figures — was too much to overcome. Powell missed his first seven shots from the field and didn’t hit a 3-pointer until his final attempt, making just 1 of 11 from distance.
“We can’t blame him. This loss isn’t on him — it’s on everybody,” point guard Quincy McKnight said. “It’s a team thing.”
In a matchup of the league’s best offensive team against its top defensive team, hot-shooting Creighton prevailed, putting 87 points on Seton Hall (18-6, 10-2) — a season-high allowed by the Pirates. But this wasn’t just about the Bluejays’ shooting. They were the more aggressive, desperate team, holding their own in the paint despite a marked size disadvantage and keeping Powell out of the lane.
Foul woes limited power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (13 points, six rebounds) to just 15 minutes, after he was such a force in the win over Villanova, and the flu going through the team didn’t help either.
“We didn’t play good enough defense and that kind of got us,” said center Romaro Gill — who had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. “It was both. They played very good offense and we didn’t play our best defense.”
Twice, once in each half, Seton Hall seemed ready to gain control. But each time, Creighton answered with a big run. A 15-2 spurt created an eight-point lead late in the first half for the Bluejays. Seton Hall was up by four with 7:55 left before Creighton (19-6, 8-4) responded with nine consecutive points, taking the lead for good.
Seton Hall got as close as one, following a Gill layup with 1:13 left, but a missed assignment led to a wide-open Denzel Mahoney (18 points) 3-pointer and Shavar Reynolds missed on the other end. Following a Jared Rhoden three-point play, the Pirates got back to within two. But there was just 15.8 seconds left, and Ty-Shon Alexander iced it at the line.
“I think they’re really good and really tough, and there’s a reason why they average 77 points a game in conference play,” Willard said. “I thought our defense was not where it usually is or should be. I think they’re really good offensively, and I don’t think we played really well defensively.”
After winning 10 straight games, Seton Hall has split its past four, losing both times at home. Of course, the Pirates remain 10-2 in the league, in the driver’s seat to win the powerhouse conference for the first time in 27 years.
“We’re not going to make a big deal of it,” said McKnight — the best Pirate on this night, notching 20 points and six assists. “We lost, it’s not our first loss of the season. Hopefully it’s our last loss of the season.”