Seton Hall tops St. John's for 8th straight win
NEW YORK (AP) Myles Powell scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half and No. 18 Seton Hall rallied past St. John's 82-79 on Saturday, extending its winning streak to eight games.
Quincy McKnight added 20 points and 7-foot-2 Romaro Gill had 14 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks for the Pirates (14-4, 6-0 Big East). Myles Cale scored 12.
Seton Hall, the only unbeaten team in Big East play, is 6-0 in conference games for the first time since the league's inception in 1979.
The Pirates' winning streak matches their longest in Kevin Willard's 10 seasons as coach.
Mustapha Heron scored 18 for the Red Storm (12-7, 1-5), and Josh Roberts had 16 points and eight rebounds. LJ Figueroa had 16 points and a career-high seven steals.
With a fast-break layup early in the second half, Powell became the fifth Seton Hall player to reach 2,000 career points, joining Terry Dehere, Nick Werkman, Jeremy Hazell and Greg Tynes.
Powell clutched the game ball as he shook hands with St. John's players and hugged them after the final horn.
McKnight made the second of two free throws to give the Pirates a 76-75 lead with 1:10 left, and Rasheem Dunn was called for charging at the other end. Powell drove for a tough layup with 28.8 seconds remaining before Dunn's layup cut the margin to one again.
Cale and McKnight each sank two free throws in the final 20 seconds, and Seton Hall held on when Marcellus Earlington's long, hurried 3-point attempt was short of the rim at the buzzer.
After trailing by 43-30 at halftime, Seton Hall stormed back and took its first lead at 61-58 on a 3-pointer by Powell with 8:17 remaining. The rally was aided by two jumpers from Cale early in the second half that were subsequently changed to 3s following replay reviews during a timeout.
Figueroa hit a 3 to tie it again with 7:42 left, and the Tri-State Area rivals traded blows down the stretch before a crowd filled with fans of both schools.
BIG PICTURE
Seton Hall: The veteran Pirates were picked first in the Big East preseason coaches' poll, barely edging Villanova, and they've shown why. After opening at No. 12 and then falling out of the Top 25, they returned to the rankings this week and figure to climb following a pair of road wins.
St. John's: In their first season under coach Mike Anderson, the Red Storm went 11-2 in nonconference games, but they've had trouble closing out opponents since Big East play began.
UP NEXT
Seton Hall: Three straight Big East home games, beginning with a visit from Providence on Wednesday night.
St. John's: After trying to contain Powell, the Red Storm face another preseason first-team All-American when they hit the road Tuesday night to take on Markus Howard and Marquette. Howard, who began the day leading the nation in scoring at 27.3 points per game, is the reigning conference player of the year. But he was held to 12.5 ppg on 7 of 32 shooting in two regular-season losses to St. John's last year, half his season scoring average. Howard then poured in 30 points in a blowout win over the Red Storm in the Big East Tournament.
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