Late lead slips away to Seton Hall

Thursday, November 22

Fullerton, Calif.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-2

Seton Hall

2-2

Seton Hall

Grand Canyon

11/22/2018 10:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

GCU yields 62 percent shooting, Powell's 40 points in tourney opener

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

FULLERTON, Calif. – Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard heaped praise on Grand Canyon, the Lopes' loyal fans and head coach Dan Majerle.

GCU made its presence known in Titan Gym like no other fan faction at the Wooden Legacy tournament Thursday.

The Lopes took their first lead since 2-0 with 2:07 to remaining after a stirring nine-point turnaround.

With all that good, no Lope was willing to give thanks for the holiday result. Seton Hall downed GCU 82-75 by scoring the final nine points of the tourney's first-round game. The Lopes return Friday for a 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) game against Utah (2-2) on ESPN3.

It took a sizzling performance from Pirates guard Myles Powell to hold off the Lopes (3-2). Powell was better than any Thanksgiving dish, scoring 40 points on only 16 shots. By making 12 of those attempts and 11 free throws, Powell tied reigning NBA MVP James Harden's 10-year-old tournament record for most points in a regulation game.

"I'm disappointed," Majerle said. "We're at the point of our program — six years as a Division I team — that we expect to win every game. We knew this was going to be extremely tough. Seton Hall is a very good team. They are very well-coached with a lot of talent but this is a game we wanted to come in and win. Our guys are disappointed. I'm happy with our effort. It was just too much Powell. He just had one of those games and we knew he was able to do it. We concentrated on him. We tried different coverages. But he just continued to make big shots and we couldn't stop him."

To battle a GCU Division I opponent record shooting night of 62 percent by Seton Hall (2-2), the Lopes needed senior center Alessandro Lever's and sophomore point guard Damari Milstead's best performances of the young season.

Lever played with foul trouble in each half but posted 20 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes. He was more authoritative on the post than he had been this season and gave GCU a key run of three consecutive scores when Seton Hall was threatening to pull away.

"That was the old Ale from last year," Majerle said of Lever. "He had a lot of confidence. He made some outside jumpers. The best thing was he got in foul trouble but didn't foul out. He was good down in the post. I was happy for him. He's worked hard. He's going to have to play like that for us to be good. That's the best I've seen him this year."

Milstead has been gradually more impactful this season, going from 14 points in the first three games combined to scoring 14 in Friday's home win and leading the team with 21 points against Seton Hall.

The Lopes were trailing 69-62 before Milstead scored seven of GCU's points in a 13-4 run. Playing with Tim and Michael Finke, Lever and senior Gerard Martin down the stretch, GCU took its first lead since 2-0 at 73-72 when Tim Finke set up a Michael Finke 3-pointer with 2:07 remaining. After Seton Hall tied the game on a free throw, Milstead pulled up in the lane for a lean-back jumper that gave the Lopes a 75-73 lead with 1:33 remaining.

Seton Hall, coming off close losses to Nebraska (4-1) and St. Louis (4-1), had an ensuing miss but a second chance set up a Powell 3-pointer that sparked the 9-0 run over the final 66 seconds. Lever was at the rim but missed a potential go-ahead shot with 38 seconds remaining.

"What Dan has done there and what Grand Canyon has done with that program in such a short period of time is nothing short of a miracle," Willard said. "I just enjoyed watching them on the film because I loved to see their student section and how involved they were.

"They traveled so well. It shows what Dan's doing as the program. It shows that the university is committed. I think it's something special. I think they have something really special going on there."

Even with Havocs and hundreds of other GCU followers creating a home-court advantage, the Lopes trailed for nearly all of the game. Early turnovers and Lever foul trouble put the Lopes in an 18-10 hole before the bench bailed out GCU again.

Milstead made two 3-pointers and penetrated the paint to score nine points over three minutes and tie the game. The Lopes tied the game on three occasions in the first half but Seton Hall would surge back in front each time.

"When 11 (Milstead), 42 (Martin) and 5 (Matt Jackson) check in the game, that's the hardest group of guys on the court I've seen in a long time," Willard said. "They pick up the intensity defensively so well. They're not as skilled as the first group but they play so much harder, which is hard to do because the first group plays really hard."

Unlike previous games, Lever returned in the first half with two fouls and scored twice and assisted on another basket to retie the game. Seton Hall only led 40-37 at halftime despite 65 percent shooting because it committed 10 turnovers. The Pirates entered the game shooting 40.2 percent on the season.

The GCU starters' defense allowed scores on the first five Pirates possessions of the second half to set up another mad scramble to stay in the game. Once again, Seton Hall could never stretch its lead into double digits. With GCU down 63-55, Lever had his finest stretch with a 3-pointer, foul drawn and a score off a spin move in the post.

Trying to find an answer for Powell, Martin remained on the floor for the final 12 minutes of the game and earned Willard's admiration for his scoreless 19-minute game Thursday and previous efforts.

"I've never seen a kid play harder than that young man on film," Willard said of Martin. "We actually watched him for five minutes the other night. If you want to be someone that affects the game, just watch someone that doesn't score, doesn't shoot. In one four-minute section of the Arkansas State game, he took two charges, dove on the floor, had an offensive rebound and two assists. The way Dan gets his kids to play and the way that second unit played, they're so unselfish in the fact that they play so hard. It's really hard to get kids to play that hard."

Until the Lopes nearly knocked off a team that has been to the past three NCAA tournaments, their fans were attracting just as much attention for the massive, boisterous turnout.

"If you ever have a chance to go to Phoenix and watch one of our games, it's that times 100," Majerle said. "We rock the place at 7,500 standing room only. And we have – this is not a hyperbole – if not the best student fan base in the country, it's one of the best. They travel and they care about our team. We don't take it for granted. We love it and they just do a great job to travel. That's one of the best things about Grand Canyon. It's the support we have."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.