It was all set to be the stuff of legends, a story no one will forget, one that would be re-told for decades. It only seemed to make too much sense.
Then the final buzzer sounded, and the visiting team pulled out the win. A little bit of the legend died with it.
The end result should take nothing away from Myles Powell. That Michigan State left the Prudential Center with a 76-73 win might almost seem like a side note, he was that good.
All by itself, Powell’s stat line would be more than a little noteworthy. The senior guard had 37 points on 12-27 shooting, including 6-14 from deep. But as you might have guessed, there’s a little more to this story than those numbers. If anything, the numbers just help drive home what he did on the night.
Start by going back to Saturday. Powell left the Pirates’ win over Stony Brook with what was described as a serious sprain of his left ankle just a few minutes in. Head coach Kevin Willard said Powell would likely have a “prolonged absence” from game action, and that was all we heard. He didn’t practice on Wednesday, not surprisingly. No one expected him to play, and the talk was how they would make up for his absence as the Spartans came to town.
Was Willard simply giving us a head fake all week? Did Powell heal faster than expected? Or was the injury perhaps less serious than first thought? Whatever the case, no one expected him to play on Thursday night as the week wore on.
Then he started the game. He did more than just go out there, too, scoring 13 points in the first half, but he was only getting started. In the second half, he was hitting tough shots along the way and keeping the Pirates in it or even giving them the lead. When Powell made a tough three-pointer as he was fouled with 2:40 left, it looked like this really was going to be the stuff of legends. He had hit two in a row to cap a 9-0 run to put the Pirates up 71-66, and had 35 points by then.
You could tell he was laboring. He looked gassed. He went to the locker room for a minute late in the game, at which point one could wonder if that was it – if he had nothing else to give. Not surprisingly, he re-emerged and went back in. He wasn’t going to go out like that if he could help it. He was giving everything he had, which is what we want to see from athletes.
Then Michigan State scored the next six as part of a game-ending 10-2 run to pull it out behind Cassius Winston (21 points as he plays with a heavy heart) and two freshmen, Rocket Watts and Malik Hall (17 points on 7-7 shooting, including 3-3 from long range).
The story comes up a bit shy of being the stuff of legends. But the only thing it does it rob the story of being a storybook ending. Myles Powell still showed something on the night, and it isn’t that he’s going to be an All-American this season. He showed much more than that.
Tom Izzo said Powell is “one of the great players I’ve ever seen in college basketball.” Before you dismiss that given how long Izzo has been at this, realize that the Michigan State mentor is not usually one for hyperbole. You might disagree with him, but his words are not idle ones. And as a closing thought on this near-miss of a story for the ages, we go back to him for something else: “This was a March game in November. College basketball needs games like that.”
Side Dishes
In the earlier game on the night in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, Penn State went on the road and got an impressive 81-66 win at Georgetown. It was a turnover-filled game as each team gave the ball away at least 20 times, but the Nittany Lions had a better night shooting the ball, including a 13-29 showing from long range.
Other interesting results of the night: Towson gave Florida all they could handle before succumbing 66-60 in Gainesville; minus their two stars plus Noah Kirkwood (illness), Harvard edged Siena 59-56; Richmond eked out a 93-92 overtime win over visiting Vanderbilt despite 34 points from Aaron Nesmith; East Tennessee State won a dandy over Winthrop 61-58.
At the discretion of James Wiseman, Memphis declared the star freshman ineligible and is now seeking reinstatement for him. Wiseman withdrew his lawsuit against the NCAA, so now his future is in their hands. Memphis was notified last Friday that Wiseman is likely ineligible, but they played him in their last two games, a blowout win over UIC and a tough loss to Oregon in the Phil Knight Invitational. He will now be withheld from games until a decision comes from the NCAA, while continuing to practice with the team.
Texas A&M suspended T.J. Starks indefinitely for a violation of team rules. The junior guard was the team’s third-leading scorer a year ago but has not yet played this season due to an ankle injury.
If an athlete from a service academy wants to play professional sports, it may now be possible to delay their active duty service after Secretary of Defense Mark Esper signed a memo issuing new guidelines. An athlete must get approval from the defense secretary and still fulfill their military obligation at a later date, or repay the cost of their education. There are some other conditions, but this may being about some change for high-level pro prospects in the future.
Tonight’s Menu
We head into a busy weekend with the start of a few tournament regional rounds, making for a busy day of action that gets good after the earliest games.
- UMass-Lowell hosts the River Hawk Invitational, which has Merrimack taking on Dartmouth (4:30 p.m.) before the host school takes on Jacksonville at 7 p.m.
- Down south in the Spartan Invitational, Montana State takes on Appalachian State in the opener (4:30 p.m.) before Tennessee Tech takes on host UNC Greensboro (7 p.m.)s
- The Red Wolves Classic continues with Idaho battling VMI (6 p.m.) and UC Davis taking on host Arkansas State (8:30 p.m.)
- In the Islander Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas, North Dakota State takes on UT Rio Grande Valley (6 p.m.), then Stony Brook takes on host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (8:30 p.m.)
- Missouri State heads to Xavier in what should be a good game, and another good one at that time is Georgia Southern hosting Radford (7 p.m.)
- Also at that early evening hour is the basketball edition of the Backyard Brawl as West Virginia visits Pittsburgh (7 p.m.)
- Rhode Island gets a tough test at home as Alabama comes to town (7:30 p.m.)
- Monmouth gets a big road test as they travel to Kansas (8 p.m.)
- Two undefeated teams battle in College Station as Texas A&M hosts Gonzaga, whose roster includes former Aggie Admon Gilder (9 p.m.)
- Also at that hour are a few other good ones as Baylor hosts Texas State, Boise State hosts UC Irvine, BYU travels to Houston and Utah hosts Minnesota (9 p.m.)
- The late game most worth watching is UNLV’s trip to UCLA (11 p.m.)
