NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Myles Powell scored 18 points, Sandro Mamukelashvili added 16 points and nine rebounds and No. 16 Seton Hall beat St. John’s 81-65 on Sunday.
Jared Rhoden added 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting and Romero Gill had 12 points while going 6 for 6 from the floor in in the wire-to-wire victory.
LJ Figueroa led St. John’s (14-13, 3-11 Big East) with 19 points, while Julian Champagnie had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pirates (20-7, 12-3) began pulling away midway through the first half. Powell threw a nifty hook pass over his shoulder to Mamukelashvili in transition, which the big man finished with a dunk to give Seton Hall a 20-6 advantage with 9 minutes to go in the half.
St. John’s didn’t reach double digits until Rasheem Dunn hit a jumper to make it 25-10 with 6:52 left. After leading by as many as 17, Seton Hall was up 36-22 at the break.
St. John’s chipped away and got back within single digits on a three-point play by Figueroa that made it 36-27 with 18:30 left. The Red Storm got within seven a couple of times but no closer. Seton Hall led by as many as 23 points in the second half.
BIG PICTURE
St. John’s: The Red Storm continue their struggles in the Big East under first year coach Mike Anderson. After going 11-2 in nonconference play, they’ve fallen a game closer to .500, and things won’t get any easier. St. John’s closes out the regular season at No. 12 Villanova, hosting No. 15 Creighton, traveling to No. 21 Butler and hosting No. 19 Marquette.
Seton Hall: The preseason favorite to win the Big East regular-season title took one step closer to doing just that. After traveling to Marquette, the Pirates will face two teams behind them in the standings to close out the season. They host Villanova and play at Creighton.
KEEP SWEEPING
This was the fourth regular-season sweep of a Big East team this season for the Pirates. They have also gone 2-0 against Georgetown, DePaul and Butler. Seton Hall also has won 20 games in each of the last five seasons, a program record.
POWELL OUTAGE?
Powell had another rough game at the Prudential Center. He went 0 for 5 from 3-point range and 2 for 9 from the field in the first half, finishing 2 of 11 from beyond the arc and 6 of 18 overall. The preseason AP All-American and Conference Player of the Year will get one more game on his home floor when the Pirates host Villanova on March 5.
UP NEXT
St. John’s: At No. 12 Villanova on Wednesday.
Seton Hall: At No. 19 Marquette on Saturday.
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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
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