It was the play that broke Xavier, and the play that illustrates why this Seton Hall basketball team has something special brewing.

After scoring at will, Myles Powell drove the stake in with a pass, lobbing ahead to Sandro Mamukelashvili for a press-break dunk that iced an 80-70 victory at the Cintas Center Wednesday — a place where the Pirates had won just once, in 2014.

Powell finished with 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds as the Hall (11-3 overall, 2-0 Big East) rallied from 10 down midway through the second half. This after erasing a 14-point deficit to beat St. John’s Saturday — an effort that might have left prior Hall teams emotionally drained.

Now, after seven straight wins, Seton Hall looks like a serious contender to win the Big East's regular-season title. A visit to DePaul is next, Sunday at 1 p.m. (Fox Sports 1).

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"This team, they show me something every day," Hall coach Kevin Willard said in his postgame radio interview. "This is a great comeback on the road in front of a packed house."

THREE THOUGHTS

1. This was a depth victory first and foremost. When Xavier (9-6, 7-2) jumped out in front, the Pirates’ bench kept them in it with 17 first-half points. Once again, Willard pushed all the right buttons with his substitution patterns.

The biggest game-changer was 7-foot junior Romaro Gill, who didn’t play at all against small-and-quick St. John’s but logged four points, five rebounds, four blocks and three steals against the sizable Musketeers. As with the win at Maryland, Gill helped the frontcourt rotation wear down a red-hot big man (this time Zach Hankins, who finished with 20 points after scoring 18 in the first half).

With a 10-deep rotation — all 10 scored and played at least 8 minutes — every guy embraces his role. That's where this group is finding an extra gear

2. Powell is making a case for first-team All-America. The junior guard always was explosive, but his efficiency is skyrocketing. He dominated this game despite taking just 15 shots (making 9). Throw in his leadership intangibles, and he’s well on his way to becoming Seton Hall’s best player since the great Terry Dehere, if he’s not there already.

3. Sign of a special team: The Pirates can beat you in many ways. They can outgun you with hot shooting, they can shred you with unselfish passing, they can outlast you with depth and they can out-tough you in a street fight. They can win with a big lineup or a small one. They don’t get rattled in tough environments. That all reflects on Willard, who is coaching about as well as anyone in the country right now. Fans should feel free to start dreaming big.

THREE QUOTES

From Kevin Willard's postgame radio interview with Dave Popkin and John Fanta.

1. On the key halftime adjustment: “Our pick-and-roll coverage was as porous as I’ve ever seen it. The biggest thing I told our guys was, ‘We’ve got to be tighter and we’ve got to help our big guys. You guys are all looking at the big guys like it’s their fault, but we’re so spread out, we’re giving those guys a full head of steam to attack our five-man.' We did a better job (in the second half) of making the court smaller.”

2. On Quincy McKnight’s leadership: “We go down 10 and I called a timeout and I was being so positive and such a loving coach at that time. Q took over the huddle. He said, ‘We’ve been in this situation before. We’re only down 10. Everyone just relax.' He kind of relaxed me a little bit.”

3. On the second unit’s improvement: “That unit is playing really well in practice. For the first time all year they’re winning segments. That wasn’t happening before; they would just get blown away. I can’t put them all out there together at once, but it’s a unit that really believes they should be out there, and I have great confidence in them.”

Staff writer Jerry Carino: jcarino@gannettnj.com.