NEWARK -- There are signs over the course of a college basketball season that a team might have something special going. One such moment occurred after Seton Hall pummeled Georgetown 78-62 Friday night.

Fox Sports requested Pirates ace Myles Powell for the postgame on-court interview. But the senior guard had other ideas; he insisted center Ro Gill share the spot with him, even passing along the headset to make sure viewers heard from the unsung 7-footer who dominated the Hoyas inside.

“The spotlight I get, I want him to get it, too,” Powell said. “When you have a man like that who is working like he does, you want the best for those types of people.”

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The scene was a perfect metaphor for the Hall, which survived two weeks while Powell sat with a concussion and came out the other end stronger. Gill paced Friday’s beatdown with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, eight rebounds and four blocks.

The senior’s performance was so impressive that the Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing, a Hall of Fame center who is on the conservative side when it comes to doling out praise, gushed about Gill’s performance afterward.

“He’s playing great,” Ewing said. “He does everything he needs to do — he protects the rim, he fights for everything, he does a great job defending the in post, blocking shots. The pick and roll, when they roll it to him, he catches it and finishes real well.”

A total unknown when he committed to the Hall out of junior college three years ago, Gill is taking over games and folks are noticing.

“Patrick Ewing is one of the best players who ever played,” Gill said. For him to say that about me is a big honor and I appreciate it.”

Gill and Powell are roommates. It might seem like an odd couple at a glance — the introspective giant and the extrovert All-American — but their bond is tight. All week Powell needled his buddy that his opposite number at Georgetown, Omer Yertseven, gets more hype on social media while Gill labors in the shadows.

“Last night he couldn’t sleep,” Powell said. “I was looking at him and said, ‘Are you alright?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to go.’ This is the Ro we know can be one of the best big men in the country. When it was my opportunity to bring him with me (on camera), it was time, man.”

The gesture says a lot about Powell, too. He’s a superstar with a rare combination of charisma, perspective and generosity of spirit.

“For him to do something like that, I feel whatever I’m doing out there, he appreciates it,” Gill said. “And that feels good.”

Powell also showed his appreciation on the court, connecting with Gill repeatedly for pick-and-roll buckets. Hall coach Kevin Willard tied it all together in his postgame assessment of Powell’s spotlight-sharing.

“Myles Powell’s starting to become a smart man, because I think he understands how much Ro does and how much he’s protecting all those guys down there,” Willard said. “What I’m proud of about Ro is the consistency . . . We’re trying to get him the ball a little bit more around the rim so we can reward him for all the stuff he’s doing defensively, and I thought the guys did a good job of looking for him tonight.”

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

1. No longer a one-man team

Seton Hall is Powell and a bunch of guys.

That used to be the book on the Pirates. Take it and throw it in the trash.

Powell scored just three first-half points, sat with two fouls and the Hall rang up a 20-point lead. Other guys did the damage, tossing around a 10-win Hoyas squad like a rag doll, and that’s the moral of the story.

“Those two games without Myles definitely boosted our confidence a lot,” said senior guard Quincy McKnight, who tallied 14 points and 10 assists while committing zero turnovers. “Everybody’s playing at a high level right now and it’s scary. When Myles isn’t getting it going and we’re still scoring at the pace we’re scoring at, it’s a tough team to beat.”

All this without top forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, whose broken right wrist has about two more weeks in a cast. If Seton Hall (10-4 overall, 2-0 Big East) can break even without him over the next four games — at Xavier, Marquette at home, and then at Butler and St. John’s — the road to the conference's crown might just go through the Prudential Center.

“Everybody’s getting aggressive; nobody is scared to shoot the ball,” McKnight said. “When you come here you’re a high-level scorer, slasher, whatever you are. You’ve got to play your part and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

2. Myles Cale stays hot

It was a small gesture and if you blinked, you missed it. But after Myles Cale drained his second 3-pointer of the first half, the normally unemotional junior let out a huge yell. Then he proceeded to bury four more triples, making like Powell as the offense ran through him over the first 20 minutes.

Cale finished with 16 points, hitting five of his six 3-point attempts, and the streaky wing appears to have turned a corner. His teammate were looking for him; always a great sign.

“I was going through this slump, but I’ve broken through and I’m starting to feel it again,” he said.

Willard said he’s worked with Cale on restoring his release point to where it was last season.

“When he was really shooting the basketball well at the end of last year, his release point was so much higher,” Willard explained. “We’ve been watching film and taping him shooting, and then watching film, and to his credit, he’s just stayed positive. He’s put up with me — when I get on those kicks, I don’t let him leave the gym. When you have to change a little thing in your shot that sounds like it’s a simple thing, but it’s almost like changing your golf swing, it just takes time and patience. To his credit, he has stayed patient, especially with me, and now he’s getting rewarded for the hard work he’s put into it.”

3. There's fire in the belly

Beyond the impressive team stats, including 18 assists on 25 field goals and holding Georgetown (10-5, 0-2) to 35 percent shooting, the Pirates showed their fangs.

After Cale and defensive specialist Shavar Reynolds frustrated leading Hoyas scorer Mac McClung (20 points on 7-of-20 shooting), a little scuffle broke out in the final moments. McKnight responded to words by McClung by pointing to the scoreboard, prompting McClung to lunge at him.

The understated Gill got in the way and even Mamukelashvili made a move to defend his teammates. A conflagration was avoided, but the 10,500 fans who sold out the lower bowl rained down boos and then roared when sophomore Jared Rhoden subsequently blocked McClung's garbage-time drive into next week.

4. Marlboro's Mosely holds his own

In Jagan Mosely’s final homecoming, the Marlboro native drew the tough assignment: defending Powell. The Georgetown senior did as well as could be expected, limiting his old friend to 6 of 17 shooting.

Pressed into a heavier load than expected after point guard James Akinjo bolted school four weeks ago, Mosely came in averaging 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds, with 44 assists compared to 24 turnovers. But he’s best known for his defense and that was on display.

“I thought Jagan Mosely did a good job on him early in the game,” Willard said.

The St. Anthony High School alum had a notable cheerleader in the stands: the legendary Bob Hurley.

5. Three notable stats

Seton Hall is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings with Georgetown and has narrowed the Hoyas’ series lead to 58-51.

Talented Hoyas center Omer Yurtseven shot 3-of-14 Friday and, including his clunker for N.C. State in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, is 4-of-18 against the Pirates.

The Hall is now an incredible 23-0 when Fox Sports play-by-plan man Brian Custer is on the call.

Asked if he ever did send Custer that bottle of wine he promised at the end of last season, Willard told reporters with a smirk, “I’m not going to tell you what Brian Custer gets, but he gets a lot more than you guys do.”

DEHERE WATCH

Where does Myles Powell stand on Seton Hall's career scoring list?

1. Terry Dehere 2,494

2. Nick Werkman 2,273

3. Jeremy Hazell 2,146

4. Greg Tynes 2,059

5. Dan Callandrillo 1,985

6. Andre McCloud 1,976

7. Myles Powell 1,917

8. Mark Bryant 1,906

9. Andre Barrett 1,861

10. Khadeen Carrington 1,846

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.