NCAA Basketball: Luka Garza new leader in National Player of the Year rankings

Stats: 21.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.5 apg

Seton Hall has hit a bit of a slide of late, going 3-3 in their last six games after ripping off a 10-game win streak. Powell‘s inconsistent play has been a factor in that as well. He has been held below 20 points four times in the last six games after being held below that threshold six times in the 20 previous games.

However, Powell thinks he has more to do with how he’s being defended rather than any shooting slump he’s in, which he explained to reporters following Seton Hall’s win over Butler on Wednesday.

"“I love seeing the tweets like I’ve lost it but I’m getting double teamed every time I touch the ball. Isolation, double team, get the ball, double team…I want you guys to watch who else in the country gets guarded like me.”"

The senior is right to a certain extent. Everyone knows how important he is to the Pirates’ attack, but no one knows it better than everyone in the Big East. They have game-planned to take him away and, while Seton Hall has other talented pieces, they’re much easier to beat when Powell is out of rhythm.

That said, Powell has enough of a body of work to keep him in the mix despite clearly falling behind Toppin and Garza. Even though they lost to Providence on Saturday, his play (27 points) spearheaded Seton Hall’s comeback and ultimately fell short.

With only one game this week coming at home at St. John’s, Powell is running out of time to jump back up to the top. As is the case with Howard, he’ll have his chance against Marquette next weekend – he just has to make sure he doesn’t lose more ground against the Red Storm.