The season is young -- we're just nine days in -- but the best of the early bunch was on display in Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday night as Sparty visited Seton Hall for a huge early season matchup that featured two All-American guards. 

Here are five extended thoughts on No. 3 Michigan State's 76-73 come-from-behind win over No. 12 Seton Hall. 

1. Myles Powell had one of the stronger performances in a regular-season losing effort you'll ever see. Tom Izzo, your thoughts?

Seton Hall's senior shooting guard, who was nearly a unanimous preseason first-team All-America selection, had 37 points (24 in the second half) on 27 shots, including 6-of-14 from 3-point range. Powell is the best off-the-catch 3-point shooter in college basketball as far as I'm concerned. He pushed the Pirates (2-1) to the lead deep into the second half, crescendoed by this outrageous and-one that, in that moment, seemed to give the Hall all the lead and noise and momentum it would need to hold on at home. 

Powell had about five are-you-kidding-me buckets in the second half. What's more ridiculous about his night was the fact the previous five days were filled with some dread and doubt about his health status. After apparently severely hurting his ankle in Seton Hall's Saturday win over Stony Brook, Pirates coach Kevin Willard told reporters that Powell's condition was worrisome enough that he'd miss at least two games. 

Turns out he missed none -- and looked completely fine on Thursday night. I now believe Powell was never actually hurt and this was all a savvy ploy by Willard to gain an edge on one of the best teams in the sport. And it almost worked. If Powell really is on the mend with a bum ankle, then the rest of the Big East needs to watch out because he could threaten to average 30 points in league play. 

2. Michigan State (2-1) wins against a top-15 team despite its two best players not shooting well and fouling too much. A reminder that Cassius Winston (who might prove to be better than Myles Powell when this season settles) is still dealing with the immediate aftershocks and personal trauma of losing his younger brother to a suicide less than a week ago. He has insisted on playing since this tragedy and it's commendable, to say the least. Winston was bumpy on Thursday, facing frequent traps and making a few bad decisions. But he did hit the big 3 late to rip the lead back and finished with 21 points.

It's a great thing for Sparty that Winston and big man Xavier Tillman combined to go 7-of-26 from the field -- with eight turnovers, plus seven fouls -- and that didn't stop Tom Izzo's team from winning. Winning on the road. Beating maybe the best team the Big East will have this season. That's how you take some of the sting off of getting handled by Kentucky in the season-opener. Plus, Tillman made up for his off night late: he had a beautiful dish on a go-ahead bucket by Malik Hall (oh, more on that kid coming in one second) and then made two defensive stops (one of them looked like a foul) on Powell to seal the deal.

3. Malik Hall. Remember the name immediately. Michigan State's freshman wing wasn't expected to play nearly as much as he did (19 minutes) on Thursday. Hall, who did not score in MSU's first two games, came off the bench to drop 17 points -- and didn't miss a shot, going 7 for 7. Hall was able to exploit Seton Hall's bigs on the perimeter and then made positive work on the inside. The Spartans got 29 points from their bench, more than half coming from Hall, who could be a revelation. With Michigan State not having Josh Langford until at least January and with Aaron Henry not at 100% (he twisted his ankles -- plural -- in the first half but did return), getting another option like this is huge. Hall helped contribute to MSU's 10-2 run to win the game. 

4. Michigan State is no longer No. 1 in the polls but remains No. 1 at KenPom. The Spartans started the season there and have not dipped, not even with the Kentucky loss. Sparty's proving to be a push-the-pace team. Thursday night's affair had a bit of a playground feel due to all the sprinting, turnovers, second-chance opportunities and catch-me-if-you-can leaks off the break. It was a sketchy first half and a splendid second half. In a game with 74 possessions, MSU managed 1.03 points per possession, Seton Hall 0.99. That's merely OK. Big 3-point shots kept the game compelling.

5. Tough loss for Seton Hall, considering things won't get easier. My preseason analysis of nonconference scheduling amongst the power-conference programs suggested that Seton Hall -- if it faces the toughest teams possible when it plays in the Battle 4 Atlantis later this month -- would have the most difficult noncon schedule of any team in a power league. So losing to Michigan State at home is a lost opportunity. The good news is more opportunities are on the way, but it's likely the Hall is going to take two or three losses before it gets to Big East play. Next up is a weird one at Saint Louis on Sunday, then the Bahamas tourney will start with SHU vs. Oregon, then the Pirates could face Gonzaga the next day. The top half of that bracket has Iowa State, North Carolina, Michigan and Alabama. Good teams aplenty. So let's judge Willard's team on a little bit of a curve going forward -- especially if Powell won't truly be 100% with that ankle for a little while, even if he looked better and stronger than anyone on the court Thursday night.