Inside Ja Morant’s NCAA tournament star turn
Ja Morant has high praise for his teammates after posting the first triple-double in the NCAA tournament since Draymond Green in 2012. (1:33)
HARTFORD, Conn. — Zion Williamson has a co-star in this NCAA tournament, at least through the first weekend.
His name is Ja Morant, and his triple-double effort (17 points, 16 assists, 11 rebounds) in 12-seed Murray State’s 83-64 win over 5-seed Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday confirmed the hype — “I have him No. 2 on my personal board,” said one NBA scout who watched the game — that hovered above an Ohio Valley Conference superstar many had only heard about but not witnessed on the grand stage.
“I really don’t pay too much attention to the hype,” Morant said after the game. “I just try to go out and play the same game every night.”
Ja Morant becomes the 8th player to record a triple-double in a NCAA tournament game.
He joins Shaq, Draymond and D-Wade … some great company 👏 pic.twitter.com/178syN4Xe6
His performance, just the eighth triple-double in NCAA tournament history and the first since Draymond Green’s in 2012, can be summarized in a handful of videos — you might want to cover your eyes as you watch his two-handed dunk over Joey Hauser — circulating on social media. But Morant’s performance generated sounds that detailed his excellence throughout the captivating victory for Murray State, which will advance to face Florida State on Saturday in the second round.
As Marquette swarmed the Murray State sophomore guard at the XL Center, you could hear the rapid squeaks from the shoes of freshman Brendan Bailey, who chased Morant throughout the game, and the stomps of Hauser as he sprinted to help.
Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski screamed instructions to a desperate team as he squatted on the sideline.
Marquette fans cheered for a miracle. Murray State, explosive throughout the matchup, praised the one they had.
And whenever the 6-foot-3 Morant seemed stuck, he paused, usually somewhere near the “March Madness” logo in the middle of the court, and dribbled. But the pace of his dribbling never changed. Marquette zoned, pressed, doubled and shadowed Morant.
Yet, the rhythm of Morant’s dribbling persisted.
Thump … thump.
Bailey and Hauser trapped him at the top the key.
Thump … thump.
Morant dribbled himself into a tough spot along the baseline.
Thump … thump.
The shot clock approached expiration and no smart play appeared imminent.
Thump … thump.
“I have a ton of respect for him,” Wojciechowski said after the game. “I mean, the triple-doubles, 16 assists in an NCAA tournament. It’s crazy. You can’t speed him up. You can run two people at him, you can switch, try to get the ball out of his hands. There is nothing that we found that could speed him up or shake his decision-making.”
Wojciechowski won the Defensive Player of the Year award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches as a senior at Duke during the 1997-98 season. His Golden Eagles finished second in defensive efficiency in Big East play after holding league opponents to a 45.8 percent clip inside the arc. But nothing seemed to work on Thursday.
How’s your bracket? Check out Tournament Challenge for live updates with a chance to win $10,000 in Amazon.com gift cards and a trip for two (2) to the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational!
Sacar Anim stuck to Morant in the opening minutes and tried to limit his shot attempts. But he zipped his Patrick Mahomes-like passes through traffic and produced five assists before the first TV timeout.
Bailey, a 6-8 freshman, seemed to frustrate Morant in spurts. But Morant just used the pressure — Bailey always had help whenever the NBA prospect drove — to shift the balance of the court and find shooters on a team that made 50 percent of its 3-pointers.
And then, Morant hit a step-back 3-pointer over Theo John toward the end of the first half.
That’s when Morant knew he had them. A Marquette team that wasn’t sure if Morant would penetrate, pass or do both grew hesitant and cautious as Murray State’s lead grew.
Who’s on top? Our experts give their rankings and analysis.
The 19-year-old was built for the spotlight.
Can Murray State’s guard, a viral sensation, really dominate March and then make it at the next level? We asked an NBA scout to assess Morant … then had Morant assess that assessment.
A dunk over Hauser off a backdoor cut — which seemed to illustrate the problem teams had all season against a player who could go around them or over them — seemed otherworldly.
In the locker room after the game, Marquette’s players sat on their stools, stunned and saddened by the loss. Both Anim and Bailey smirked — not because the loss didn’t matter but because they knew they’d done all they could — when they were asked to describe their experiences against Morant.
“It was pretty frustrating,” Bailey said. “You think you got him stopped and then he just passes to one of his teammates in the paint.”
Anim said Morant put his “passes on the money.”
“He was getting them boys open shots,” he said.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Morant had been streamed, tweeted, packed into 10 o’clock news packages and analyzed by national analysts despite doing his best work on the mid-major circuit. His performance on a national stage — the first time many had actually watched him play — prompted one person in the XL Center to call a friend and say, “Ja Morant is the real deal, huh?”
The answer is yes. In real life, Morant looked the part of a future NBA star.
“Think about him when he gets strong,” one NBA scout said.
He wasn’t the only storyline. Murray State is blessed with other athletes who Florida State must consider on Saturday. Tevin Brown‘s 5-for-9 clip from the 3-point line helped Morant operate. Shaq Buchanan put up double figures and corralled a frustrated Markus Howard, who struggled in the second half.
But Morant was just sparring with a team that competed for the Big East title.
When he plays on Saturday, you’ll want to watch because he might be the most entertaining player in America.
“You know, Ja Morant makes a lot of plans look bad,” Wojciechowski said. “I mean, I’ve been in this for a while. He’s as good as any guard that I’ve coached against, or played against, and I’ve coached against and played against some outstanding ones.”