A Star is Born: Murray State's Ja Morant

College insiders knew about Murray State's Ja Morant; Now the rest of the country does as well

NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK

One of the many things I love about the NCAA tournament is that it creates heroes, as well as villains and provides highlight films which may end up in the archives, revisited decades from now.

Say hello to Ja Morant, Murray State's sophomore point guard who has already drawn the attention of Los Angeles Laker legend and head honcho Magic Johnson and the rest of the NBA.

People in the Ohio Valley conference knew that Morant was a blooming star after watching him guide Murray State to a 27-4 record and the OVC tournament title.

But the NCAA tournament is The Show, with a vast (and often new) audience.

On Thursday afternoon in a West Regional first-round game in Hartford, Ct, Murray showed what he had against Marquette, an upper tier Big East team.

In an 83-64 Murray State victory, Morant was everywhere--or it just seemed that way--as he posted a triple double (17 points, 16 assists, 11 rebounds), the first player to accomplish that in the tournament in 7 years.

The performance, which helped No. 12 seed Murray State roll to a win over the 5th seeded Golden Eagles and sent them into Saturday's second-round game against 4tth seeded Florida State.

"It was a lot of fun,'' said Morant. "just being able to go out with these guys and get a win in the NCAA tournament.”

It was more than that for Morant, who posted his third triple double of the season. It was his presence. When he is on the court, you can not take your eyes off of him.

"The best thing about that kid is his decision-making,'' said Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski, who learned his trade at Duke under Hall of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski. "I mean you are talking about an elite, elite decision maker who's got athleticism.''

The odds are that Morant will be in the NBA next season, but for the next few days, and perhaps next few weeks, Morant is ready to put on a show in March Madness.

***

Murray State and Wofford, the Big South champion Wofford (as well as OVC runner up Belmont, which won a play in game against Temple before losing to Maryland) did the Mid-Majors proud by advancing to the second round. Wofford pulled away from another Big East team, Seton Hall on Thursday, setting up a second-round matchup against No. 2 seed Kentucky in a Midwest Regional second round game.

***

Beside Murray State's win, the biggest surprise from Thursday's opening-round games was the difficulty No. 3 seed LSU had against No.14 seed Yale in an East Regional first-round game. The Tigers, who are dealing with an FBI bribery investigation involving LSU coach Will Wade (who has been suspended) had to fight off a last second Yale charge to preserve a 5-point victory...The Big East lost three of its four teams with Seton Hall, Marquette and St. John's all losing. The Big Ten, which had been labeled by the NCAA computers as college basketball's strongest conference had a good day. Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan and Maryland all won their openers.

***

Northeastern's NCAA tournament stay was short lived. The No.13 seeded Huskies stumbled out of the gate against No. 4 seeded Kansas, which rolled to a 87-53 victory.

​