No. 4 FSU Advances to Sweet 16 over No. 12 Murray State; Ja Morant Drops 28
March 24, 2019
The fourth-seeded Florida State Seminoles put an end to the Ja Morant show, defeating the 12th-seeded Murray State Racers 90-62 in the second round of the 2019 NCAA tournament at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, on Saturday.
Mfiondu Kabengele led the way for the Seminoles with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Terance Mann contributed 18 points.
Morant had 28 points, four assists, five rebounds and two steals in a losing effort for the Racers.
After becoming just the eighth player since 1984 to record a triple-double in the NCAA tournament, Morant let it be known that he had more in store for the basketball world.
Early on, he made good on his word.
The Racers star got his team on the board with a trey in the opening minute:
He was only heating up, though.
Moments later, Morant would knock down a pair of triples on back-to-back possessions that helped his team out to an early lead before giving himself a heat check from the logo as he started 5-of-5 from deep:
Morant had 17 points in Thursday's 83-64 upset of fifth-seeded Marquette. Thanks to 5-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, he had 16 points in the first 11 minutes and 30 seconds of this contest.
Unfortunately for Murray State, Florida State was able to withstand Morant's hot start and put on a three-point barrage of its own. The Seminoles made eight shots from deep in the opening 20 minutes, with Raiquan Gray and PJ Savoy each knocking down three.
As Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports noted, Florida State didn't enter the game as much of a three-point shooting team:
It wound up shooting 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from beyond the arc as a team.
And when they weren't making it rain from the outside, the Seminoles were still having their way with the Racers:
The first half was played at an incredibly fast pace, and as a result, Florida State was able to drop a 50-spot on Murray State. That created a 16-point edge heading into the break.
Morant continued to fight in the second half, but the Racers were overmatched in this 4-12 matchup. Murray State players not named Morant shot just 30.0 percent from the floor, while Florida State shot 50.7 percent as a team. That's a recipe for disaster.
What's Next
Florida State advances to the Sweet 16, where it will face the winner of No. 1 Gonzaga-No. 9 Baylor in Anaheim, California, next week.