Ja Morant is the early breakout star of the NCAA Tournament, just as we all expected. The Murray State sophomore is the leader in assists in the country, a top-tier scorer and the stud point guard heading into the NBA draft. He’s the total package, and he showed us why in the Racers’ 83-64 upset win over Marquette.
Ja Morant against college kids seems unfair
Ja is giving Zion Williamson competition for the most exciting player of the tournament.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Morant, a potential No. 2 pick in June, scored 17 points with 16 assists and 11 rebounds. He only took nine shots the entire night (5-of-9 shooting), and he notched the rare tournament triple-double! He played with the perfect amount of cockiness and finesse, and introduced himself to a whole new wave of first-time watchers joining the college game for the tournament. It was a signature Morant event.
Here were some of his best moments.
It took all of two minutes and thirty seconds for him to pull up from DEEP
His first shot of the dang tournament was a BOMB. This kid was fearless, and that emotion persisted throughout.
Ja crossed up a defender and made a ridiculous pass
What makes Ja so special is that he isn’t always looking to score. He can cross someone up so badly, and not want to take a shot just to make the highlight. He really wrapped around the entire defense to find a shooter instead!
Ja was so good that literally EVERYONE defended him at once
It got to the point where Marquette’s entire defensive plan was to Stop Ja. Being Ja’s teammate must be SO fun.
His step-back jumper was NASTY
Look at the space he covered there. DANG. That’s the sort of move James Harden has made his signature.
When Ja caught rebounds, he took OFF
Morant went coast-to-coast regularly in the win. He was so clearly the fastest, and best athlete on the floor. Nobody stood a chance to stop him in transition.
Morant was even making incredible passes with his off-hand
Left-handed, right-handed, it didn’t matter for Ja. He’s too good to be held defensively in one particular way, and Marquette found that out the hard way.
Ja threw down a POSTER, too
Murray State is going to go as far as Ja takes them, but even if his run ends sooner than we want it too, he’s platformed himself as one of the game’s greatest in college hoops. This won’t be the last of him.
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