The ‘real’ first day of the 2019 NCAA Tournament-the first full round, we’ll call it, in order to be fair to those opening round contests-did not provide much in the way of upsets nor fantastic finishes. What it did provide is a memorable incredible individual performance from a player who really does look good enough to carry an entire team on his back.
The closest thing to an upset on Thursday came courtesy of Murray State, the first team to qualify for this year’s tourney and a 12 seed in the West Regional. The Racers drilled fifth-seeded Marquette 83-64 in a sub-regional game in Hartford, Conn., for their fourth-ever NCAA tourney win and third this decade, and were the lone team seeded worse than 10th to win on Thursday.
Murray State has been led all year by Ja Morant, easily one of the two most exciting players in the country this year, and the sophomore guard put on a show. Morant finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 16 assists, recording the eighth triple-double in NCAA tourney history, and he controlled the game like it was on a string.
Morant assisted on over half of the Racers’ 30 field goals, and in all had a hand in 70% of his team’s baskets. He dominated the game despite taking just nine shots, making five, as well as going 5 of 5 from the foul line. His passes were wizardy. It was so much that in the second half you could hear the oohs and aahs from the crowd on TV almost every time he had the ball in the frontcourt.
Morant easily won the duel with Marquette’s Markus Howard, even as Howard scored 26 points, hitting just 9 of 27 from the field. The thing most may not have counted in this game, though, is that Morant’s supporting cast also was considerably better. Freshman Tevin Brown scored 19 points and hit five three-pointers, proving the backcourt situation is still bright in Murray even when Morant likely head to the NBA after this year. K.J. Williams scored 16 points and made 8 of 10 shots.
Even last year as a freshman, the best thing one could say about Morant is that he is someone who made his teammates better, and that was even before he blew up into a downright sensation this year. It’s only one round, and undoubtedly Murray State beat a Marquette team that stumbled badly down the stretch this season. There’s no doubt they’ll get a stiff challenge in the second round with No. 4 seed Florida State, which held off Vermont 76-69 on Thursday. Still, so good is Morant-and so good does he make his team-that it’s hard not to wonder just how far he can take these Racers this season.
Side Dishes:
- Murray State highlighted a first day of the first round that was generally entertaining but lacking a truly great finish. Just seven of 16 games were decided by single digits, and that was about right as a few other games were close to the final minutes, while several that ended close needed rallies late to get there, and just two games were decided by a single possession. Auburn’s 78-77 win over New Mexico State saw the Aggies come back from eight points down in the final two minutes to get within a point-in part due to some Tigers miscues. NMSU then had a chance for a tying layup in the final seconds, but A.J. Harris passed out to Terrell Brown, who missed badly a game-winning three-pointer…but was fouled. Brown made just one of three free throws, though-but the Aggies still had another chance. Trevelin Queen appeared to rush a wide-open three from the corner, though, and it went so wide as to appear to be blown off target.
- Maryland edged Belmont 79-77, as the Terrapins rallied from a six-point halftime deficit and held on when the Bruins, with the ball and down one with 20 seconds left, very curiously held the ball for a final shot, only to turn it over when the Terps snuffed out a set play. Dylan Windler scored 35 points but Jalen Smith (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Bruno Fernando (14 points, 13 rebounds) countered inside. The Bruins of the Ohio Valley Conference joined league rival Murray State, though, as two of the early stories of the tourney, with both picking up wins and certainly showing Belmont was a very worthy at-large selection.
- Maybe the best game of the day was the lowest-scoring one. Defending national champion Villanova held off Saint Mary’s 61-57, the Wildcats slowly pulling out to a slim lead in the second half. Every possession mattered in this one, but veteran Phil Booth’s 20 points were the difference.
- Wofford picked up its first-ever NCAA tourney win by finishing with a flourish. The Terriers saw all of a 13-point lead over Seton Hall vanish, but then exploded offensively and finished the game on a 17-2 run-much like they did in the Southern Conference title game against UNC Greensboro-and prevailed 84-68. In this one, Fletcher Magee set the new NCAA Division I career record for three-pointers made, breaking the former mark of 504 of Oakland’s Travis Bader.
- A few other teams were surprisingly hot from three-point range. Minnesota averaged just over five triples per game this season but made 11-including five threes and 24 points from freshman Gabe Kalscheur-in an 86-76 win over Louisville, which was never the same this year after blowing a huge lead at home to Duke. Outside of Murray State, the Gophers’ performance may have been the most eye-opening one, with them looking like perhaps this year’s random team to get uncharacteristically hot shooting, and Big Ten rival Michigan State won’t have an easy task in its second game. Also, Baylor rained 16 threes in a 78-69 win over Syracuse, more than the Cuse’s 12 three-pointers, and the Orange are out of this year’s tourney early.
- For other teams, it was about free throws. Florida State made 31 of 37 in the aforementioned victory over Vermont, while Michigan State hit 25 of 26 from the stripe in finally shaking Bradley 76-65, pulling away after the Braves trailed by just three with three minutes left. The Missouri Valley Conference’s streak of 10 straight wins in first round games ended, but not without a game fight by the No. 15 seed.
- For some teams, it was just a day to forget shooting. Old Dominion got Purdue into just the kind of game it wanted, but the Monarchs made just 26.9% of their shots in falling 61-48, including a number of bricks late after scrapping back from a 20-point deficit to within single digits late. Northeastern-thought to have a chance at pulling an upset-shot just 28.1% in getting routed by Kansas 87-53 (the Jayhawks shot 55.3% and also dominated the glass). And Yale also fought through ice-cold three-point shooting to hang with LSU, eventually falling 79-74 despite making just 8 of 37 from three (21.6%), with half of those makes coming in the final 42 seconds.
- Besides Kansas, Gonzaga, Kentucky and Michigan all won very decisively. The top seed Bulldogs dominated Fairleigh Dickinson 87-49, while first-time NCAA tourney participant Abilene Christian looked like it, overwhelmed by the Wildcats 79-44. Michigan also was in charge all the way in a 74-55 win over Montana.
- The other mild upset by seed came with 10 seed Florida defeating Nevada 70-61. The Gators were the tougher team, and there’s little way getting around that the end result for this season for the Wolf Pack was a disappointing one.
- There also was action in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament with four games. Charleston Southern earned its first-ever postseason win at the Division I level with a 68-66 win over Florida Atlantic. Hampton also defeated St. Francis (N.Y.) 81-72, Louisiana-Monroe moved to 14-2 at home this season with an 87-77 win over Kent State, and Cal State Bakersfield
- George Washington has a new coach, but now Siena is looking for another after just one year. Jamion Christian was named the Colonials’ new head man Thursday, returning closer to the area he had been in at Mount St. Mary’s before heading to upstate New York for a year. On the one hand, coaches are adults working paying jobs and supporting families, and it’s within their rights to want to improve their financial situations. On the other hand, it is frustrating to see these instances starting to happen more regularly. It’s hard to sell the idea that coaches are in this for the student-athletes when moves like this take place. Sometimes the place is right but the time is not, and in a profession so much about relationships, maybe that should matter more than it seems it does sometimes.
Today’s Menu:
- The second full day of the NCAA Tournament opens in Columbus, Ohio, in the heart of Big Ten country but with Cincinnati less than two hours from home when it faces Iowa (12:15 p.m. Eastern, CBS). The early window also includes Oklahoma against Mississippi in an 8/9 game (12:40 p.m., truTV), Northern Kentucky taking on Texas Tech (1:30 p.m., TNT), plus one of the most popular upset picks as 30-win UC Irvine meets Kansas State (2 p.m., TBS), which is likely to play without Dean Wade again.
- The second set of contests has a very good Colgate team that has the skill but will have a task against Tennessee’s physicality (2:45 p.m., CBS), plus Virginia tipping off with another tricky 16 seed in Gardner-Webb (3:10 p.m., truTV). Arizona State looks to become the latest play-in winner to win a first round game as it takes on Buffalo (4 p.m., TNT) in Tulsa, plus its Oregon against Wisconsin with the Ducks near home in San Jose (4:30 p.m., TBS).
- Prime time starts in Columbus with a western flavor in Washington against Utah State (6:50 p.m., TNT), the Huskies’ zone against the Aggies’ humming offense. Duke opens what it hopes to be another deep run against North Dakota State (7:10 p.m., CBS), 3 seed Houston meets No. 14 Georgia State (7:20 p.m., TBS) and a 12-vs.-5 game has Liberty against Mississippi State (7:27 p.m., truTV), two teams making their first trip to the tourney in a while.
- Somehow every year the NCAA seems to close out the first round with one of its least appealing windows of games. This year includes top seed North Carolina as a heavy favorite against Iona (9:20 p.m., TNT), plus an Ohio State team that has been stumbling coming into the tourney against enigmatic Iowa State (9:50 p.m., TBS). The other two games feature teams known for defense, including Central Florida vs. VCU (9:40 p.m., CBS) plus Saint Louis meeting Virginia Tech (9:57 p.m., truTV).
- There’s also one NIT second round game Friday night with Memphis at Creighton (8:30 p.m., ESPNU).
Have an outstanding, maybe even upset-filled Friday.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
