March Madness: 10 best moments from the 2019 NCAA Tournament

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: De'Andre Hunter #12, Kyle Guy #5, and Ty Jerome #11 of the Virginia Cavaliers huddle together during overtime against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /

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HARTFORD, CT – MARCH 21: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers drives past Brendan Bailey #1of the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /

10. Ja Morant posts a triple-double against Marquette

Entering the first round of the NCAA Tournament, one of the more exciting matchups in the bracket was a 5-12 showdown between Marquette and Murray State. The Golden Eagles boasted Markus Howard, one of the country’s leading scorers entering the dance, but the Racers had a trump card in Ja Morant.

Morant, who was well-known to scouts as a potential top-3 pick in June’s NBA Draft, hadn’t really had the opportunity to play on the national stage due to Murray State’s slot in the Ohio Valley Conference. The matchup against Marquette was the nation’s first chance to get a look at Morant, and he made quite the first impression.

Morant did it all against Marquette, pouring in 17 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and handing out 16 assists in an 83-64 rout of the Golden Eagles. That line proved to be historic as Morant recorded the first triple-double in the NCAA Tournament since 2012 when Draymond Green put one up as a member of Michigan State.

The stats didn’t tell the entire story of how brilliant Morant was for Murray State, and you simply had to watch the game to see how breathtaking his performance was. Morant was dropping dimes with precision passing that evoked the memory of a young Russell Westbrook, and his pure talent was enough to make NBA scouts salivate.

That game would be the high point for Morant and the Racers, who lost to Florida State in the Round of 32, but this performance will go down in tournament history.

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