Written by Ernie Casanova
HARTFORD,CT– The second round of the NCAA Tournament started off with a heavily anticipated matchup between two very talented teams here at the XL Center. Ja Morant was back in Downtown Hartford with the Murray State Racers in hopes of pulling off another upset, while the Florida State Seminoles survived a scare against Vermont in their first game and looked to shake off the nerves. Murray State got off to a quick start, but the Seminoles had other plans for Morant and Co as the game began to settle in. Florida State started to run away from the Racers halfway into the first period, and the rest was history as they beat Murray State 90-62 to advance to the Sweet 16.
The Seminoles won the tip-off and got on the scoreboard first off of a Raiquan Gray three-pointer. On the next possession, Morant followed up with a three of his own, picking up where he left off on Thursday against Marquette. Shaq Buchanan scored the next four points for Murray State and Morant hit two threes in a row as the Racers had a 13-7 lead at this point. The general consensus would be that Florida State would suffer the same fate as Marquette, but they weren’t going to allow that to happen.
It was somewhat of a wake-up call as Mfiondu Kabengele followed up with a three of his own a couple of possessions later that gave the Seminoles a momentum boost. Kabengele hit a second-chance layup that regained the lead for Florida State, and they immediately capitalized. They hit three shots in a row from beyond the arc which at that point gave them a 35-26 lead, and the Racers never got back within reach.
The Seminoles went into the locker room at the half leading 50-34, and it wasn’t the high-octane matchup we expected it to be, although we got a glimpse of what that could’ve been in the first eight minutes. The second half was a nightmare for the Racers, as they just couldn’t work the same magic as they did this past Thursday. Center Darnell Cowart and Buchanan were getting their shots blocked as their size didn’t just couldn’t match up, and the Noles did an excellent job blocking Morant’s passing lanes, forcing the rest of the Racers team to create their own shot.
The Racers had a hard time stopping Kabengele along with Terance Mann, as they led by as much as thirty points in the second half, but it doesn’t deny the fact that Murray State had a road of many battles to get here, and fell to a formidable opponent.
Kabengele led the Seminoles with 22 points and seven rebounds on 10-12 shooting, with Terance Mann sitting behind him with 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. RaiQuan Gray added 11 points, going 3-4 from three-point range, with P.J Savoy dropping nine points as well.
For the Racers, Morant led the way with 28 points on 8-21 shooting and added five rebounds and four assists. Buchanan came in behind him with 12 points and three rebounds, while Cowart added 11 points and four rebounds.
