Florida State Basketball: Keys against Murray State in Round of 32

Florida State Basketball: Keys for Seminoles against Murray State in Round of 32

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 14: Terance Mann #14 and teammate Mfiondu Kabengele #25 of the Florida State Seminoles react after defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies in overtime during their game in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MARCH 21: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers celebrates scoring at the end of the first half during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Marquette Golden Eagles at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

1. Ja Morant

Morant will be no less than the third pick in the NBA draft this summer assuming he declares. After his game against Marquette, he may have passed Duke star freshman R.J. Barrett as the second best prospect in College Basketball.

The 6’3” sophomore guard is averaging 24.4 points, 10.2 assists, and 5.7 rebounds this season. Against Marquette he recorded a triple-double with 17 points on nine shots, 16 assists, and 11 rebounds. He showed how he can make an extreme impact without necessarily lighting up the scoreboard.

He will be the key to everything for both Murray State and Florida State in this one. Vermont was another team with a star player to focus on in forward Anthony Lamb, and the Seminoles did a good job with limiting him in the paint. It will be the guards for Florida State who need to step up this time to prevent a Murray State Cinderella run into the Sweet 16.

What Morant showed against Marquette was his ability to affect the game in many ways. Whoever is matched up against him will need to do more than simply stopping him from scoring. They will need to affect his line of sight in the passing lanes and box him out when a shot goes up. The rest of the defense will need to be ready to help on drives and need to keep their hands in the passing lanes. It does not have to come down to one player stopping him, it must be a team effort.

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