Story by Blake Sandlin
Interim Editor-in-Chief
bsandlin1@murraystate.edu
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Every Cinderella story must come to an end, and Saturday night’s 90-62 loss to Florida State closed the book on Murray State’s.
Despite jumping out to an early 13-7 lead, Murray State was virtually outmatched from the jump. The Seminoles knocked down 11 threes and shot 51 percent from the field to will themselves to a Sweet 16 matchup with Gonzaga.
“It’s tough,” said Head Coach Matt McMahon said. “You don’t ever want the season to end, especially when you’ve had a special group like this. They’ve been very easy to coach, a very close-knit group. Going to practice every day, it’s been a lot of fun, so you want to keep playing. It’s tough. And you hate for it to end that way. I mean, we got whipped. That’s the bottom line.”
How it happened
The Racers caught lightning in a bottle in the opening minutes of the first half when sophomore guard Ja Morant knocked down three 3-pointers to help steer Murray State to an early 14-7 lead.
Before anyone had time to bathe in the possibility of another potential upset, Florida State had clawed back, thanks in large part to an advantage on the offensive glass. The Seminoles had seven offensive rebounds in the first half.
In addition to the rebounding deficit, the Racers’ downfall in the first half was decided by a statistical category the team typically excels in.
Murray State’s fourth-ranked 3-point defense was nowhere to be found, as Florida State – led by six combined threes from RaiQuan Gray and PJ Savoy – nailed eight triples in the first half to shoot 57 percent. Florida State ranked 203rd in the country at 7.4 threes per game coming into Saturday.
“If they shoot the ball that consistently that well, they’re going to be a tough out in this tournament,” McMahon said. “Some of them were some breakdowns on our part certainly, but they don’t have many weaknesses. And I don’t know if I should call three-point shooting a weakness, but if you go through the numbers, that’s one of the areas where they aren’t as good.”
The Racers faced a 50-34 deficit at halftime, and while a comeback was certainly possible, the team did little to quell Florida State’s extraordinary offense.
Just when Murray State began to focus its efforts on guarding the three, Florida State exploited slow rotations and began beating the Racers inside. Twenty-four points in the paint on 50 percent field goal shooting helped break the game open.
Murray State could never muster any sort of momentum in the second half, as Florida State led by as much as 31 in the game. Much of that success can be attributed to the play of the bench. A staggering 47 points off the bench compared to Murray State’s six was paramount in the win.
Florida State forward Mfiondu Kabengele tallied 22 points and seven rebounds off the bench to lead the team.
“I thought we had tremendous help from our rotation players,” said Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton. “And taking into consideration our top players didn’t play at all, I was very pleased that we were able to beat what I thought was a really good basketball team. And the score is probably not an indication of how much respect I have for them and how talented they are. I think tonight was one of those nights everything that we were doing, we were clicking.”
While the Seminoles were rolling, Murray State was hard pressed to find scoring. Morant was held to just four assists, though he did cement arguably one of his greatest accolades with just minutes remaining in the game.
His fourth assist with 3:21 remaining in the second half made him the all-time assist leader at Murray State with 532. He passed Don Mann’s previous record of 531 assists. It took Mann 111 games to achieve that milestone – Morant did it in 65.
Still, despite the historic season for Morant – who finished with 28 points, four assists and five rebounds – he exited the XL Center court with a bad taste in his mouth.
“It really just hurt me,” Morant said. “I was just thinking about what I could’ve done to help us come out with a win and extend our season. I feel like that’s what hurt me the most, not being able to take the floor again with my guys.”
Morant’s last ride?
Saturday’s defeat could mean that Murray State’s new all-time leader in assists played his last game in a Racer uniform. Morant, who is being projected by many to go as high as No. 2 in the 2019 NBA Draft, has plenty of time to mull over a decision before the April 21 NBA Draft deadline.
And based on Morant’s post-game comments, he plans to take full advantage of his time to contemplate before committing to the NBA.
“That time will come,” Morant said. “My focus is not on that right now. It’s just celebrating what a great season we had with my teammates.”
Morant said when he decides to make his official decision, he will rely on his parents’ guidance to reach a decision on his future.
Senior send-off
Although there’s a fair bit of uncertainty regarding Morant’s decision, there’s clarity with seniors Brion Sanchious and Shaq Buchanan future. The two players ended their careers with the Racers with two OVC Championships.
Sanchious said although this wasn’t necessarily the ending he desired, he’s thankful for the team for all the success they had.
“I wouldn’t say at this point [I feel] satisfaction, but I know we tried our best and we played as hard as we can,” Sanchious said. “Like I said, it’s a loss, so we’ll still feel bad about it, but at the end of the day they sent me off right. They made me happy; they made my season great.”
Buchanan doesn’t know what’s next for him in terms of the professional ranks, but he’s thankful for the two years spent as a Racer.
“Time will tell [what’s next],” Buchanan said. “It’s just been a great year, my two years here. Like I said, I wouldn’t change it for nothing.
‘Til next year
The Racers have plenty to hang their hat on after winning their second-straight OVC Championship and competing in the NCAA Tournament yet again. The team compiled a 28-5 (16-2) record this season, and won their first NCAA Tournament game since 2012.