On a weekend featuring two Top 10 matchups, Duke @ North Carolina and Michigan @ Michigan State, guess where the most NBA scouts were camped out?
Neither place. The top attraction was actually the Ohio Valley Conference Semifinals in Evansville, Indiana, with Murray State squaring off against Jacksonville State. Forty NBA scouts were credentialed for courtside seats and several others were sited throughout the arena to watch the nation’s most underrated star, Ja Morant, lead Murray State past Jacksonville State, 76-74. Morant, a spindly 6-3, 175-pound point guard, had 29 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds in an electrifying performance that had most scouts projecting him as a Top 5 pick in this year’s NBA draft.
Most of those scouts left town (what else was there left to see?) and missed Morant’s encore the next night when he filled up another stat line compiling 36 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in a 77-65 upset over Belmont in the Ohio Valley championship game. Morant’s Racers were the first to punch a ticket to March Madness. This was the first time I’ve watched Morant all season, and wow, was he fun to watch! A throwdown dunk in the second half in traffic rivaled some of Duke’s Zion Williamson’s best highlights. And I lost track counting how many times Morant finished at the rim with lefty swoop layups (best weak hand in the country!) over frustrated Belmont defenders.
With all of the hype I’ve been throwing the freshman Williamson’s way, I feel like a traitor, but the sophomore sensation Morant is just as exciting to watch. Sort of like seeing a great movie that you figure is a lock for the Oscars, only to see another one later in the year that makes you reconsider. It’s safe to say this year’s NCAA Tournament will feature two of the most exciting players to come along in some time.
Elsewhere, I had a chance to watch two more Top 25 teams I hadn’t seen, No. 20 Cincinnati and No. 22 Wofford. Cincinnati had a chance to tie No. 12 Houston for the American Athletic Conference (AAC) regular season title in a home matchup between the two teams. But Houston wasn’t about to let that happen, putting together a 35-12 run in the second half en route to an 85-69 victory to clinch the AAC title outright.
The 29-2 Cougars looked Final Four good in this game. Corey Davis scored a career-high 31 points and freshman guard Nate Hinton added 18 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. What was most promising about Hinton’s performance was his four 3-pointers. Houston has two excellent 3-point shooters with Davis and Armoni Brooks (who makes more than 3 per game at 40%), and if Hinton is making 3’s as well, the Cougars will be tough to beat in the NCAA’s. Houston, which has a well-deserved reputation as one of the nation’s best defensive teams, will likely be a No. 3 seed.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati will be making its ninth consecutive NCAA appearance. When CBS color commentator Steve Lappas mentioned that Cincy is one of only six teams (others are Kansas, Duke, Gonzaga, Michigan State, and North Carolina) that have made that many NCAA appearances or more in a row, I was surprised. Leaves me little choice but to add Mick Cronin to my ever-growing list of underrated coaches. With a lack of consistent scoring, Cronin’s Bearcats have played an excellent matchup zone to finish at the top of the competitive AAC. The Bearcats even won a game at SMU earlier in the season shooting 26.6% from the field.
Finally, let’s give Wofford its due for a great run in the Southern Conference (SoCon). At 18-0, the Terriers became the first team to go undefeated in the regular season since Steph Curry’s Davidson team in 2008. UNCG did not make matters easy for Wofford in the SoCon championship, leading most of the way before the Terriers finished with a 20-3 run for a 70-58 victory. Nathan Hoover scored all of his 20 points in the second half to ignite the rally.
Wofford has now won 20 in a row and hasn’t lost since December 19th at Mississippi State. The Terriers are an outstanding 3-point shooting team and will be a dangerous opponent for any team in the NCAA’s. You will not watch a more exciting 3-point shooter in March Madness than Wofford’s Fletcher Magee, who was named the SoCon Player of the Year. Magee is an aggressive 3-point shooter, to say the least. Often, when Magee is catching and shooting from deep range, he’s turning toward the basket in mid-air. Tune in to the Terriers’ opener in the NCAA’s and you will likely see Magee break the NCAA record for career 3-pointers. Magee made 4 treys on his way to 20 points in the UNCG win and needs just 3 more to break Oakland’s Travis Bader’s career record of 504.
Overtime Coach-Couch Talk:
With Selection Sunday just a few days away, everybody is wondering who the No. 1 seeds will be. Virginia and Gonzaga are locks for top seeds, while the other two are up for grabs among Duke and North Carolina in the ACC; Kentucky, Tennessee, and LSU in the ACC; and Michigan State in the Big 10. Will depend on what happens in conference tournaments this week.