The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Two of nation’s best meet in first round
Murray State’s Ja Morant, right, is future NBA lottery pick. Marquette’s Markus Howard is the Big East player of the year. Two of the top 10 scorers in the country meet in a 5-12 game in the West.
HARTFORD, CONN. >> Murray State’s Ja Morant and Marquette’s Markus Howard have much in common: Point guards, prolific scorers, conference players of the year, All-America contenders. And, apparently, promptness.
Morant and Howard struck up a friendship last summer at NBA All-Star Chris Paul’s camp for elite guards.
“We were the first two people to show up to a meeting,” Howard said. He broke the ice and the two have kept in touch ever since, trying as best as they can to follow each other’s spectacular seasons.
That will be easy on March 21: Morant and the 12th-seeded Racers will face Howard and No. 5 Marquette in a West Region first-round game being played on the East Coast.
“It’s crazy just how basketball works,” Howard said. “It’s definitely a cool situation.”
The showdown between two of the nation’s top-10 scorers is a marquee event that just about everyone associated with the teams tried to downplay March 20 at the XL Center in Hartford.
“I think a lot of people want to make this a oneon-one duel,” Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “But from our perspective, this is Marquette versus Murray State.”
Don’t expect many headto-head matchups between the star guards. Those difficult defensive assignments will land with teammates.
Defending the 6-foot-2 Morant, who averages 24.6 points and nation’s-best 10 assists per game, will be the first-and-foremost job of Marquette’s Sacar Anim, a 6-5 junior. Playing in the Big East, Anim has experience guarding NBA prospects such as St. John’s Shamorie Ponds. He conceded that Morant is a different level of talent.
“There’s probably nobody in the Big East that’s like him. He’s a top-three pick projected for a reason,” Anim said. “His combination of athleticism, his speed and his vision. Especially at that size. He has those long arms. There’s a little bit similar players, but he’s unique in his own way.”