Murray State's Ja Morant is the star of the NCAA Tournament's first day after leading No. 12 seed Murray State to an 83-64 blowout of No. 5 seed Marquette.
Morant ended up with 17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds to lead four players in double figures. It was just the ninth triple-double since the NCAA started measuring the statistic in 1987.
Markus Howard scored 26 points for Marquette but shot 9 of 27 and didn't get enough help.
Murray State advances to a second-round matchup with Florida State.
Morant's triple-double is the first in an NCAA Tournament game since Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for Michigan State against LIU Brooklyn in 2012. Green had a total of two NCAA Tournament triple-doubles.
Other players to get official triple-doubles in NCAA Tournament games are Michigan's Gary Grant in 1987, LSU's Shaquille O'Neal in 1992, St. John's David Cain in 1993, Utah's Andre Miller in 1998, Marquette's Dwyane Wade in 2003 and Kansas' Cole Aldrich in 2009.
