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Published Mar 23, 2019
Murray State's Ja Morant has the world's attention, and FSU's as well
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Ira Schoffel  •  TheOsceola
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HARTFORD, Conn. -- From a hype standpoint, Florida State's players have been through this before.

They've experienced the Zion Williamson show. They've played at North Carolina and Virginia. They've taken on many of the top players and teams in the country.

And in most of those battles -- as will be the case again today when they take on point guard sensation Ja Morant and Murray State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (6:10 p.m., TNT) -- the Seminoles have largely loomed in the shadows

"It's something we've kind of been used to all year," FSU point guard Trent Forrest said. "A lot of people don't really talk about us."

That's probably not going to change much today, unless the No. 4 seed Seminoles are able to eliminate the No. 12 seed Racers.

Morant not only is one of the most impressive basketball players in the country -- he's expected to be a top-five pick in the 2019 NBA Draft -- but he's also captured the imagination of fans and media with his charisma and flamboyant style of play.

In the opening round on Thursday, Morant posted a triple-double (17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds) in Murray State's upset of No. 5 seed Marquette. It was the first triple-double in NCAA Tournament play since Draymond Green accomplished the feat in 2012.

And once the game was over, Morant hopped on social media to tell his fans that it was only the beginning. His Instagram post has been "liked" 257,000 times, and the same image on Twitter has been "liked" 179,000 times and retweeted 29,000 more.

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