Talk has centered on Zion and Morant. But this is why Hachimura shouldn’t be forgotten
Before the NCAA Tournament got going Thursday, Zion Williamson’s name was the one most college basketball fans were mentioning.
There was also the marquee battle between Murray State’s Ja Morant and Marquette’s Markus Howard. By early Thursday evening, Ja Morant was trending No. 1 on Twitter.
The hype surrounding Morant was no longer hype, but displayed for everyone with just the ninth triple-double in NCAA tournament history.
But there’s another player, who had a stellar season, that shouldn’t get overlooked. And he came to play Thursday for No. 1-seeded Gonzaga.
Rui Hachimura delivered in an 87-49 blowout victory against Fairleigh Dickinson. He scored 21 points and had eight rebounds.
Granted, it was against a No. 16 seed, but if the 2018 tournament proved is that you can’t overlook any team, even a 16-seed.
The Zags never were in doubt of suffering the fate Virginia did in 2018 against 16-seeded UMBC.
Instead, the Bulldogs were up 53-17 after the first half. Hachimura and the Zags defense were keys to mounting such a big lead. FDU shot 30 percent for the game.
Gonzaga awaits the winner of Syracuse-Baylor in Saturday’s second round.
This story was originally published March 21, 2019 at 10:10 PM.
