Getty Ja Morant
The No. 5 seed Marquette Golden Eagles and the No. 12 Murray State Racers will meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
The game is scheduled to start around 4:30 p.m. ET (following the conclusion of FSU vs Vermont) and will be televised on TBS. But if you don’t have cable, you can sign up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services that allow you to watch TBS on your computer, phone or streaming device:
FuboTV
FuboTV
TBS is one of 85-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), allowing you to watch every NCAA tournament game.
You can start a free 7-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch the game (and other programs) on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
PlayStation Vue
PlayStation Vue
PS Vue–which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch–offers four different live-TV channel packages: All four include TBS. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), allowing you to watch every March Madness game.
You can start a free 5-day trial of PS Vue right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
If you can’t watch live, PS Vue comes with cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
Hulu
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 60-plus live TV channels, including TBS. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), meaning you can watch every other NCAA tournament game.
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
Marquette vs Murray State Preview
The Racers finished Ohio Valley Conference play with a 16-2 record, sharing the regular season title with Belmont. They then beat the Bruins in the conference tournament championship for their 11th consecutive victory.
Conference player of the year Ja Morant dropped 36 points in the win.
“It’s just this amazing combination he has of athleticism, explosiveness,” Murray State head coach Matt McMahon said of his star point guard, according to Forbes. “Now you add to that off-the-charts feel for the game and basketball IQ and the final piece is he’s a relentless competitor.”
Projected to be a top-three pick in the upcoming NBA draft, the sophomore averages 10 assists per game, first in Division I, and 24.6 points per game, good for eighth.
“Every pass is right in the shooter’s pocket,” McMahon said, per Forbes. “It’s the little things that are underappreciated. Post player has got his guy sealed and he puts the ball right where it needs to be so all he has to do is catch it and lay it in. His attention to detail out there is just incredible. Understanding how to read a screen. He manipulates the defense out there in his ball screen attack … he’s just a magician.”
The head coach added: “He’s tough, all about winning and guys love playing with him. He has this special flair and joy that he plays with and people love watching him.”
Murray State shoots 49.6 percent from the field, the ninth-best mark out of 353 Division I teams. They hold opponents to 41 percent shooting, the 45th-lowest mark in the nation.
“They got a lot of good stuff going for them,” Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski said of Murray State, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Obviously, people know Ja Morant.
“He’s going to go in the top two or three in the NBA draft. If you are going to do that, then that’s pretty darn good.”
Wojciechowski’s team went 12-6 in Big East play then fell to Seton Hall in the conference tournament semifinals.
The Golden Eagles hold opponents to 40.2 shooting percent from the field, the 23rd-lowest figure in the country. They hit 39.3 percent of their 3-point attempts, ranking 10th.
Marquette features their own conference player of the year at point guard in Markus Howard. The junior scores 25 points per contest, good for sixth in the nation. He also averages four assists and 1.1 steals per game, both team highs.
“They like to get up and down, like to play in transition,” Markus Howard said, per the Journal Sentinel. “It should be be a great game.”