March Madness: Illinois' Marcus Domask becomes first player since Ja Morant in 2019 to post a tourney triple-double

Illinois forward Marcus Domask became just the ninth player in NCAA men's tournament history to post a triple-double on Thursday.

Domask had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the No. 3 Illini’s 85-69 win over No. 14 Morehead State in the first round. He got to double-digits in assists and rebounds first before officially hitting a triple-double on a 3-pointer with 2:57 to go.

Domask’s triple-double is the first since Ja Morant had one in the 2019 NCAA tournament. The Memphis Grizzlies star had 17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds in Murray State’s first-round loss to Marquette five years ago.

Michigan’s Gary Grant became the first player to have an NCAA tournament triple-double in 1987. Just three players had one in the 1990s — including Shaquille O’Neal in 1992 — before it happened six times in the 2000s.

Draymond Green is the only player to have two triple-doubles in the NCAA tournament. He had one in the first round of the 2011 NCAA tournament before repeating the feat again in the first round of the 2012 NCAA tournament.

Domask entered the game as Illinois’ second-leading scorer behind Terrence Shannon Jr. and had three double-doubles this season entering the tournament.

The final score of Illinois’ win over the Eagles looks a lot more comfortable than it seemed at halftime. Morehead State jumped out to an early 9-0 lead before Illinois took a 39-38 lead at halftime.

The Illini pulled away in the second half with ease, however. Illinois shot over 54% from the field and was 12-of-26 from behind the 3-point line. Shannon had 26 points as Morehead State’s Riley Minix led all scorers with 27.

Illinois will face Duquesne in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday after the Dukes upset BYU earlier on Thursday.