HARTFORD, Conn.—Murray State’s  sensational junior point guard Ja Morant was dazzling, finishing what was most likely his final college game with 28 points.

But Florida state was better, much better.

The towering, fourth- seeded Seminoles looked like a Final Four team here last night, taking a battering ram to 12th seeded Murray State, 90-62, here in an NCAA second round West sub-regional game at the XL Center The Seminoles just had too much size, power, depth and athleticism for the Racers from the Ohio Valley Conference, slamming home multiple dunks, scoring 44 points in the paint and out rebounding smaller Murray 45-33, during the blow out.

Mfondu Kabengerie, a 6-10 red shirt forward from Burlington, Ontario, came off the bench to score 22 points on 10 of 12 shooting for the ACC tournament finalists (29-7), who also got 18 points on 7 for 11 shooting and six assists from 6-7 senior guard Terance Mann from nearby Lowell, Mass. and shot 50.7 percent. The Seminoles put 10 players in the scoring column. Florida State’s bench overwhelmed the Racers, outscoring them, 47-5, as they warmed up for an epic showdown against top seeded Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 next Friday in Anaheim.

This game had emotional significance for Florida State, whose players were still grieving over the loss of Mike Cofer, the former NFL Detroit Lions player and the father of their teammate Phil Cofer, who passed away at age 58 after a prolonged battle with amyloidosis, a rare disease that affects the kidneys and other organs Thursday night after the Seminoles’ first round win against Vermont.

“We had a very emotional situation when we found out about Mike Cofer,’ Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “And before we came on the road trip, Phil got worried that his father was not doing very well. So, we had to make sure he was okay. And I think our team decided that we would dedicate the rest of our season to Mike. And I thought that had a lot to do with the way we played tonight.

“Everybody who knows Mr. Cofer talks about his character, his toughness and the energy he found to the game of football. But people don’t know how tough he really was to have to endure the fight and the courage you need to have to fight the disease that eventually overcame him. And he never complained. He stood tall.

“And when you see the way Phil plays, the way he acts, the way he responds to challenge, you see Mike Cofer. And I thought the kids tonight decided that’s what we wanted to play for, something bigger than us and bigger than the game. And I think that’s why you saw our guys so focused. Our guys have created a culture—they call themselves 18 strong. They’re brothers. They’re family. And I think we feed of each other.  When one’s hurting, I think we all hurt. And I think tonight was a response to the respect we had for Mr. Cofer. We wanted him to be happy with the way we performed tonight.’’

This had to be Florida State’s best game of the season. The Seminoles took control early when they made 8 of their first 11 three- point attempts to take a 50-34 lead at half. The Seminoles knew they couldn’t stop Morant completely, so they concentrated on stopping his teammates, limiting Morant, who had 16 assists against Marquette, to just four and only one in the second half.

“We’ve been fifth in the country in two-point percentage, up around 58 percent,’’ Murray State coach Matt McMahon said. “They’ve been one of the top teams defending the two-point shot. And they just made it extremely difficult for us finish plays around the basket. I think we were under 30 percent around the basket.’’

Florida State was just too tall on the interior, especially when 7-4 center Christ Koumadje was in the game.

The 6-3 Morant got off to a quick start, making three threes and contributing two assists to keep the game close in the first five minutes. But he finished 8 for 21 and never seemed to be the same after he was pushed by a Florida State defender coming off a screen late in the first half and went knee to knee with one of the players

“I just think he’s a great player,” Mann said. ‘He can score the ball at all three levels.and that’s why it’s hard to stop him. You never know what he’s going to do, if he’s going to find one of his teammates or he’s going to score the ball. He’s a terrific talent and has a lot of athleticism.”.Murray State (28-5), which shot just 32.8 percent, didn’t have enough scorers to help him out. “We came to the conclusion that Morant was basically un-guardable. So, we had to make sure we defended their other guys that fed off him and made them earn their baskets.”