Another game, another scoring onslaught from Jermaine Marshall.
The ASU senior forward hit four 3-pointers and scored 26 points as the Sun Devils (12-3, 1-1 Pac-12) earned their first conference win by routing Washington State on Sunday, 66-47.
ASU’s ball movement improved against Cougars (7-7, 0-2 Pac-12), contrary to Thursday’s loss to Washington. The Sun Devils had 12 assists on 21 field goals on Sunday compared to eight assists on 22 field goals Thursday. ASU had a messy start and turned the ball 11 times in the first half before recording only three in the second half.
Marshall credited his teammates to his fifth 20-point outing of the season.
“I think they moved the ball well and (when I) moved around the perimeter, they found me,” Marshall said in a TV interview.
ASU redshirt sophomore point guard Jahii Carson finished the game with 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Shaquielle McKissic added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Senior center Jordan Bachynski had six points, six rebounds and five blocks. Bachynski passed USC’s Taj Gibson for third-most career blocks in the Pac-12 and now has 255 blocks.
ASU went on a 13-3 run late in the first half before Washington State quickly countered with a 7-0 run just before halftime. McKissic tipped in his own miss to beat the buzzer to send the Sun Devils into halftime with a 27-23 lead.
Washington State managed to cut the deficit to two points at the start of the second half before ASU went to work.
The Sun Devils went on a 22-6 run toward the middle of the second half to put the game out of reach. ASU outscored the Cougars 39-24 in the half.
The Sun Devils were a modest 21-of-50 (42 percent) from the field and shot 9-of-20 (45 percent) from 3-point range, although it’s an improvement from their last several games. Meanwhile, ASU held Washington State to 18-of-53 (34 percent) from the field and 5-of-19 (26 percent) from the perimeter, both numbers below the Cougars’ season averages.
ASU won the rebounding battle 37-31.
Redshirt freshman guard Que Johnson had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the Cougars. Junior guard DaVonte Lacy, who played eight days after an appendectomy, left the game in the first half with a rib injury.
The Sun Devils play their first two Pac-12 road games in Los Angeles and will face USC on Jan. 9 and UCLA on Jan. 12.
Reach the reporter at jnacion@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Josh_Nacion
