Redshirt sophomore guard Jahii Carson takes the ball to the hoop against the Retrievers in Tempe, Friday Nov. 8. The Sun Devils defeated UMBC and protected the house for opening night of the season. (Photo by Dominic Valente)Opening night at Wells Fargo Arena went as planned for the ASU men's basketball team.
In his final season opener at ASU, redshirt sophomore Jahii Carson scored 19 points on 6-12 shooting and led the Sun Devils (1-0) to a 96-61 blowout win over the University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers (0-1).
"I definitely think we have a lot of work to do but I'm definitely impressed with how everybody played tonight," Carson said. Carson commended the ASU big men for outrebounding UMBC by a 50-35 margin, but said he thinks that ASU could work on making its offensive game run at a higher tempo.
Carson also said that there was "a lot of emotion as far as excitement" for many of the players who played their last season opener at ASU.
"I wasn't the only one feeling it," Carson said of the season opener enthusiasm. "But at the end of the day, we have a task at hand and we want to win basketball games so those emotions go out the door right when the ball tips off."
ASU got off to a sloppy start offensively and seemed bothered by UMBC's pesky defensive styles, which at times included a zone, a full-court press and man-to-man looks.
But the Sun Devils shook the rust off quickly and went into the tunnel at halftime with a 45-28 lead after Carson scored a twisting layup over three UMBC defenders.
It seemed as though the Sun Devils would run away with the game in the second half as they were up 60-42 with about 13 minutes to go. However, free-throw misses from senior center Jordan Bachynski and junior forward Jonathan Gilling allowed the Retrievers to string together a 7-0 run.
With about 10 minutes left and the score at 60-49, the Retrievers missed an open three-pointer and ASU got the rebound and never looked back, going on a 15-0 run over the next four minutes, which was part of a 36-11 run to end the game.
ASU coach Herb Sendek said he was impressed with his players' attitudes and commended the starters for all being in double figures in points. Sendek also praised Bachynski, who recorded his sixth career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. "Everybody was in a good place mentally," Sendek said. "They pulled for each other, there were no distractions and they really were a team from that standpoint."
Sendek said his players became a little too careless with the basketball to begin the second half, but that he was happy to see them finish with only 11 turnovers when the final buzzer sounded.
"Turnovers have been a real problem for us and it was good to see us chisel that down," Sendek said. Sendek said he was also happy with the team's free throw shooting, which was a problem last year. The Sun Devils shot 75 percent from the free-throw line, going 33-44 on the night.
"Last year (free-throw shooting) cost us as many games as any single factor," Sendek said. "That was a real problem for us last year, so yes, it's good to see our guys go to the line and convert at a much higher percentage tonight."
Despite recovering from valley fever, senior guard Jermaine Marshall went 5-11 from the field and matched Carson for a team-high 19 points. Marshall also hit three 3-pointers and went 6-6 from the charity stripe.
Marshall, who lost 15 pounds over the last couple weeks from being sick, said he was still trying to get his legs under him, but that he felt great about getting back out on the floor and playing with Carson for the first time in a regular season game.
"I'm not quite where I want to be, but I'm getting there," Marshall said. "I just think we've got to keep moving forward and getting better."
Carson said he thinks the team had great chemistry to open the season and that he is already looking ahead to the next game.
"I just want to go out and leave a mark here at ASU with these good guys," Carson said. "We've just got to stay hungry and humble, everyday we have got to play a new opponent ... we have got to just erase this game and look forward to the next game because that is here Tuesday." ASU plays Miami (Ohio) at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena.
Additional Notes -Bachynski had three blocks on the night and is now 95 away from the Pac-12 record. -The 942 Crew came out in full effect as Sun Devil Atletics reported that there were 1,286 students at the season opener.
Reach the reporter at npmendo@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @NPMendoza
