Senior center Jordan Bachynski and his teammates celebrate after a victory over Marquett Monday, Nov. 25 at Wells Fargo Arena. (Photo by Vince Dwyer)A larger than usual crowd showed up to Wells Fargo Arena on Monday night. The ASU men’s basketball team had the chance to knock off No. 25 Marquette at home on national television, but the Golden Eagles could have spoiled everything in the waning seconds of the game.
ASU senior center Jordan Bachynski didn’t let it happen.
With seven seconds remaining in the game, Marquette junior guard Derrick Wilson rushed up the court off of a missed free throw and penetrated the lane to try and send the game into overtime with a layup. Bachynski met Wilson at the paint and blocked the shot into obscurity, sealing the Sun Devils’ 79-77 upset over the Golden Eagles (3-2).
Bachynski’s game-winning block was his seventh of the game to go along with a final statline of 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 12 rebounds on a career-high 39 minutes. It was his sixth double-double of the season.
His defensive performance was fitting, too. Bachynski was forced to change jerseys after bleeding too much on his original one and wore No. 42, made famous at ASU by football legend Pat Tillman.
“Defense has been and always will be a strength of mine,” Bachynski said. “That’s what my team needs me to do. I am happy to take that role.”
Despite the turnout of 9,155 fans, the crowd actually caused the Sun Devils (6-0) some trouble.
At 13:02 in the second half, ASU senior guard Jermaine Marshall was assessed a technical foul for taunting after making a basket. After Marquette senior forward Davante Gardner hit the first technical free throw, a fan from the student section threw a glow stick onto the court. The crowd already received a warning at the beginning of the game, which forced the referees to hand ASU another technical foul because the crowd did not heed the first warning.
ASU coach Herb Sendek grabbed the public address microphone and pleaded the fans to stop throwing objects.
“In a game like this, you don’t want to be giving points away,” Sendek said after the game.
ASU stormed out to a 14-3 run to start the game as redshirt sophomore point guard Jahii Carson hit his first two 3-pointers and Marshall and freshman forward Egor Koulechov each hit a three as well.
“It was huge with that momentum boost the crowd gave us and the energy we gave each other,” Carson said. “Coming out with a lead like that, it’s tough for a team to combat that.”
The Sun Devils cruised for the rest of the half, shooting 53.6 percent from the field and ended the half with a 43-33 lead. Meanwhile, Marquette shot just 37.5 percent from the field in the half. The ASU defense dared the Golden Eagles to take jump shots by switching under screens and sagging off open players on the perimeter.
Fouls were a factor early, however. The Sun Devils committed nine fouls in the first half, several of them being non-shooting. Carson picked up two fouls and had to sit the last seven minutes of the half, leaving sophomore Calean Robinson and freshman Chance Murray to split point guard duties.
Then the Golden Eagles came back alive in the second half.
With the help of an early 11-2 run, Marquette quickly erased the deficit and regained the lead at 61-60 with 11:09 left. Marquette redshirt senior guard Jake Thomas lead the Golden Eagles’ rally, scoring all 16 of his points in the second half and knocking down five 3-pointers.
Marquette also dominated the boards, as it outrebounded ASU 39-32 and had 20 second-chance points.
Emotions were rising throughout the building and the game seemed to be steering out of ASU’s control after the two technical fouls, but the Sun Devils quickly corrected themselves.
“Our guys do a great job talking with each other,” Sendek said. “Jahii, Jordan and Jermaine — those guys are saying the right things to each other. They stayed at a good place.”
After Marquette took the lead, the Sun Devils regained the lead and held it out to the end. Carson led the charge with 13 points and three assists in the second half, finishing with 23 total points, three 3-pointers and five dimes.
With ASU up 78-77 with 27 seconds left in the game, Thomas hoisted a jumper from just inside the 3-point line. Marshall secured the rebound but missed one of two free throws after getting immediately fouled. That play set up Bachynski’s block on Wilson.
Marshall finished the game with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting and three 3-pointers. The rest of the team outside of Bachynski, Carson and Marshall scored just 21 points combined.
ASU now has two significant wins as the Sun Devils also won at UNLV on Nov. 19. The players believe they should be taken seriously as they head into the Wooden Legacy on Thanksgiving weekend.
“I don’t think we’re getting some respect right now,” Carson said. “I think we have to come out and win this championship at the tournament."
Reach the reporter at jnacion@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Josh_Nacion
