(Photo: Brendan O’Keeffe)
After not one, not two, but three gut-wrenching overtime periods, Arizona State Men’s Basketball (7-13) was able to knock off the No. 3 ranked UCLA Bruins (16-4) 87-84 in an instant classic that saw the floor of Desert Financial Arena turned into a sea of maroon after hundreds of ASU fans stormed the court.
“I thought it was a really fun, entertaining game to be a part of, and coach,” ASU Head Coach Bobby Hurley said. “I was willing to do this until tomorrow if the game kept going. Both teams had incredible spirit, and will to win. A lot of plays were made out there, and we were fortunate to have something left in the tank in that third overtime and make some big shots.”
A big shot maker for ASU in Saturday night’s three-overtime thriller was senior guard Marreon Jackson.
Jackson led all Sun Devils with 24 points, with nine of those coming in the three overtime periods.
“This definitely is number one,” Jackson said when asked where Saturday night’s game ranked in his collegiate career. “I’ve played in a lot of games with good atmospheres, but this is definitely at that level – beating the No. 3 team in the country. I don’t think it can get better than that.”
It was Jackson who was able to provide a spark off the bench for the Sun Devils in the first half when they needed it the most.
Down 28-23 with just over four minutes left in the first half, Jackson had two momentum-shifting plays. First, he stripped the ball from a UCLA player, which led to a fast-break bucket. Then, he followed up with a corner three-pointer just seconds later to tie the game at 28.
Jackson’s presence off of the bench, along with ASU’s 40% shooting from three-point range, saw it go into halftime leading the heavily-favored Bruins 34-32.
“So happy to see [Jackson] come through and make big plays throughout the game,” Hurley said. “He has so much expectations, and there’s nobody that works harder in this program, so it’s just great that on this stage he’d come through like that.”
A player who was able to come through for the Bruins in the second half was junior guard Johnny Juzang. After a fairly quiet first half, Juzang was able to rack up 13 points, shooting 5-11 from the field. Juzang, along with the efforts of junior guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., who finished the game with 27 points, was able to lead the Bruins into overtime.
It was in the first overtime period where Jackson was able to step up once again. After knocking down a big three to open up the scoring for the Sun Devils in the first extra period, he put a shimmy on a UCLA defender and made a baseline fade-away jumper. He ended the first overtime period with six points.
Jackson had the chance to be the ultimate hero and sink the game-winner in the first overtime period, but he missed from beyond the arc, sending the game into second overtime.
In that period, ASU was only able to score four points, with Jackson sinking two key free-throws and junior forward Jalen Graham ending the period with a monster slam over Jaquez Jr. that got the crowd roaring.
The third overtime was opened up with a crucial three-pointer from sophomore guard DJ Horne to put the Sun Devils up 77-74. Graham came up critical in the last overtime period, knocking down two floaters over the UCLA defense – with the second putting ASU up six points – which proved to be the dagger to UCLA’s No. 3 ranking, and a sign of things potentially turning around for ASU.
“It’s starting to all come along,” Jackson said. “Our defense is good, our offense is starting to come along, so we are going to be a scary team to play against.”
ASU will host No. 7 Arizona on Monday night at Desert Financial Arena, in a rivalry game that ASU hope has a similar outcome as Saturday night’s.
