(Photo: Noah Findling/WCSN)
The Sun Devils won in a nail-biter Monday night at Wells Fargo Arena against the Marquette Golden Eagles with a thrilling last-second block by Jordan Bachynski to give ASU the 79-77 victory.
As the clock was about to expire, Derrick Wilson put up the tying shot. Cue the seven- foot-two-inch Canadian center. Bachynski blocked the shot as the buzzer sounded and the arena exploded with the cheers of Sun Devil fans as they watched their team pile on top of Bachynski in a state of pure ecstasy.
“We knew that we needed to play heads-up basketball and play smart and we knew when he was coming around the corner and that he was gonna take it so I just jumped and prayed and blocked the shot.”
The Sun Devils got off to a roaring start. Jahii Carson, Jermaine Marshall and Egor Koulechov came out of the gate looking strong, racking up the first 12 points all from behind the arc.
The crowd was louder than ever as the Sun Devils moved the ball around and got open early. Marquette struggled initially, missing seven consecutive shots after their first field goal. ASU created an 8-2 run over the Golden Eagles over a two-minute span.
“Our crowd was fabulous. There were a couple instances where they really made a difference for us.” Sendek said.
Jordan Bachynski was a catalyst in ASU’s up-tempo start, blocking the ball three times within the first nine minutes of the game. He went on to play 39 minutes of basketball.
“That shows you how great out strength and conditioning coach is and it sucks when they make us train at the time, but I’m so grateful we did. I mean everyone has more wind,” Bachynski said.
Pat Tillman may or may not have been looking out for the Sun Devils tonight as Bachynski ironically bore no. 42, halfway thought the first half because of a bloodstained no. 13 jersey resulting from a finger injury.
Following a 12-6 run to make the score 33-18, the Sun Devils stalled, missing their shots and committing fouls to elicit a Marquette rally to cut the deficit to 11 with five minutes and 43 seconds left in the half.
In the dwindling minutes, Marquette brought it within six to make the score 35-29. Quickly, Bachynski single-handedly turned it around with a layup and two consecutive crowd-pleasing dunks to make it a 12-point lead.
The Sun Devils finished the first half holding on to a comfortable 10-point lead by a score of 43-33.
ASU got off to a bad second-half start, rushing their shots, turning the ball over and committing fouls. Jermaine Marshall got a technical for taunting, just one of the Sun Devils’ 14 fouls on the night.
“We maintained our composure after that. We got a little lackadaisical in the second half but overall we did a good job,” Carson said.
After a period of back-and-forth play, Marquette heated up going on a 22-12 run over the next seven minutes to make score 60-59 with 11 minutes left to play.
The score would stay close for the rest of the game, coming down to the final seconds where the real action happened.
With three minutes left in the game, the Sun Devils were up one point. After a missed layup by Marquette’s JaJuan Johnson, Jahii Carson drove to the hoop, faked the shot and passed to Koulechov who laid it in to make the score 78-75 with two minutes and 43 seconds left.
The crowd erupted so loud that Marquette was forced to take a timeout to get a play together. Following the timeout Davante Gardner of Marquette laid it in to make it a one-point game.
With 27 seconds left, Jake Thomas missed the tying shot. Marshall grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled. He made one of his two shots to make it a two-point game. With seven seconds left, Marquette would have possession but fail to convert because of Bachynski’s block.
Bachynski not only got the game-winning block, but also collected his sixth consecutive double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
“If there’s a more improved player over the span of these last four years, I know Jordan has to be in the conversation. If he can play this physical and combative over 39 minutes, I mean, the numbers he’s posting are hard to beat,” Sendek said.
Carson led the team in points with a total of 23 on the night, while Marshall finished close behind with 21.
“I think we have some of the top guys in the country and we’d like to go out and show it. We are leaving it all on the floor and we have a lot to accomplish,” Carson said.
After the game, Bachynski described how the unity of this Sun Devil team is what allows for these exhilarating endings.
“I’ve never been on a team like this. Everybody is happy with their roles. Eric Jacobsen has been a phenomenal support for me. Everybody is happy for us when we do well. It’s a very different feeling. It’s an all-in-everyone-wants-to-win-and-we’ll-do-whatever-it-takes feeling,” Bachynski said.
