(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
If the Sun Devils first win of the season against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers is any prediction as to how this season is going to be, Sun Devils fans can be electrified with optimism. ASU defeated the Retrievers 96-61 in blowout fashion.
The Sun Devils out-shined the Retrievers in all aspects of the game Friday night. They had height. They had camaraderie. They had strength. They executed. But most importantly, and probably the most encouraging to Sun Devil fans, they showed improvement.
While it was Jahii Carson’s last opening night stepping onto the court as a Sun Devil, it was the first time for others. Coach Sendek started the game by adding two of the team’s newcomers to the starting line-up.
Jermaine Marshall and Shaquielle McKissic started at the two guard and small forward respectively, along with Carson, Jonathan Gilling, and Jordan Bachynski.
Despite losing 15 pounds to Valley Fever, Jermaine Marshall played 27 minutes of fast-paced basketball with a total of 19 points for the game. However he wasn’t satisfied.
“I’m not quite where I want to be, my wind is not where I want it to be. I’m still trying to get back to 100 percent,” Marshall said.
The first man off the bench was Bo Barnes coming in for Jermaine Marshall.
Following, was Richie Edwards, with Eric Jacobsen, Calean Robinson, Egor Koulechov, Chance Murray, and Sai Tummala being the 8th-12th man respectively.
The five starters looked to be seamlessly in sync with each other despite the incorporation of the new players by getting open early.
The shots were not dropping quite as quickly however, with the score remaining close until there was 7:42 left in the half at which point Jonathan Gilling sank a three to trigger a string of 12 unanswered points in four minutes.
The height of the Sun Devils greatly exceeded the height of nearly every player on UMBC allowing them to muscle out 15 more rebounds than their opponent.
Jordan Bachynski had career-high 15 rebounds on the night and showed great aptitude for drawing the UMBC foul.
One aspect that had a substantial effect on the game overall was the fouls. The numerous, at times seemingly nonexistent fouls that were called a total of 51 times in one single game.
The new hand-check rule definitely showed its anticipated shortcomings. UMBC had a total of 30 fouls, surprisingly only 9 more than ASU. The rule drastically slowed the progression of the game.
Jahii Carson commented on the new rule. “We try to learn to adjust but it’s still different because every ref that we’ve had, has been different and called the game differently.”
Coach Sendek joked with the media about how closely the games are now being called. “If you add up some of these free throws, you’re either good at math or you need a calculator right? It definitely extends the time of the game.”
The fouls seemed to take a toll on UMBC as they gradually lost momentum once the fouls stacked up and ASU begin to take shots as a result. UMBC rushed their shots eliciting a poor field-goal ratio that showed them only making about a third of their field goals.
In contrast, the Sun Devils exhibited near NBA-caliber hustle for 40 minutes. It did look like the first game in terms of the foul totals, however, the Sun Devils showed the fruits of their training in the off season to come out with endurance that is usually found later in the season.
ASU came out of the half looking sloppy with four turnovers and five missed shots within the first five minutes. Despite this slice of sloppy play, UMBC could not stop ASU from pulling away to the point where UMBC could only hope to cut the embarrassing lead.
The huge lead throughout the game allowed Sendek to try out the new guys, providing him a sample of what the different combinations of players might yield.
“There’s been a lot of flip-flopping but I thought what some of those guys did at the end of the game was really encouraging. I think we are going to play several guys, perhaps more than we have in the past,” Sendek said.
The 75% free throw percentage was another huge step in the right direction for the Sun Devil team. Sendek recounted last year’s last place ranking in terms of free throw percentages and how that will be a vital factor in improving the team.
“Last year that cost us as many games as any single factor. Just about every single game that we lost, except for two in the conference, were close games, I mean close, like the last possession or two… it’s good to see our guys go to the line and convert at a much higher percentage tonight, especially as often as we were there.”
While these improvements and adjustments are a very significant part of the game, the biggest takeaway from the kickoff of the season was how the Sun Devils looked like a team.
The tight huddles before every free throw was a picture of their unity. Their ability to call the next play while critiquing the previous failure. They used that great basketball peripheral vision to be aware of every movement on the court, staying close to their man, making strong passes, moving the ball around, and getting the ball to the person with the best shot.
“I honestly feel right now that we don’t have anybody that has any individual agendas. We have to get better in a lot of ways, but tonight they were unconditionally together. And a lot of times, first game right, everybody starts the game trying to do get points and do their thing-no. None of that. Our guys were a team from the beginning,” Sendek said.
The Sun Devils’ next game will be played at Wells Fargo Arena Tuesday night at 7:00 against the University of Miami (Ohio).
