|
 Marshall hit two 3-pointers and drove to the hoop for the
go-ahead basket with 14.7 seconds left in the second overtime as
Arizona State upset second-ranked Arizona 69-66 on Friday night at
Wells Fargo Arena.
Arizona is the highest-ranked opponent that ASU has ever beaten at
home.
Marshall, a graduate transfer from Penn State, finished with a
game-high 29 points.
"Jermaine is just incredible," Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said.
"It just seems like the bigger the moment, regardless of what's
happened previously, he has an amazing capacity to make a big play,
to be at his best when the game is on the line."
Arizona State (19-6, 8-4 Pac-12) bolstered its NCAA Tournament
resume with its sixth victory in the past seven games. Arizona
(23-2, 10-2) was undone by poor free-throw shooting (16 of 30, 53.3
percent) and a failure to convert the final shot at the end of
regulation and the first overtime.
"We played a phenomenal team. There's a reason they are No. 2 in the
country," said ASU center Jordan Bachynski, who had 13 points, seven
rebounds and eight blocked shots.
"No words can explain the joy that we feel right now. I mean, that
is huge for us, for our resume, for our goals of the postseason
tournament."
After Marshall's drive gave the Sun Devils a 67-66 lead, Arizona
point guard T.J. McConnell drove the lane and attempted a scoop shot
that was swatted by Bachynski, the NCAA leader in blocked shots.
The ball caromed upcourt to Arizona State point guard Jahii Carson,
who dunked in the final second, causing the student section to rush
the court.
Officials ruled there was 0.7 of a second remaining, however, giving
Arizona a final shot. Guard Nick Johnson got off an attempt from
about 35 feet that hit the front of the rim. The crowd resumed its
court-storming.
"Our offense is continuing to put more pressure on our defense,"
said Arizona coach Sean Miller, whose team shot 35.9 percent from
the field (23 of 64).
"You can only guard so well. We missed a ton of free throws. Heck,
we've missed a ton of free throws all year. Eventually, that's going
to run its course because we're going to leave too many points on
the table."
Carson scored 17 points for Arizona State, almost all coming while
Marshall was being shut down by forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson late
in the game.
McConnell had 17 points to lead Arizona and Johnson scored 14.
Center Kaleb Tarczewski (13 points, 13 rebounds) and forward Aaron
Gordon (13 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles.
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Arizona had a chance to win at the end of the first overtime, but
Johnson missed a step-back 18-footer, with the ball going out of
bounds to Arizona State with 1.8 seconds left. Carson got off a
half-court short at the buzzer, but it was not close.
Arizona State led 51-46 with 2:38 to go in regulation, but Gordon
completed a three-point play to bring the Wildcats within two. After
each team missed shots, a steal by Hollis-Jefferson led to a tying
layup by McConnell with 47 seconds to go.
Arizona State squandered its chance for the lead when too much
dribbling from Carson led to a shot-clock violation. Arizona had
about 11 seconds left for the final shot, but Gordon drew air after
a spin move in the lane.
Marshall, the team's second-leading scorer (15.6 points per game)
who missed the season's first game against Arizona because of a
groin injury, kept the Sun Devils close in the first half with 12
points. And then he came up big with the game on the line, including
the driving layup against Johnson, a defensive ace.
"The play was set up for a three," Marshall said. "He was playing me
pretty close, playing me well. I read him up tight and was able to
go by him."
Defenses dominated the game early. By the second media timeout, the
teams had combined to make 5 of 20 shots from the field and were 0
of 4 from the free throw line.
"I thought in the first half we probably had five or six shots that
were probably the best we could generate," Miller said. "And we
missed all of them."
The Wildcats finished the half with something of a flourish, scoring
13 points in the final 5:18. Johnson, who was scoreless until that
point, had nine points in the half-ending run, including a driving
layup with five seconds left to give Arizona a 26-21 lead.
NOTES: The in-state matchup produced the first sellout of the season
at Wells Fargo Arena. ... Arizona State center Jordan Bachynski
entered the game as the NCAA's leading shot-blocker with 4.46 per
game. ... With his ninth point on Friday night, Arizona junior guard
Nick Johnson passed former center A.J. Bramlett and former guard
Gilbert Arenas (1,105 points) for 39th place on the school's career
scoring list. ... The Wildcats played their third full game without
forward Brandon Ashley, who is out for the season with a foot
injury. Ashley, who underwent surgery this week, had 10 points and
five rebounds against ASU earlier this season. ... Arizona had at
least four current NBA players in the building — Chase Budinger,
Jerryd Bayless, Derrick Williams and Solomon Hill. ... The teams
split the season series, with Arizona winning 91-68 in Tucson.
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