Marquette’s Anim thriving under radar
Sacar Anim’s contributions to the Marquette men’s basketball team tend to go unnoticed.
The redshirt sophomore wing player doesn’t boast the offensive firepower of Golden Eagles backcourt mates Andrew Rowsey and Markus Howard, the nation’s second-highest scoring duo at 44.3 points per game.
But Anim possesses a defensive versatility unmatched by his teammates.
MU coach Steve Wojciechowski certainly knows Anim’s importance.
“He’s our best defender. Period,” Wojciechowski said. “We have essentially put him on all five positions. He embraces it. There’s still a lot of things he can do better.
“To me, in a day and age when most kids, unless their role is sexy, they don’t embrace it. Sacar doesn’t have the sexiest role on our team, but it’s a very important role that he finds great value in. I love that about him.”
Anim’s role will get magnified once the Big East season begins. The Golden Eagles (7-3) finish up their non-conference schedule against Northern Illinois on Monday and American on Thursday.
“We’ve got a lot of great guards in our conference and we’ve got a tough schedule, especially early on. It’s something I have to focus on,” Anim said.
Anim’s defensive prowess has become more important to MU since junior Haanif Cheatham left the team for personal reasons after five games.
Anim slid into Cheatham’s starting spot. The sophomore didn’t miss a beat, feeling ready after sitting out last season to get stronger. He played in 17 games as a freshman in the 2015-’16.
“It helped me a lot mentally, just knowing what to do,” Anim said. “It’s just more comfortable out there playing. I think that helped me a lot, instead of being thrown right into the fire.”
He has also found his spots on offense, often getting buckets in transition or slashing to the rim when defenders pay too much attention to Howard and Rowsey.
Anim is averaging 6.3 points per game and has earned 28 free throws, second on the team behind Rowsey’s 70.
“Now that Haanif ’s gone, I’m the guy that’s got to get in the paint and create things for other guys,” Anim said. “I’m not like Rowsey and those guys out there shooting shots, I’ve got to be aggressive and get in the paint because you’ve got to have an all-around balanced game.”
Wojciechowski also called Anim a “low-risk player” and pointed to his strong assist-to-turnover ratio (20 assists, 8 turnovers).
Anim’s teammates also recognize his value.
“Sac does a lot of things for us that doesn’t get put on notice – and it should. He’s our best defender, he guards the other team’s best player every game,” Howard said. “He’s been a great practice player, bringing energy on the defensive end.”
Before the season, Howard and Anim often went at each other at the Al McGuire Center.
“Sacar probably has one of the fastest first steps I’ve ever been around,” Howard said. “I noticed it this summer, me and him would come in late at night and play one-on-one, play king of the court. Just playing against him, seeing his first step, seeing how quick of reactions he had, not just on the offensive end but the defensive end, I was blown away by it, how athletic he was.”