Carson does it all in ASU victory
Sun Devils start slow in Wooden Legacy win
FULLERTON, Calif. —“Jahiisus” saved Arizona State in the second night of the Wooden Legacy basketball tournament.
Jahii Carson amassed 21 points and seven assists as the Sun Devils overcame a poor start to dispatch the College of Charleston 80-58 on Friday night at Cal State-Fullerton’s Titan Gym.
ASU (7-1) will play its final tournament game today at Anaheim’s Honda Center against Miami at noon.
Carson, nicknamed “Jahiisus” by ASU’s students, made 10 of 16 field-goal attempts in a performance that Sun Devils’ coach Herb Sendek called one of the sophomore’s finest.
“He’s had a lot of spectacular games,” Sendek said. “But that was one of his very, very best games that he ever played at Arizona State.
“He was the total package, with the way he controlled the ball and the tempo, made his teammates better and scored. It was one of his better defensive performances, as well.”
Carson believed he needed to play a pivotal role after the Sun Devils’ 88-60 loss to 20th-ranked Creighton on Thursday night.
“I know I’m one of the leaders of this team,” Carson said. “A lot of the times when we face adversity, my team looks to me. I tried to get everybody else’s confidence going. We knew it would be good for us collectively.”
Did the sophomore agree with Sendek’s assessment of his performance?
“Yes, definitely,” Carson said. “I definitely felt it was one of my better games defensively, in getting my teammates in-
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A lot of the times when we face adversity, my team looks to me. I tried to get everybody else’s confidence going. We knew it would be good for us collectively.”
ASU sophomore point guard volved and in controlling the tempo.”
But Charleston (2-5) controlled the pace for the first 13 minutes. The Cougars relied on their rebounding and quickness in their half-court defense to build a 22-18 lead with 7:01 before halftime. ASU missed five of its first six shots and nine of its first 13.
“Teams just like to try to get us out of our tempo,” Carson said. “We’ve got to get used to teams trying to slow us down and get us out of our game. We just had to be focused and know that we had to control the tempo. When we do that, we’re tough to beat.”
The Sun Devils ended the first half by outscoring Charleston 18-8 in the final seven minutes to take a 36-30 halftime lead. Carson and Jordan Bachynski scored five points apiece during the surge. The Cougars, however, did not relent. Anthony Stitt made a 3-point shot 14 seconds into the second half, then Adjehi Baru made a lay-in off Canyon Barry’s steal, and Charleston trailed 36-35 with 55 seconds gone in the half. ASU immediately took command. Carson made three successive lay-ins during a 12-0 blitz that extended the lead to 48-35.
Charleston drew within 63-48 with 8:22 to play, then scored just four points on foul shots during the ensuing 5:54, al- When: Noon. Where: Honda Center, Anaheim. TV/radio: No TV (game webcast on ESPN3)/ KTAR-FM (92.3). Update: This is the fifth-place game of the Wooden Legacy. ... Miami is coming off a 48-46 victory over Cal State-Fullerton on Friday night after a 71-63 overtime loss to George Washington on Thursday. ... The schools have met twice, with ASU winning both (62-58 at Miami on Jan. 20, 1989, and 62-57 in Tempe on Dec. 23, 1991). ASU will try to go 8-1 for just the sixth time in 36 seasons and for just the fourth time in 22 seasons. It started 8-1 last season. lowing the Sun Devils to lead by as many as 27 points.
Bachynski finished with 16 points, Jonathan Gilling added 15 points and Egor Koulechov scored12 points. But the Cougars outrebounded ASU 41-24. Freshman reserve Chase Murray led ASU with five rebounds.