Bachynski back to normal, but Miami rallies to beat Sun Devils

ANAHEIM— Jordan Bachynski’s return to earlier form Sunday proved insufficient for Arizona State in the final round of the Wooden Legacy basketball tournament.

Despite Bachynski’s 20 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks, Miami rallied for a 60-57 victory in front of a sparse crowd at the Honda Center.

“The tournament was a good kick in the butt,” said ASU coach Herb Sendek, whose Sun Devils lost two of their three games after entering the Wooden Legacy with a 6-0 record. “We’ll have to go back and return to work.”

Bachynski’s first two tournament games failed to match performances that enabled him to average 14.0 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.9 blocks in ASU’s 6-0 start.

On Thanksgiving, the 7-foot-2 Canadian had just four points and two rebounds in an 88-60 loss to Creighton. Bachynski scored 16 points in helping the Sun Devils beat the College of Charleston 80-58 on Friday, yet had just three rebounds and blocked one shot.

Against the Hurricanes (5-3), the senior submitted what Sendek called a “sensational” performance.

“It just goes to show you how much of a mental game basketball is,” Bachynski said. “I mean, I’m the same player. I just really struggled in the first game, and I kind of got back to how I was playing in the second game.

“Today, I just knew that if we wanted to win, my team needed me to show up.”

In the first half, ASU (7-2) shot 50 percent from the floor while forcing Miami to miss 17 of its 24 field-goal attempts, as the Sun Devils twice built a 10-point lead.

But in the second half, the teams switched personalities.

The Hurricanes began to exploit ASU’s defense and shot 56.5 percent in that half. Meanwhile, Miami’s defense caused the Sun Devils to fail on 20 of 29 shots.

“You’ve got to give Miami credit for playing outstanding defense,” Sendek said. “They’re long and athletic, and they cover ground very well. The biggest adjustment they might have made was when they stopped trapping as much and just played straight defense.”

The Hurricanes owned a 51-47 lead with 5:56 to play, but Bachynski’s slam dunk and Egor Koulechov’s 3-point basket put ASU ahead 52-51 with 4:02 remaining.

Said Miami coach Jim Larranaga: “That was the best we’ve played on both ends of the floor for an extended period of time.”

Marshall finished with 14 points and has 1,008 career points for the Sun Devils and Penn State.

Miami

FG FT Reb M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Kirk 3-9 1-1 2-3 0 2 7 Kelly 4-7 3-4 0-6 1 3 11 Reed 5-10 4-6 0-1 2 3 19 Brown 3-7 3-5 1-4 4 2 9 Adams 3-7 2-4 1-9 4 3 9 Akpejiori 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Lecomte 1-3 0-0 0-1 1 0 2 Swoope 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 3 Jekiri 0-3 0-0 2-3 0 1 0 Totals 20-47 14-21 8-30 12 16 60 Percentages: FG .426, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 6-13, .462 (Reed 5-8, Adams1-2, Brown 0-1, Kelly 0-2). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 3 (Kirk 2, Kelly). Turnovers: 7 (Kirk 2, Brown 2, Reed 2, Kelly). Steals: 2 (Adams 2). Technical Fouls: None. Arizona St. FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Gilling 38 1-4 0-0 0-1 9 4 3 Bachynski 37 8-11 4-7 7-15 0 4 20 Carson 39 2-14 2-2 1-3 3 1 8 Koulechov 24 3-4 0-0 1-4 0 1 7 Marshall 38 4-12 3-4 0-1 2 2 14 Murray 7 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 1 0 Edwards 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Tummala 14 2-6 0-0 1-3 1 2 5 Totals 200 20-51 9-13 11-32 16 16 57 Percentages: FG .392, FT .692. 3-Point Goals: 8-21, .381 (Marshall 3-7, Carson 2-4, Koulechov 1-2, Tummala 1-4, Gilling 1-4). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 4 (Bachynski 4). Turnovers: 9 (Marshall 3, Carson 3, Gilling 2, Koulechov). Steals: 2 (Bachynski, Marshall). Technical Fouls: None. Miami Arizona St. A— NA. Officials— Chris Rastatter, Michael Irving, Tim Kelly. 24 30 36 27

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