Marquette Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule Game #9: Arizona State

Last year, Marquette traveled to Arizona State in November.  That game sucked.

Not in the "got into a deep hole, battled back, lost the game on a blocked Derrick Wilson layup" kind of way, although that happened.  No, the game sucked because Arizona State fans are terrible people.  They started throwing things on the court, and right after head coach Herb Sendek got on the house public address system and said that if anything else landed on the court ASU would be issued a technical foul, someone else threw something on the court.  Amazingly, that wouldn't be the worst thing the Sun Devils faithful did last season, as they later spit on Oregon's coaches and players.

I would like to believe that the Bradley Center crowd will be much more hospitable.

Tuesday, December 16 - vs Arizona State

2013-14 Record: 21-12
Returning Points Leader: Shaquielle McKissic, 9.0 ppg
Returning Rebounds Leader: Shaquielle McKissic, 5.4 rpg
Returning Assists Leader: Jonathan Gilling, 2.7 apg
Final 2013-14 KenPom.com Ranking: #45

You will notice the lack of the words "Jahii Carson," "Jordan Bachynski," and "Jermaine Marshall" in that capsule look at Arizona State.  Carson and Marshall went for 23 and 21 points respectively, while Bachynski came three blocks short of a triple double, recording 14 points, 11 rebounds, and seven swats, including the game clincher. Marshall and Bachynski were both seniors last season, while Carson elected to leave for the NBA Draft, although he ended up not being selected.

Last year was the first time in five seasons that ASU made the NCAA tournament under Herb Sendek's guidance, and just the second time in Sendek's eight seasons.  Odds are that without Carson and Bachynski, it's going to be a long road back to the field of 68 for the Sun Devils in 2015.  On the other side of things, Arizona State is bringing three freshmen and four junior college players, including Third Team All-American Willie Atwood.