Arizona State Basketball is Back and so is Marcus Bagley

Arizona State Men’s Basketball won its opening day game Monday night against Tarleton State in a grudge match at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.

The transfer portal-heavy Sun Devils tipped off Monday night in the long-awaited showcase of the offseason work head coach Bobby Hurley had done. Big news transfers such as Frankie Collins and Warren Washington were ready to play, but so was another guy… Marcus Bagley.

As the Sun Devils opened the game slow, showing the lack of on-court chemistry, the Devils found themselves struggling to shoot. With 8:19 left in the first half, ASU was down by 11 looking for the spark to get the offense going.

As Tarleton State passed the ball efficiently on offense and took away passing lanes on defense, the Texans continued to show their ability to compete. Playing large programs like Gonzaga and Michigan last year, Tarleton was not letting up the pressure on the Devils.

ASU struggled from the free throw line all night, going 14-29. They would inch their way back after DJ Horne and Alonzo Gaffney made important shots. This brought ASU within two, 23-21, with 4:45 left in the first half.

Both teams would go shot for shot with each other to close out the half. TSU led by three with about a minute left, and here came Marcus Bagley. The returning Sun Devil missed the 21-22 season with a leg injury. The junior forward stepped up and made two straight three-point shots to send the Devils into the half with a 32-29 lead and all the momentum.

Bagley reminded Sun Devil fans what they missed last season and led the Sun Devils out into the second half.

ASU was in a position to ride the momentum into a big second half.

That wasn’t what happened.

Instead of the momentum carrying, it seemed to decimate. ASU came out to another slow start while TSU hung around making shots. TSU kept the Sun Devils to only six points through a little over seven minutes.

Sloppy ball handling and continued free throw struggles led to ASU constantly having to play catch up. The Devils ended the night with 21 turnovers leading to many TSU opportunities that they capitalized on.

ASU would be within two points or tied for the majority of the second half and didn’t see a lead since the 17th minute of the second half. Collins and company would keep the game close but were not able to find a rhythm.

With 3:06 left in the second half, the Devils were down 50-57 looking for any type of answer. The only thing keeping them back from success was themselves and the clock. It was then a Horne layup, Collins three and a Horne jumper tied the game with 1:46 left in the game.

As TSU would still not go away, here came Bagley again. As the clock winded down with no points being scored in over a minute, Bagley came through for the Devils missing a layup, rebounding his miss, and putting back a layup putting the Devils up 59-58 with 0:18 left.

Bagley would get fouled on the possession leading to free throws. Making one of two, ASU was up two giving TSU one final possession to either win the game or tie. With six seconds left, Collins would steal the ball assisting Devan Cambridge on a dunk.

A final free throw made by TSU and a pair missed by Bagley had regulation ended with a final score of 62-59. The Sun Devils improved to 1-0.

Never in doubt.

Collins finished the game with 21 points and four assists while Bagley finished with 13 points and two assists. TSU (0-1) moves on to play Kansas Christian (0-1) on Thursday. The Sun Devils move on to play NAU (0-1) on Thursday at 7 P.M. at Desert Financial Arena.

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