Bobby Hurley knew that his team could hang with anybody in the country, even after a narrow loss to Gonzaga earlier this month.
He reiterated that Friday night, following Arizona State’s 68-64 win over Saint Mary’s to capture the Acrisure Classic championship and hand the Gaels their first loss of the season, inside Acrisure Arena.
Alston Mason sank a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining to seal a tight game, with Hurley’s Sun Devils (7-1) holding the Gaels to a single basket in the final two minutes.
“This should show us that we could really compete with anybody,” the Arizona State coach said. “I think we realized that when we were at Gonzaga a couple weeks ago in a game we didn’t win, but we were tied with four minutes. So, I think all these experiences really develop you and help you to become better.”
Freshman Jayden Quaintance scored on a put-back after grabbing an offensive rebound with 40 seconds remaining to extend the Sun Devils’ lead to 65-62, and senior Basheer Jihad added a free throw with 14 seconds left to push the lead to four.
Arizona State freshman Joson Sanon tied Jordan Ross of Saint Mary’s with a game-high 19 points, and was named the MVP of the holiday tournament. Sanon scored 11 points in the second half, sinking 3-of-4 shots from beyond the arc.
Hurley called the 6-foot-5 guard the best shooter he’s ever coached, and teammate BJ Freeman went a step further and called Sanon the best freshman in the country.
“I keep saying it to everybody,” Freeman said. “And (Quaintance), he’s one of the most athletic, most versatile freshmen in the country. When those two are on the floor playing hard and aggressive, they’re great. They’re some real good picks in the draft coming up.”
Arizona State now returns home to Phoenix for a three-game stretch, starting with San Diego on Tuesday.
Saint Mary’s (7-1) will return home to Moraga to face UTSA on Tuesday before traveling to Salt Lake City for a matchup against Utah on Saturday.
For the Sun Devils, this week’s wins over New Mexico and Saint Mary’s are part of a non-league tune-up designed to prepare Arizona State for its inaugural season in the Big 12. The league slate includes matchups with top-ranked Kansas, fifth-ranked Iowa State, sixth-ranked Houston and additional top 25 opponents Arizona, Baylor and Cincinnati. It’s a daunting schedule.
But if this week was any indication, and if Hurley is correct, Arizona State could be right in the mix for a Big 12 title.
While it’s still early in the season, the coach said that he’s seen enough to know the kind of team that he has, and that this team having a small taste of success early in the season is significant.
“It’s huge,” Hurley said, “because you get a taste of what it’s like and what you’re trying to strive for as a program in a season.”
Andrew John covers sports for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Arizona State tops Saint Mary’s for Acrisure Classic title
