Arizona State gets a confidence boost by beating Saint Mary’s for Acrisure Classic title

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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.”

Jaydan Quaintance, 21, of Arizona State University holds down and rebounds the ball against Saint Mary’s College defenders Jordan Ross, 2, and Augustas Marciulionis, 3, during the 2024 Acrisure Men’s Classic in Palm Desert, Calif., Nov. 29, 2024.

Arizona State now returns home to…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arizona-state-gets-confidence-boost-063257029.html

Author : The Desert Sun

Publish date : 2024-11-30 06:32:00

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