Arizona State beats New Mexico in game with 'NCAA Tournament' feel
Bobby Hurley's team continues to rise to the occasion.
In front of a sparse Thanksgiving night crowd at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California, the Arizona State men's basketball team rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to beat New Mexico 85-82.
Arizona State (6-1) came into the game as 4.5-point underdogs, but looked like the superior team in the early going. The Sun Devils built a 31-18 lead in the first half behind 12 points from freshman guard Joson Sanon.
New Mexico (5-2) came roaring back behind Donovan Dent to take a 37-34 halftime lead. The Lobos carried the momentum into the second half and eventually built a 60-51 lead with 10 minutes to play.
After Arizona State was assessed back-to-back technical fouls at the 10-minute mark — the first on Shawn Phillips Jr. and the second on Hurley — the Sun Devils elevated their intensity and climbed back into the game.
"It just felt like an NCAA Tournament game really," Hurley said after the game. "We showed a lot of resilience."
Basheer Jihad came up big down the stretch, scoring 12 of his team-high 20 points in the final 9:26. BJ Freeman was also clutch, scoring 9 of his 16 points in that stretch to help the Sun Devils pull ahead. Jihad and Freeman drilled back-to-back 3-pointers with under 2 minutes to play to put ASU ahead for good.
Sanon finished with 19 points and 3 assists off the bench, and fellow 5-star freshman Jayden Quaintance had 4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and one nasty transition dunk.
Jayden Quaintance ☠️ pic.twitter.com/JLWchUTbPU
— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) November 29, 2024
Dent led New Mexico with 30 points and Mustapha Amzil had 28.
The Sun Devils will play unbeaten Saint Mary's (7-0) in the Acrisure Classic championship game Friday at 7:30 p.m. MST. The Gaels hammered USC 71-36 in Thursday's other semifinal.
Saint Mary's is No. 31 in the country in KenPom's ratings, while Arizona State is No. 63.
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.