Arizona State beats Santa Clara in tuneup before Gonzaga showdown
Bobby Hurley's Arizona State team looked listless on offense in its 104-47 exhibition loss to Duke and its 55-48 season-opening win over Idaho State.
On Friday night, they finally showed some life.
BJ Freeman scored 17 points off the bench to lead the Sun Devils to an 81-74 victory over Santa Clara at Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.
Senior guard Adam Miller added 16 points for Arizona State (2-0), who shot 15-of-37 from the 3-point line in their best offensive game of the season. Freshman Amier Ali scored 13 points off the bench and drained 4-of-5 from downtown.
Arizona State's two five-star freshmen — Jayden Quaintance and Joson Sanon — both impacted the game in significant ways. Sanon scored 11 points and drained a pair of 3-pointers, while Quaintance hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds and blocked 3 shots.
Santa Clara (1-1), who came into the game favored by 5.5 points, was led by Adama Bal and Carlos Stewart, who scored 17 points apiece.
The Sun Devils now head to Spokane, Washington, for a showdown with No. 8 Gonzaga on Sunday. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 3 p.m. MST on ESPN.
Watch highlights from Arizona State's win:
More Arizona State & Big 12 Analysis
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.