Undefeated Saint Mary’s will look to continue its best start in 12 seasons when it plays Arizona State on Friday in the championship game of the Acrisure Invitational at Palm Desert, Calif.
The Gaels (7-0) routed Southern California 71-36 on Thursday before Arizona State (6-1) outlasted New Mexico 85-82 in the other game of the four-team event.
USC (5-2) will play the Lobos (5-2) in the consolation game.
Saint Mary’s is off to its best start since it tied a program record with nine consecutive wins to open the 2013-14 season.
Thursday’s victory was the first ever for the Gaels against the Trojans.
Jordan Ross led Saint Mary’s with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
“Stuff is clicking at the right time,” Ross said. “We are getting better every game, getting better as we go. That’s usually how you want it to be. You don’t want to be playing your best basketball in November, December. We’ll keep getting better as the games go.”
Paulius Murauskas and Augustas Marciulionis each had 11 points for the Gaels.
Ross scored eight consecutive points in a 12-2 run that put Saint Mary’s ahead 44-25 with 15:09 left.
The Gaels outscored USC 39-15 in the second half to pull away.
The Trojans made 4 of 23 (17.4 percent) of their shots from the field after halftime.
They went 0 of 12 from 3-point range in the game.
“Obviously, they were off,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “They didn’t hit a 3. But we had something to do with it.”
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said the Sun Devils’ tight game with New Mexico “felt like an NCAA Tournament game with two teams really going at it.”
The Sun Devils withstood a 21-1 run by New Mexico between the first and second halves that put the Lobos ahead by eight points with 18:10 left.
Basheer Jihad, a transfer from Ball State, led the Sun Devils’ comeback with 17 of his 20 points in the second half.
Alston Mason, who transferred from Missouri State after starting his career at Oklahoma, made four free throws in the final 23 seconds to keep the Sun Devils ahead.
