Princeton closes out 2018 at No. 17 Arizona State

Devin Cannady promises he won’t have a holiday hangover when Princeton finishes the 2018 calendar with a trip west.

“I’ll probably get in the gym with my little brother,” said Cannady, who went home to Indiana for Christmas. “We’ll spend time with family, but relaxing for me doesn’t mean being out the gym.”

The Tigers (6-5) need to be at their best when they tip off against No. 17 Arizona State (9-2) on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m., Pac-12 Network/ WPRB 103.3 FM). The Sun Devils are coming off a victory over then-No. 1 Kansas last week.

“The competition level rises against those power-five teams,” said Cannady, who averages a team-high 20.1 points per game and is on pace to finish second alltime in career scoring. “It’s going to be our first game after people have gone home for Christmas ... I don’t know how much they’re going to eat or how much they’re going to work out, but we need to be on top of our stuff because it can very easily turn into a 10, 15, 25-point lead against a team like that.”

Princeton knows how quickly the tide can turn stepping up a level of competition. When Duke put the pedal to the metal, the Tigers were left grasping for air, and ultimately, left Cameron Indoor with the most lopsided loss in program history.

“Some teams are gifted,” Cannady said, “and they can turn 20-point leads into 51-point leads.”

Both Cannady and coach Mitch Henderson are banking on that being a learning experience.

“We have to play with much more heart,” Henderson said. “I think the guys played hard (at Duke), but you can’t let a moment get too much into your head. For me, it’s time for us to come together and be a lot tougher because we play Penn in a few weeks.”

Arizona State, coached by Bobby Hurley, one of the coaching sons of the Jersey legend Bob Hurley, could perhaps be ripe for the picking.

A trap game if you will.

The Sun Devils are coming off a huge win in which they rallied to knock off Kansas, but this is their final game before Pac12 play starts and with students away on break ...

“I think if we go in with a similar mindset to Duke, those first 16-20 minutes, we can compete,” Cannady said. “We can go into halftime up four, down four ... I think we need to take that next step.”