Sun Devils lose by 40 to Saint Mary’s

ASU’s Verge Jr. scores 43

PHOENIX — Jordan Ford scored in the opening minute on a layup in transition, then hit a 3 and another layup. Two more 3s, one leading to a four-point play, followed and Ford kept pouring in points, outscoring Arizona State himself in the first half.

So much for those slow starts plaguing Saint Mary’s. The Gaels’ dynamic senior guard took care of that.

Ford scored 22 of his 34 points in the first half and Saint Mary’s overwhelmed Arizona State from the opening tip for a 96-56 blowout Wednesday night in the Hall of Fame Showcase.

“When I’m playing well and I’m really aggressive, I feel like the other guys follow,” said Ford, who went 7 for 11 from 3-point range. “It’s my job to be aggressive and take it to them, the other guys will follow my lead. That’s what we did”

The Gaels (11-2) stomped on Arizona State from the start with a barrage of 3-pointers and transition baskets, building a 32-point halftime lead. Ford had 22 points by halftime to outscore the Sun Devils (8-3), who finished the half with 19 points, himself and Saint Mary’s shot 60% to keep the blowout rolling.

The Gaels entered the game first nationally from 3-point range at 46% and padded that by making 16 of 26 from the arc.

“We had a pretty good plan on how we were going to get shots, but the fact that Jordan hit some tough shots early kind of took a little pressure off us and let

SM: 11-2 overall ASU: 8-3 overall

us play a little more freely,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said.

Arizona State’s Alonzo Verge Jr. had a breakout performance, scoring 43 points on 18-of-29 shooting. The Sun Devils had two other players score: Taeshon Cherry with eight points, Romello White with five.

Arizona State shot 3 of 22 from the 3-point arc in one of its worst performances in five seasons under coach Bobby Hurley.

“He was one of the few guys that had a rhythm on offense,” Hurley said of Verge. “Once he got going, we knew we had to keep riding him, get him the ball every time down the court. That was frustrating that