Augustas Marciulionis goes for the basket as the Gaels do battle with the Sun Devils. Marciolonis has also been named to the Lou Henson Award Early Season Watch List—after being named to the Preseason Watchlist for the John R. Wooden Award. / Photo by Rich Schmitt for SMC Athletics
Gaels Split Acrisure Classic, Pummeling USC But Losing a Hard-Fought Battle to Arizona State
Jordan Ross leads the Saint Mary’s assault with a career-high 19 points. And the back-and-forth fight sees eight ties and nine lead changes, but the Sun Devils come out on top, 68–64. Now both teams are 7–1.
The 2024 Acrisure Classic in Palm Desert came to an end on Friday night, with the Gaels (7–1) narrowly defeated by the Arizona State Sun Devils (7–1), 68–64. This back-and-forth heavyweight fight featured eight ties and nine lead changes, but Arizona State was able to take the lead with three minutes left and hung on to claim a four-point victory.
Saint Mary’s came into the game having pummeled USC the night before, 71–36. And for their final matchup, against Arizona State, the Gaels picked up where they left off against the Trojans, playing stout defense and opportunistic offense. Jordan Ross surpassed his career-high from the night before with 19 points, burying a career best four triples. Coming into Friday’s game, Ross had hit just three three-pointers in his SMC career. Ross also had a career-high seven rebounds and dished out four assists to just one turnover.
Augustas Marciulionis added 13 points, while Mitchell Saxen went for 10 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals. Also pulling down nine rebounds were Paulius Murauskas, who added a pair of blocks, and Luke Barrett, who played the full 40 minutes for the first time in his career.
Flipping the script
Saint Mary’s built a 31–22 lead over the first 17 minutes of the first half. From that point, however, it was all Sun Devils; ASU outscored the Gaels 10–3 in the closing 2:50 of the half, with the Gaels coughing up the ball four times in that stretch.
Arizona State is typically known as a solid three point shooting team, compared to the Gaels’ physically imposing interior scoring style. But the script was flipped in the first half, with the Gaels shooting 5–7 from three and the Sun Devils outscoring the Gaels by four in the paint. The hottest three point shooter for the Gaels in the first half was Jordan Ross—a surprise candidate to be sure, who entered the game shooting 1–14 from three on the season. He connected on all four of his perimeter jumpers in the first frame, scoring 14 points to go along with a team-best three assists and no turnovers. Luke Barrett didn't score in the half but was as ferocious as ever on the glass, ripping down a team-high seven boards, helping the Gaels to being +8 on the glass in the first half.
With momentum on their side in the second half, Arizona State took the lead at 38–37 with 15:41 to go, and extended that out to six at 46–40, making it a 24–9 run over a 9:45 stretch. The Gaels clawed back into it, knotting things up at 52 apiece and three times regaining the lead. But with the score tied at 60 with 3:30 left, the Sun Devils hit a three and never let go of the lead. Final score: 68–64.
In the second half, Augustas Marciulionis did his best to try and carry the Gaels to the finish line with nine points, while Mitchell Saxen went for four points and five boards. But the three point well went dry for the Gaels in half two; they shot just 3–10 in the second half from beyond the arc, while ASU continued to dominate in the paint, outscoring the Gaels 20–8 on the interior.
Ross is a scorer, rebounder, and playmaker. And Barrett can go the distance.
Jordan Ross proved Friday night that he can do it all. The sophomore set his career high in scoring Thursday night against USC with 15 points, then followed that up with 19 against the Sun Devils. Against Arizona State, Ross also reeled in a career-high seven boards and recorded four assists, making it his fourth consecutive game with at least four dimes. Friday night saw a new addition to Ross's game: the perimeter jump shot, as he hit four threes.
Coming into the game, Luke Barret led the Gaels and ranked second in the conference in minutes played per game. That number will go up after Friday night’s matchup, as he played the full 40 minutes for the first time in his career. At the start of the season, many questioned if Barrett could sustain his high energy style of basketball over a full 40 minutes game. The answer to that is a resounding yes.
UP NEXT: The Gaels return home to take on UTSA on Tuesday, December 3 at 7 p.m.
