Arizona State @ St. John's preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 20, 2019 ) St. John's 65, Arizona State 74

November tournaments have been really good to Arizona State in the past two years. The Sun Devils will shoot for a third straight in-season tournament title at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Uncasville, Conn., when it opens play Saturday against St. John's.

Coach Bobby Hurley's crew won the 2017 Continental Tire Invitational with victories over Kansas State and Xavier - both Sweet 16 teams - before taking the MGM Resorts Main Event last year with wins over No. 15 Mississippi State and eventual Mountain West champ Utah State. Since an opening-night 81-71 loss to Colorado in China this season, the Sun Devils have pasted Central Connecticut State 90-49 and Rider 92-55 on Sunday. The Red Storm head to the Mohegan Sun with their lone loss coming at the buzzer to Vermont; all four of the St. John's wins have been by double digits, including a pair of 30-point victories against Mercer and Central Connecticut State and a 19-point triumph over Columbia on Wednesday. The winner of this game will play the survivor of No. 6 Virginia-Massachusetts on Sunday, while the losers will play in the consolation game.

TV: 2:30 pm. ET, No TV

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE (2-1): After falling behind by eight points early, Arizona State outscored Rider 39-12 over the final 13 1/2 minutes of the first half to put the game away, as Jaelen House and Remy Martin each scored 20 points. "I think outside of the start, there is a lot to be happy about with how we played," said Hurley, as his Sun Devils are 14-1 in November the past three seasons. Martin has established himself as one of the best players in the Pac-12 (19.0 points, 4.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 steals), and is getting great support from Rob Edwards (16.0 points, 10-of-20 on 3-pointers), House (13.7 points) and Romello White (6.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks).

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S (4-1): Mustapha Heron (17.8 points) led all St. John's scorers and hit 2-of-3 shots beyond the arc to improve to 13-of-20 for the season, while Rasheem Dunn posted all 14 of his points in the first half in addition to leading the team with three assists and three steals in his second game since gaining his eligibility. Freshman wing Julian Champagnie (10.4 points, 7.6 rebounds) finished with a season-high 14 points to go along with seven rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes. In five collegiate appearances, the Brooklyn native has yet to record fewer than eight points or six rebounds in any one contest.

TIP-INS

1. Arizona State is 2-1 against St. John's, including last year's 74-65 win in Dayton in an NCAA Tournament First Four game.

2. The Sun Devils forced 29 turnovers against Rider, sixth most in school history and most since 2003.

3. Heron has led the Red Storm in scoring four times in five games.

PREDICTION: St. John's 75, Arizona State 74