TEMPE, Ariz. | The Grambling State University men's basketball team started slow and suffered cold-shooting spells in the first half as the Tigers wrapped up their two-game road swing in Arizona with an 80-49 loss to Arizona State on Tuesday at Desert Financial Arena.

Cameron Christon led Grambling State with nine points, including five from the free-throw line, along with seven rebounds and one assist. Jourdan Smith tallied eight points, including a dunk in the final seconds, with three boards, two blocked shots, one assist and one steal. Zahad Munford added seven points, seven boards, one assist and one steal.

Devan Cambridge led four Sun Devil players in double figures with 16 points, on 7-of-8 shooting. DJ Horne registered 15 points, while Frankie Collins and Warren Washington each added 11 points. 

Grambling State (2-2) started slow for the second consecutive game as Arizona State built a 12-0 lead after a 3-pointer by Horne with 15:48 remaining in the opening half. The Tigers picked up a free throw by Cameron Christon with 15:37 left and a Zahad Mubnford layup gave GSU its first field goal moments later.

The Tigers continued to climb back into the ballgame as Mumford drained a 3-pointer and Christon scored on a layup as GSU cut the deficit to 12-8 with 14:24 remaining.

The Sun Devils (5-1) took advantage of GSU's cold-shooting spell as the Tigers went nearly three minutes without a bucket as Arizona State took a 17-8 advantage before a Jonathan Aku layup with just over 11 minutes to play in the half.

Arizona State stretched the advantage to 22-11 as the Tigers went more than four minutes without a field goal as the Sun Devils led, 24-11, after a pair of free throws by Frankie Collins. A bucket by Shawndarius Cowart snapped GSU's cold spell with 6:40 left.

The Sun Devils went the final six minutes on a 9-2 run, taking a 34-17 advantage into the half.

Arizona State pushed the lead to 43-21 early in the second half after a layup by Horne. A fast break layup by Cowart closed the margin to 45-27 with 12:52 remaining.

The Sun Devils continued to extend the lead, pushing the advantage to 57-30 after two free throws by Collins with just over nine minutes to play.

Grambling State could not recover from the huge deficit in dropping its second consecutive road game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Grambling State shot 27 percent (17-of-64) from the floor and 64 percent (14-of-22) from the free-throw line
• Cameron Christon led GSU with nine points, seven rebounds and one assist
• Jourdan Smith tallied eight points, three boards, two blocks, one assist and one steal
• Zahad Munford registered seven points, seven boards, one assist and one steal
• The Tigers finished with 28 points in the paint, 22 bench points, 14 fast break points, 14 second-chance points and 11 points off 11 Arizona State turnovers
• Arizona State went 25-of-51 shooting (49 percent) and 23-of-31 (74 percent) from the charity stripe
• Devan Washington paced ASU with 16 points, on 7-of-8 shooting, along with three rebounds, one blocked shot and one assist
• DJ Horne tossed in 15 points, with four boards and three assists
• Frankie Collins chipped in 11 points, including eight from the foul line, with seven assists and six boards
• Warren Washington added 11 points, seven boards, three assists, two blocks and one steal
• The Sun Devils finished with 30 points in the paint, 24 bench points, 21 points off 18 Grambling State turnovers, 12 fast break points and seven second-chance points

UP NEXT 
Grambling State continues its road swing with three games at the 210 San Antonio Shootout, hosted by UTSA. The Tigers will play host UT-San Antonio at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by games against Incarnate Word (Sunday) and Dartmouth (Monday). 

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