Undefeated Saint Mary’s will look to continue its best start in 12 seasons when it plays Arizona State on Friday in the championship game of the Acrisure Invitational at Palm Desert, Calif.The Gaels (7-0) routed Southern California 71-36 on Thursday before Arizona State (6-1) outlasted New Mexico 85-82 in the other game of the four-team event.USC (5-2) will play the Lobos (5-2) in the consolation game.Saint Mary’s is off to its best start since it tied a program record with nine consecutive wins to open the 2013-14 season.Thursday’s victory was the first ever for the Gaels against the Trojans.Jordan Ross led Saint Mary’s with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.”Stuff is clicking at the right time,” Ross said. “We are getting better every game, getting better as we go. That’s usually how you want it to be. You don’t want to be playing your best basketball in November, December. We’ll keep getting better as the games go.”Paulius Murauskas and Augustas Marciulionis each had 11 points for the Gaels.Ross scored eight consecutive points in a 12-2 run that put Saint Mary’s ahead 44-25 with 15:09 left.The Gaels outscored USC 39-15 in the second half to pull away.The Trojans made 4 of 23 (17.4 percent) of their shots from the field after halftime.