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After win over No. 15 Xavier, is Arizona State the Pac-12’s best team?

2017 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational - Northern Arizona v UC Irvine

LAS VEGAS, NV - NOVEMBER 24: Tra Holder #0 of the Arizona State Sun Devils shoots against the Xavier Musketeers during the championship game of the 2017 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 24, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

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On a day that the Pac-12 desperately needed some good things to happen for the league, Arizona State provided it.

Tra Holder popped off for 40 points and Bobby Hurley’s four-guards provided a total of 91 points as the Sun Devils erased a 15-point first half deficit before running No. 15 Xavier out of Las Vegas, 102-86. It was the second time this season that Holder has scored more than 35 points, and after adding four assists, four boards and three steals, he’s now averaging 23.3 points, 6.0 boards, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals.

Hurley also has Shannon Evans on this team, and after putting up 22 points on the Musketeers, Evans is averaging 19.5 points and 5.3 assists on the season. Kodi Justice, who had 28 points in a win over Kansas State in the opener of the Las Vegas Invitational, is averaging 15.5 points this season, and that doesn’t even factor in Romello White, DeQuon Lake or Remy Martin, who are all capable of putting up 20 points on a given night.

Put another way, Arizona State has scored at least 90 points in every game that they’ve played this season.

There may not be a more potent scoring team in college basketball this season.

And it begs the question: Is Arizona State actually the best team in the Pac-12?

We wrote about it this morning. The Pac-12 has had a rough go of it this week. Arizona lost twice in the Battle 4 Atlantis. UCLA lost their opener to Creighton in the Hall Of Fame Classic. Oregon got beaten by UConn. Cal was blown out by Chaminade. Oregon State fell to St. John’s and Long Beach State. It’s been rough out west.

Unless you hail from Tempe, where the Sun Devils are now 6-0 on the season with a blowout win over a Xavier team that, despite pooping the bed on Friday night, look like a team that could legitimately test Villanova in the Big East.

If you want my take on Arizona State, it’s really pretty simple: On the nights where Tra Holder and Shannon Evans get it rolling, there isn’t going to be much anyone can do. They’re nearly impossible to guard. They make tough threes off the dribble, they can get into the lane and finish amongst the trees, and if you try and help on a drive or trap a ball-screen, they are both willing a capable passers. We saw it on Thanksgiving, when Kansas State held them in check while allowing Justice to hit for 28 points and White and Lake to combine for 30 points and 11 offensive rebounds.

Put another way, on their best night Arizona State is going to be able to beat just about anyone in college basketball this season.

The question is what happens on the nights when those two don’t look like a back court made up of Steph Curry and Allen Iverson.

They beat Kansas State when Evans and Holder combined to shoot 6-for-23 from the floor, but I’m not exactly sure that beating Kansas State is all that impressive.

At the very least, we know that there is going to be a fifth team in the mix at the top of the Pac-12 standings, and that if Arizona, UCLA and USC don’t figure out their issues, there will be someone there to take advantage.