The Utah men’s basketball team headed into Thursday’s matchup against Pac-12 conference opponent Arizona State riding an 8-game winning streak but fell short in their first road game since late November. The tenacious Arizona State defense proved to be too much for Utah to handle in the 70-82 loss.
First Half
Utah started the game hot, knocking down two early threes to get the scoring started. After an early 8-3 lead for the Utes, Arizona State settled into the game and never looked back.
The first-half blunders that have plagued Utah all season continued in this one as the team struggled to consistently put together runs in order to cut into the Sun Devil lead. Branden Carlson continued to play at an extremely high level early on, knocking down a couple threes and breaking down the Arizona State defense for some easy layups. Besides Carlson, the Utes struggled to finish good looks at the rim with the scrappy defensive effort that the Sun Devils displayed.
With 2:05 to go in the half, Cole Bajema knocked down a three to take the lead back to 36-35. Arizona State, however, closed the half strong, taking a 41-36 lead into halftime, with a lot of adjustments to be made for head coach Craig Smith and his staff.
Second Half
Utah has been dominant in the second half of most games this season, being able to switch up their defensive sets and finding ways to get open looks for their playmakers. The Sun Devils were prepared for the Utah adjustments and continued to create havoc in the backcourt, forcing Rollie Worster into some uncharacteristic turnovers that led to layups and dunks in transition.
Arizona State used their athleticism and quick guards to contest almost every shot for Utah, and it seemed to fluster Utah throughout the entirety of this game. Every time Utah made a little bit of a run to cut into the Arizona State lead, the Sun Devils had an answer, and this was the continued theme in the second half.
Utah was able to keep the score tight down the stretch with free throws and layups, but the three pointers were hard to come by as Arizona State continued to run the Utah shooters off the line any chance they got. With 10 minutes to go, the score sat at 53-55 with the Sun Devils at a slight advantage. The next five minutes were all Arizona State as they went on a 15-6 run by taking advantage of missed layups and turnovers by Utah.
Utah would attempt to make a run, but the shooting struggles continued, and the Sun Devils were able to make enough big plays down the stretch to secure the home win, 82-70.
Utes Stuffing the Stat Sheet
Carlson continued to play well, scoring 19 points to lead the team and grabbing a team-high 8 rebounds. Deivon Smith was the second-leading scorer for Utah, tallying 13 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Worster and Bajema scored nine points each, but it was not enough to bring home the win.
What’s Next for the Utes
Utah had chance to bounce back against another Arizona team as they traveled to Tucson to take on the University of Arizona on Jan. 6. Next, they play UCLA at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Jan. 11 at 7 MST for the annual Dark Mode game.
