Arizona State Snaps Losing Streak With Home Win Over Utah

TEMPE — The Arizona State Sun Devils (15-14, 6-10 Big 12) secured a huge 73-60 win against the Utah Utes (10-19, 2-14) in the penultimate game of the home schedule this season on Saturday at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.

The Sun Devils went into the game facing more injury challenges, as Allen Mukeba was labeled as a game-time decision – the forward eventually was cleared to play in a massive relief for ASU.

Utah came into the matchup playing more competitive games as of late, but have only picked up one victory in the last five games to show for it.

Follow a recap of the game below with ASU on SI.

First Half

The Sun Devils started off the game in a bit of a lull, as Utah took a 14-5 lead within the first five minutes of the game despite a three-point connection from center Massamba Diop.

Arizona State brought the deficit down to 17-14 at the point of the under-12 timeout, with 11:24 remaining in the half behind heroics from Moe Odum.

Bryce Ford connected on a three-point attempt to put Arizona State back on top by a score of 23-21 at the 6:09 mark of the first period. Arizona State’s momentum extended to the 3:32 mark of the half, with the Sun Devils holding a 28-21 lead to that point.

The Sun Devils took a 34-24 lead going into halftime, holding Utah’s offense without a field goal over the last several minutes of the half.

Second Half

Arizona State expanded upon the lead in the early minutes of the second half, taking a 43-32 advantage into the under-16 timeout.

Utah managed to go on a 7-0 run to bring the ASU lead down to just two possessions, but an Arizona State run of their own brought it back up to nine in a brief period of time.

The steady lead continued throughout much of the remainder of the second half, with the Sun Devils eventually breaking the game wide open. A Massamba Diop dunk put Arizona State up by 15 with 3:52 remaining in the contest.