LAS VEGAS – The Sun Devil men's basketball team's 2023-24 season came to an end following a 90-57 loss to Utah in the first round of the final Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament.
The result was an untimely flip of the script for the Sun Devils (14-18) who earlier this year swept Utah (19-13) for the second straight season: 82-70 in Tempe in January and 85-77 in Salt Lake City in February.
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, the first half against the Utes was almost a continuation of the last nine-plus minutes of their loss at UCLA in last Saturday's regular season finale. In that contest, ASU missed nine of its last 10 shots while the Bruins shot higher than 70 percent from both 3-point range and from the line, where they combined to score 28 of their 32-second half points.
The Utes hit four 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes to jump out to a 27-14 lead at the 7:50 media timeout and didn't look back. ASU missed its first six 3-pointers and Utah ran out to a 47-22 halftime lead as the Utes shot .704 (19-of-27) from the field in the first half, including 7-of-15 (.467) from the three-point stripe.
Frankie Collins, who on Tuesday was named to the Pac-12 Conference All-Defensive Team while also earning Honorable Mention Pac-12 All-Conference honors, led ASU with 20 points, his 29th double-digit scoring game of the season.
Kamari Lands added 11 points for the Sun Devils who went on to shoot 31 percent while the Utes knocked down 59 percent of their shots. Bryant Selebangue paced ASU in both rebounds (eight) and steals (three).
ASU IN PAC-12 TOURNAMENT FIRST GAME
ASU finishes 4-4 in the first game of the Pac-12 Tournament under Bobby Hurley. It was 2-11 prior it to his arrival since the tournament was reinstated in 2002.
THREE-POINT SHOOTING
ASU was 22-of-51 (43 percent) from the three-point stripe in its two wins over Utah during the regular season.
The result was an untimely flip of the script for the Sun Devils (14-18) who earlier this year swept Utah (19-13) for the second straight season: 82-70 in Tempe in January and 85-77 in Salt Lake City in February.
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, the first half against the Utes was almost a continuation of the last nine-plus minutes of their loss at UCLA in last Saturday's regular season finale. In that contest, ASU missed nine of its last 10 shots while the Bruins shot higher than 70 percent from both 3-point range and from the line, where they combined to score 28 of their 32-second half points.
The Utes hit four 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes to jump out to a 27-14 lead at the 7:50 media timeout and didn't look back. ASU missed its first six 3-pointers and Utah ran out to a 47-22 halftime lead as the Utes shot .704 (19-of-27) from the field in the first half, including 7-of-15 (.467) from the three-point stripe.
Frankie Collins, who on Tuesday was named to the Pac-12 Conference All-Defensive Team while also earning Honorable Mention Pac-12 All-Conference honors, led ASU with 20 points, his 29th double-digit scoring game of the season.
Kamari Lands added 11 points for the Sun Devils who went on to shoot 31 percent while the Utes knocked down 59 percent of their shots. Bryant Selebangue paced ASU in both rebounds (eight) and steals (three).
ASU IN PAC-12 TOURNAMENT FIRST GAME
ASU finishes 4-4 in the first game of the Pac-12 Tournament under Bobby Hurley. It was 2-11 prior it to his arrival since the tournament was reinstated in 2002.
THREE-POINT SHOOTING
ASU was 22-of-51 (43 percent) from the three-point stripe in its two wins over Utah during the regular season.