In light of a 1-5 skid over the last six games, most recently getting swept on the road in Los Angeles, 11th-seeded Arizona State (14-17, 8-12 Pac-12) now faces a current and future conference foe in 6th-seeded Utah (18-13, 9-11) to begin the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. Although this has been a forgettable season for the Sun Devils, ASU beat the Utes twice this season, a team who also might be shorthanded come Wednesday.

A struggling Arizona State squad that wanted to gain some momentum going into postseason play simply failed to do so. This past week in Los Angeles, ASU faltered to USC 81-73 last Thursday, in which the Trojans also beat Arizona at home, thereby sweeping the Arizona schools. In their meeting with UCLA up the road in Westwood, the Devils again fell to the likes of Adem Bona and company, losing 59-47 in the regular season finale.

Against UCLA, instead of trying to overcome technical fouls and questionable officiating in the first meeting, ASU was trying to overcome the loss of one of their best producers, senior guard Jose Perez. Perez left the team after the USC loss and is now playing for Plaza Valerio in the Santiago Superior Basketball Tournament in the Dominican Republic.

Trying to overcome that sudden departure, ASU played a mediocre game at best versus the Bruins. The Sun Devils shot 37.5% from the field, 27.3% from three, and 35.7% from the free-throw line. Defensively, ASU allowed an 18-0 run in the first half and a 19-1 run in the second that not only kept the Bruins hanging around but eventually led to their demise. UCLA was still held under 60 points, but the massive offensive struggles sealed the Sun Devils’ fate.

849.2 miles North via the I-5 in Eugene, Utah, was trying to go for the season sweep against Oregon. Much like the first battle that ended in a three-point Utah 80-77 win in Salt Lake City, the game at Oregon was a tight one as well, as the Ducks pulled out the 66-65 win at home to earn the split ahead of the Pac-12 tournament.

Utah’s leading scorer, Branden Carlson, led the effort with 19 points, five rebounds, and a block. The 7’ 0” center from South Jordan, Utah, averages 17.5 points per game and 6.9 rebounds and is regarded as one of the better centers in the Pac-12.

Although Carlson led on the box score in the loss, the true loss was his injury later that night. Early in the second half, Carlson got tangled up with Oregon’s center N’faly Dante. Carlson went to the ground immediately and exited the game with an elbow injury and did not return. His absence was greatly felt in that close loss.

Utah head coach Craig Smith, after the Oregon game, was skeptical about the prognosis, with Carlson possibly having to see trainers and doctors back in Utah. Earlier on Tuesday, Smith offered this perspective on Carlson’s status:

Carlson had a team-leading 19 points in the first meeting in Tempe back on January 4th. Most recently, against ASU, the center paced his teammates once again, registering 25 points back on February 10th in Salt Lake City. As ASU has struggled against other frontcourt players like Dante (Oregon), Fardaws Aimaq (Cal), and Oumar Ballo (Arizona) (All with one or more games with 14 points or more against ASU), playing a Carlson-less Utah or even limited for that matter is a major upside for the Sun Devils. On Wednesday night, we’ll find out if this personnel issue for Utah is possibly just the break ASU needed to try and navigate further in the conference tournament.

Lower on the depth chart frontcourt-wise are center Lawson Lovering and Keba Keita. Lovering is averaging 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds, while Keita is averaging 9.1 points and 5.9 rebounds on the season. In the February meeting between ASU and Utah, both centers combined for 16 points and 10 rebounds. Both Keita and Lovering were used in rotation to make up for the Carlson loss against Oregon and might see significant minutes come Wednesday.

Other scorers for the Utes include 6’ 6” senior guard Gabe Madsen and fellow 6’ 0” guard senior guard Deivon Smith. Madsen, who holds a 13.3 average in points and 3.9 rebounds, has not had consistent success, scoring three points in the first meeting and 11 in the second. Madsen is the second go-to when attention is on Carlson, so the Devils will still need to limit his capabilities to ensure the Utes are curbed.

Although Smith had 13 points in the first meeting, Frankie Collins winning the matchup of point guards in the second meeting was crucial to ASU overcoming the 12.5-point spread on the road. Smith was held to zero points in 30 minutes but did have nine assists as he had to manage to get the ball around.

Arizona State will surely have to limit the runs in this game, which they failed to do against UCLA. Utah is the fourth-ranked team in the conference in points per game (78.3), so the Sun Devils will either have to play great defense or take their chances in a shootout.

ASU has shown that it can score against this Utah team, pouring in over 80 points in both meetings, which is greatly contrasting to their 69.4-point average. The problematic thing in this matchup is the departure of Perez, who has led the team in points twice against Utah, scoring his ASU career-high 26 in the first meeting and 21 in the second meeting. It remains to be seen who on this Sun Devil team can step up and pick up the slack. Guards Adam Miller had 11 points, and Jamiya Neal had eight in a great first half against UCLA but were non-existent in the second half, scoring a combined six points.

In terms of NCAA Tournament hopes the contrast in what needs to be achieved between both teams could not be greater. ASU is hoping for an unheard-of Pac-12 Tournament championship as a No. 11 seed, needing to win four games in four days. Utah is currently sitting on the outside looking in and literally stands no chance of sneaking into the Field of 68 in the event of a loss to ASU. With a win, let alone a couple of victories in Las Vegas, the Utes can remove any doubts about their name being called on Selection Sunday.

Aside from the challenging feat of beating a team three times in the same season, Arizona State has won multiple games in the conference tournament only twice in his century, albeit the second time was in 2023, which followed 2009. If history repeats itself, Wednesday will mark the end of what has been a frustrating season for the Sun Devil faithful.

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