There's no such thing as an ugly win, and Arizona State certainly does not need to make any apologies for sweeping the Bay Area schools after digging themselves a double-digit second-half hole in each contest. That being said Arizona State's (9-5, 3-0 Pac-12) 82-70 win over Utah (11-3, 2-1) was a masterpiece in comparison and perhaps a sign that a squad that looked completely broken just a couple of days before Christmas has truly turn the page since conference play has begun.
The home victory over the Utes marked head coach Bobby Hurley's 150th win in Tempe and his first 3-0 start during his Sun Devil tenure.
"I thought maybe our cleanest, best performance of the season on offense especially," Hurley said. "It was a great team win. It was just great to share it (his 150th win) with the team and the guys who were excited for it. I've loved coaching in this program, and I told the guys I should have about 20 or 25 more wins. I probably messed some up along the way, but I'm happy to be at this number."
It was a first half that was a true Helter-skelter type of game that saw no fewer than 11 lead changes. The hosts enjoyed a 1912 edge with 11:37 left in the first half but weren't able to generate any consistency on defense. Utah converted five of 12 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes and shot just under 43%. A quick 5-0 run in the last minute of the game broke a 36-36 tie and gave Arizona State a 41-36 edge going into halftime.
The second half was in total control of ASU, although Utah was able to cut the lead 201-point deficit 48-47 with 13:46 left in the contest. But with Junior Frankie Collins and Senior Jose Perez each scoring 14 points in the second half, ASU was able to lead and double digits for long stretches of the game and took advantage of the Utes' 2-10 shooting from beyond the arc after converting five of 12 from that distance in the first half. The Sun Devils defense came through with six deals and three blocks in the second half and was able to enjoy a modest 21 to 20 edge and rebounds against a very physical Utah team.
ASU's defense manifested itself the best, limiting Utah's leading scorer, Branden Carlson, to just eight points in the second half. Even though he just eclipsed his 18.2 points per game tallying 19 points, he was largely ineffective on Thursday night.
"I thought our switches were pretty good," Hurley commented. "We lost him once early in the first half. He's a tough matchup because their offense is designed to create those switches and get a smaller guy on them. I thought our help defense loaded to him pretty well. We have been feisty at that end of the floor and it was a priority to try and make his catches difficult because of the quality of player he is."
Perez scored a season-high 26 points, shooting 4-5 from three-point range, and Collins coming off his career-high 25 points, had 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
"My teammates trust me, and the man to my right (Collins) told me to keep shooting it since I've been turning it down all year," Prerez said. "First place (in the Pac-12) was on the line. We're still trying to get to the tournament. To do that, we got to one, protect home, and two, we got to continue to stay solid in conference play."
"We gain a lot of confidence, especially with those two road wins," Collins remarked, " because, like I said before, it's hard to go get a road sweep in this conference. So for us to do that and carry it over to tonight and we've been good at home all season, so it'll be hard for a team to win here."
The Sun Devils will try to remain undefeated at home (6-0) as well as in Pac-12 play when they host Colorado at 6 pm on Saturday.
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