Sun Devils beat Utah 57-52
Arizona State (8-16; 4-8) marked a close 57-52 win over Utah (5-19; 2-10) at Wells Fargo Arena Thursday night. Despite a late run by the Utes the Sun Devils hung on for their eighth win of the season.
Carrick Felix knocked down both of his free throw attempts to put the Sun Devils up by four with 11.7 seconds remaining, sealing the win for ASU. Felix led the team with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Jordan Bachynski continued to play some of his best basketball adding his first double-double of his ASU career with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Bachynski also recorded four blocks. Trent Lockett, returned from an ankle injury that kept him out for three weeks, put up 12 points and six rebounds.
The play for both teams was sloppy in the first half. Together the teams added up to 17 turnovers, with ASU giving away 12 of them and shooting 42.1 percent from the field. Despite the sloppy play, the Sun Devils went on a 10-0 run over two minutes late in the first. The score at the half was 23-18.
ASU played better in the second half grabbing rebounds and cutting down on turnovers. Their shooting also improved as they shot 55 percent from the field and were able to slowly pull away from the Utes and maintain a solid lead through-out the half. Utah found their way back late but it was not enough as the Sun Devils hung on for the victory.
As a team, the Sun Devils shot 48.7 percent (19 of 39) from the field, 30 percent (3 of 10) from behind the arc. ASU also grabbed 40 rebounds.
Utah shot 30.4 percent (17 of 56) from the field and 23.3 percent (7 of 30) from three. Utah was led by guard Chris Hines who put up 10 points. Forward Cedric Martin added nine.
"I think we all just played together, we just played hard...it's just important we got the win" commented Carrick Felix.
Arizona State takes on the Colorado Buffalo Saturday at 4:30 PM MT at Wells Fargo Arena.
Dushan Mladenovic
Sun Devil Athletics