Utes Open Conference Play With 96-86 Road Win Over Arizona State

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Utah Utes opened up Pac-12 play with a big road win over Arizona State 96-86.

Sedrick Barefield led the way with 24 points, including 5-of-11 from the three-point line. Donnie Tillman scored 22 points while pulling down 6 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. Arizona native Timmy Allen had 17 points and Parker Van Dyke chipped in 13 points.

Remy Martin scored 22 points to lead the Sun Devils while Luguentz Dort chipped in 14 points.

Utes Crawl Back

The Utes turned the ball over three times and went through a scoring drought of over two minutes to start the game but Arizona State made three of their first seven field goals to lead 7-3 with 15:28 left in the first half.

Arizona State went on a 12-2 run to take a commanding 25-9 lead with 10:30 left in the first half, forcing the Utes to call a timeout. Utah’s drought continued with hitting one field goal in their last seven attempts.

The Utes started to get things going with a 13-8 run to trail by 11 points with 6:22 left in the first half.

Led by Timmy Allen, Sedrick Barefield and Donnie Tillman, the Utes went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just four points at halftime, 43-39.

Consistent Second Half For Utah

Utah continued to carry the momentum to start the second half as they went on a 6-0 run while ASU missed four straight field goals and Utah took their first lead of the game, 56-49 with 15:53 left.

Tillman already had a career-high 4 three-pointers made.

The run reached 11-0 before the Sun Devils scored a basket but Utah was leading 61-51 with 13 minutes left in the game.

Utah was consistent down the stretch of the second half and had an 80-73 lead with 3:52 left. The Utes stretched the lead back out on a 6-2 run and was up 86-75 with 2:40 left in the game.

Arizona State lost Rob Edwards after being ejected for a flagrant two foul on Barefield as he attempted a layup. Barefield hit both free throws to give the Utes their largest lead of 13.

Utes WIN! 😁

Final score Utah 96, ASU 86.#GoUtes🏀🔴 | #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/rOyrSCysqi

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 4, 2019

Up Next

Utah improved to 7-6 on the season and 1-0 in the Pac-12. They will finish their two game road trip in Tuscon to face Arizona on Saturday. Tip-off is at 12 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.

The Utes lost both matchups to the Wildcats last season with a 94-82 defeat at home and 74-73 loss on the road. The Wildcats are 9-4 on the season.