GAME 25: Utah (14-10, 8-4) vs. Arizona State (16-8, 7-5) |
WHERE: Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center) |
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019 |
TIP-OFF: 8 p.m. MT |
TELEVISION: FS1 / FoxSportsGo (Guy Haberman and Casey Jacobsen) |
RADIO: ESPN700 / Utah Radio Sports Network (Bill Riley and Jimmy Soto) |
THE GAME
Utah (14-10, 8-4 Pac-12) wraps up its two-game home stand against both Arizona squads, hosting the Arizona Sun Devils 916-8, 7-5 Pac-12) this Saturday, Feb. 16. Tip-off between the Utes and Sun Devils is set for 8 p.m. MT at the Huntsman Center.
COVERING THE RUNNIN' UTES
Saturday's contest will air on the Utah Athletics Radio Network (ESPN 700 AM) with Bill Riley and
Jimmy Soto announcing. The game will be televised on FS1, with Guy Haberman calling play-by-play and Casey Jacobsen serving as the color analyst.
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
Arizona State is coming off a 77-73 loss at Colorado this past Wednesday in Boulder, Colo. The Sun Devils split its contests against both Washington schools last week, falling to Washington State, but then defeating Washington at home. The Sun Devils are 16-8 overall and the 16 wins rank second in the league behind UW's 19 victories. ASU is 7-5 in the league standings, currently in sole possession of fourth-place in the Pac-12 standings.
ASU averages 78.7 points per game, while giving up 73.5 points to the opposition. The Sun Devils shoot .444 from the field overall, with a .337 shooting percentage from behind the arc. Luguentz Dort is one of five ASU players averaging a double-digit scoring effort on the season, with a team-best 16.4 points per game average. Zylan Cheatham is averaging a double-double on the season with 11.5 points and a team-high 11.0 rebounds per game.
UTAH vs. ARIZONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
With Utah's come-from-behind 96-86 victory over the Sun Devils earlier this season, Utah now leads the all-time series, 34-21. Utah trailed by 17 points in the game at Tempe, back on Jan. 3, but made what was then the largest comeback in school history under
Larry Krystkowiak. The win lifted Utah to an even .500 record against the Sun Devils in Tempe (13-13). With the win, Utah has now won two straight and seven of the past eight games played between the two teams. ASU is just 6-19 all-time when facing the Utes in Salt Lake City, but the Sun Devils did come away with an 80-77 win over the Utes at the Huntsman Center a year ago.
LAST TIME OUT
Following its two-game road sweep over both USC and UCLA last week, Utah came into the Huntsman Center on Thursday to defeat the Arizona Wildcats, 83-76. The win marked just the second victory over the Wildcats since Utah joined the Pac-12 Conference and the second home win over Arizona in the previous three meetings at the Huntsman Center.
Parker Van Dyke scored 15 of his career-high 23 points in the first half, knocking down 5-of-5 shots from downtown. He would go onto finish shooting 7-of-11 overall and 7-of-10 from three-point range. Van Dyke registered the second-most three-pointers in a single game for the Utes all-time.
Jayce Johnson registered his fourth double-double of the season and the third double-double in the past five games, scoring a career-high 17 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Utah shot 50 percent from the field, including a 42 percent effort from three-point range. The Utes tallied just 10 turnovers in the game - the team's lowest turnover clip in a game since yielding just seven turnovers against Northern Arizona earlier this season on Dec. 21.
UP NEXT
Utah is back on the road, opening a three-game road swing at both Washington schools next week. The Utes will open at Washington next Wednesday, Feb. 20, and will then close out the week taking on Washington State on Saturday, Feb. 23.