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Runnin' Utes Square Off Against Arizona State in Pac-12 Tournament Opener
3/11/2024 6:49 PM | Men's Basketball
Utah Game NotesArizona State Game NotesTournament CentralPac-12 Tournament BracketLive Stats CentralPac-12 Record Book
Sixth-seeded Utah will take on 11th-seeded Arizona State in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
SALT LAKE CITY – Locked in as the No. 6 seed, the Utah men's basketball team will square off against the 11th-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils on Wednesday, March 13, at 8:30 p.m. (PDT) local / 9:30 p.m. (MDT) inside T-Mobile Arena for the final iteration of the Pac-12 Tournament. Ted Robinson will have the call alongside former UCLA legend Bill Walton on Pac-12 Networks with Utah and ASU battling it out for the first time ever at the conference tournament as both teams fight for a spot in the quarterfinals against the third-seeded Colorado Buffaloes.
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT NOTES
Since joining the Pac-12, here are some numbers surrounding the Utes in the conference tournament…
UTAH'S RECORD BY SEED (YEARS)
No. 1: N/A
No. 2: 2-1 (2016)
No. 3: 1-3 (2015, 2018, 2019)
No. 4: 0-1 (2017)
No. 5: N/A
No. 6: TBD (2024)
No. 7: 1-2 (2021, 2023)
No. 8: 1-1 (2014)
No. 9: 0-1 (2020)
No. 10: 2-1 (2013)
No. 11: 0-2 (2012, 2022)
No. 12: N/A
UTAH'S RECORD VS. THE FIELD
ARI: 0-1
ASU: N/A
CAL: 2-1
COL: 0-1
ORE: 0-5
OSU: 0-1
STAN: 1-1
UCLA: N/A
USC: 2-1
UW: 2-1
WSU: N/A
TOURNAMENT ROUND APPEARANCES BY YEAR
Round 1: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Quarterfinals: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Semifinals: 2013, 2015, 2016
Championship: 2016
#VIVALASVEGAS
Since joining the Pac-12, Utah has won five of its 12 opening round game at the Pac-12 Tournament with two of those instances (2015, 2016) occurring in the quarterfinal round after earning a bye on the first day of action.
In the current Pac-12 era, only Colorado (2012), Oregon (2019) and Oregon State (2021) are the only teams to have won the tournament that wasn't a top-three seed. The top-seed has won four times (2015, 2016, 2018, 2022) while the No. 2 seed has won three times (2014, 2017, 2023) and the No. 3 seed taking the crown once (2013).
The last time a No. 6 seed advanced to the finals or won the conference tournament title was back in 2019 when No. 6 Oregon defeated top-seeded Washington 68-48. Colorado is the only other sixth-seed to win the tournament title in the Pac-12 Era after taking the crown in 2012 – the first year of the current iteration of the Pac-12.
PLAYING THE ODDS
The No. 6 seed has gone a combined 18-9 at the tournament in the Pac-12 Era – including an 0-1 mark in overtime games. Prior to the Pac-12 Era, the sixth-seeded teams went a combined 5-13 and 0-2 in overtime games. Of the five wins, three came from USC back in 2009 when it won the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed with wins over the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds.
CRAIG SMITH IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
Since he started his head coaching career at the Division I level, Craig Smith is 12-7 overall in the Summit League and Mountain West Conference and Pac-12 Conference Tournaments. In those 19 games, Smith's teams are 2-5 overall when they are the lower seeds with two of those losses coming in the title game – once at South Dakota (2018) and once at Utah State (2021).
Summit League (South Dakota): 4-4
2015 (#5-Seed): 1-1 (Semifinals)
2016 (#8-Seed): 0-1
2017 (#1-Seed): 1-1 (Semifinals)
2018 (#2-Seed): 2-1 (Championship) [Lost to #1 South Dakota State]
Mountain West Conference (Utah State): 8-1
2019 (#2-Seed): 3-0*
2020 (#2-Seed): 3-0*
2021 (#2-Seed): 2-1*
*Denotes 1st Round Bye
Pac-12 Conference (Utah): 0-2
2022 (#11-Seed): 0-1
2023 (#7-Seed): 0-1
LAST TIME OUT
Despite battling back in the second half without its anchor, Utah still had a shot at the win in its final regular-season game as a member of the Pac-12 this past Saturday but ultimately fell 66-65 at Oregon. The Utes had a 37-32 lead heading into halftime led by Branden Carlson's 17 points. However, an elbow injury to Carlson with just 17:02 on the clock in the second frame saw Oregon take advantage and led by as much as 63-56 with 6:46 left to go. However, the Utah defense came alive in the final 4:00 minutes of play and held Oregon without a field-goal (0-for-5) to get within 66-65 with 38 ticks left to go, but couldn't get the final shot of the game to fall.
UP NEXT
Should the Utes win their opening-round game against the 11th-seeded Sun Devils, Utah will then face No. 3 Colorado inside T-Mobile Arena in the last game of the night once again on Thursday, March 14, at 8:30 p.m. (PDT) local / 9:30 p.m. (MDT). Jason Benetti and Casey Jacobsen have the call on FS1 while Alison Williams roams the sideline to close out the second night of the Pac-12 Tournament.
For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, X and Instagram.
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT NOTES
Since joining the Pac-12, here are some numbers surrounding the Utes in the conference tournament…
- Overall record in the Pac-12 Tournament: 7-12
- Overall record in Las Vegas: 31-33
- Record since Pac-12 Tournament moved to Las Vegas: 7-11
- Record since Pac-12 Tournament moved to T-Mobile Arena: 1-7
- Overall record inside T-Mobile Arena: 2-7 (vs. #6/6 Kentucky, 69-66 & vs. Washington 98-95)
- Record in the Pac-12 Tournament when Utah is the higher seed: 5-4
- Record in the Pac-12 Tournament when Utah is the lower seed: 2-8
UTAH'S RECORD BY SEED (YEARS)
No. 1: N/A
No. 2: 2-1 (2016)
No. 3: 1-3 (2015, 2018, 2019)
No. 4: 0-1 (2017)
No. 5: N/A
No. 6: TBD (2024)
No. 7: 1-2 (2021, 2023)
No. 8: 1-1 (2014)
No. 9: 0-1 (2020)
No. 10: 2-1 (2013)
No. 11: 0-2 (2012, 2022)
No. 12: N/A
UTAH'S RECORD VS. THE FIELD
ARI: 0-1
ASU: N/A
CAL: 2-1
COL: 0-1
ORE: 0-5
OSU: 0-1
STAN: 1-1
UCLA: N/A
USC: 2-1
UW: 2-1
WSU: N/A
TOURNAMENT ROUND APPEARANCES BY YEAR
Round 1: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Quarterfinals: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Semifinals: 2013, 2015, 2016
Championship: 2016
#VIVALASVEGAS
Since joining the Pac-12, Utah has won five of its 12 opening round game at the Pac-12 Tournament with two of those instances (2015, 2016) occurring in the quarterfinal round after earning a bye on the first day of action.
In the current Pac-12 era, only Colorado (2012), Oregon (2019) and Oregon State (2021) are the only teams to have won the tournament that wasn't a top-three seed. The top-seed has won four times (2015, 2016, 2018, 2022) while the No. 2 seed has won three times (2014, 2017, 2023) and the No. 3 seed taking the crown once (2013).
The last time a No. 6 seed advanced to the finals or won the conference tournament title was back in 2019 when No. 6 Oregon defeated top-seeded Washington 68-48. Colorado is the only other sixth-seed to win the tournament title in the Pac-12 Era after taking the crown in 2012 – the first year of the current iteration of the Pac-12.
PLAYING THE ODDS
The No. 6 seed has gone a combined 18-9 at the tournament in the Pac-12 Era – including an 0-1 mark in overtime games. Prior to the Pac-12 Era, the sixth-seeded teams went a combined 5-13 and 0-2 in overtime games. Of the five wins, three came from USC back in 2009 when it won the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed with wins over the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds.
CRAIG SMITH IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
Since he started his head coaching career at the Division I level, Craig Smith is 12-7 overall in the Summit League and Mountain West Conference and Pac-12 Conference Tournaments. In those 19 games, Smith's teams are 2-5 overall when they are the lower seeds with two of those losses coming in the title game – once at South Dakota (2018) and once at Utah State (2021).
Summit League (South Dakota): 4-4
2015 (#5-Seed): 1-1 (Semifinals)
2016 (#8-Seed): 0-1
2017 (#1-Seed): 1-1 (Semifinals)
2018 (#2-Seed): 2-1 (Championship) [Lost to #1 South Dakota State]
Mountain West Conference (Utah State): 8-1
2019 (#2-Seed): 3-0*
2020 (#2-Seed): 3-0*
2021 (#2-Seed): 2-1*
*Denotes 1st Round Bye
Pac-12 Conference (Utah): 0-2
2022 (#11-Seed): 0-1
2023 (#7-Seed): 0-1
LAST TIME OUT
Despite battling back in the second half without its anchor, Utah still had a shot at the win in its final regular-season game as a member of the Pac-12 this past Saturday but ultimately fell 66-65 at Oregon. The Utes had a 37-32 lead heading into halftime led by Branden Carlson's 17 points. However, an elbow injury to Carlson with just 17:02 on the clock in the second frame saw Oregon take advantage and led by as much as 63-56 with 6:46 left to go. However, the Utah defense came alive in the final 4:00 minutes of play and held Oregon without a field-goal (0-for-5) to get within 66-65 with 38 ticks left to go, but couldn't get the final shot of the game to fall.
UP NEXT
Should the Utes win their opening-round game against the 11th-seeded Sun Devils, Utah will then face No. 3 Colorado inside T-Mobile Arena in the last game of the night once again on Thursday, March 14, at 8:30 p.m. (PDT) local / 9:30 p.m. (MDT). Jason Benetti and Casey Jacobsen have the call on FS1 while Alison Williams roams the sideline to close out the second night of the Pac-12 Tournament.
For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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