Arizona knocks off No. 20 Colorado,
Rob Edwards scored 24 points, Remy Martin added 20 and Arizona State pulled away to beat Utah 83-64 Saturday night.
The Sun Devils (11-7, 2-3 Pac-12) were roughed up in a physical loss to No. 20 Colorado on Thursday and had to fight through a stop-and-start game against the Utes.
Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak was ejected after being hit with consecutive technical fouls and Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley was also T’d up in a tense second half.
The Sun Devils survived the rugged game, building a 14-point lead early in the second half, withstanding a run by Utah and stretching the lead late for a much-needed win.
Utah (10-7, 1-4) continued to struggle offensively in the finale of a tough six-game stretch, shooting 6 of 24 from 3-point range.
Timmy Allen had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Utes, who have lost four straight and five of six.
Utah was overrun by Arizona in the first half Thursday night in Tucson, falling into a 24-point halftime hole before losing 93-77.
The Utes struggled from the perimeter in that game and couldn’t get much of anything to fall the first half against the Sun Devils.
Struggling against Arizona State’s pressure man defense, Utah took numerous difficult shots, several late in the shot clock. The Utes had a scoreless drought of nearly five minutes, shot 8 of 28 from the floor and were 1 for 10 from the 3-point arc.
The good news: they were only down 29-23 at halftime.
The Sun Devils were nearly as disjointed on offense, shooting 12 of 32. Edwards had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
The flow didn’t improve much in the second half.
Edwards hit his fourth 3-pointer during a 7-0 run that stretched Arizona
State’s lead to 39-25. Utah answered, holding the Sun Devils without a field goal for more than five minutes to pull within five.
Arizona State came right back, using a 7-0 run to go up 56-40 with eight minutes left and pulled away.
Up next
Utah hosts Washington on Thursday. Arizona State plays at Arizona next Saturday.