ASU Basketball: Sun Devils open conference play against Utah

After going 9-3 in the non-conference portion of its schedule, ASU basketball hosts Utah to begin Pac-12 play on Thursday.

Twelve games down, 20 to go.

Following Arizona State’s home loss to Princeton, the Sun Devils are now done with non-conference play. In a set of months in which the Pac-12 struggled mightily as a whole, the Sun Devils led the pack.

Along with Colorado, ASU sits at the top of the conference at 9-3. The three losses came at the hands of Nevada, Vanderbilt and Princeton, but the first 12 games weren’t without their high points.

ASU took down the No. 1 team in the country, Kansas, on Dec. 22, and prior to that, the Sun Devils picked up quality victories over Mississippi State, Utah State and Georgia.

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Now, Arizona State sets it sights toward winning the Pac-12. The quest for the crown begins Thursday against Utah, a team which has been subpar in the early season.

At 6-6, Utah is just one of two teams at .500 or below in the conference. Those six losses came against Minnesota, Hawaii, Northwestern, BYU, Kentucky and Nevada.

Though none of the aforementioned teams are bad, it’s relatively disheartening that the Utes couldn’t pick up a win against even one of them.

And on the flipside, none of Utah’s wins were against quality challengers. According to the NET Rankings, Utah’s best win came against Grand Canyon: the No. 149 team on that list.

Utah also has been significantly better in Salt Lake City. Away from home, the Utes are 0-2, while they are 5-1 at home.

Some of Utah’s early problems have stemmed from the defensive end. The Utes are 213th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 72.9 points per game.

On offense, the Utes haven’t found consistent scoring from players not named Sedrick Barefield. A senior guard, Barefield has done his part, averaging 15 points per game along with a team-high 3.3 assists per game.

After Barefield, the second-leading scorer is Donnie Tillman, who is averaging just 10.0 points per contest.

From a pure numbers perspective, this seems like an easy win for Arizona State. But that’s probably what people expected against Princeton — a then-6-5 Ivy League opponent.

The Sun Devils have the chance to host their conference opener, so the home-court advantage should be in their favor. But the turnout may or may not be great.

Against Princeton, Wells Fargo Arena was at 71 percent capacity, and with spring-semester classes yet to begin, this could be another shaky crowd at “The Bank.”

Next. ASU Basketball: Non-Conference Schedule in Review. dark

The matchup against the Utes will begin at 6 p.m. and can be seen on the Pac-12 Networks.

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