The Arizona State Sun Devils and the Utah Utes meet Saturday in college basketball action from Jon M. Huntsman Center. Arizona State is fresh off a Thursday meeting with Colorado. In that one the 11-12 Sun Devils took a 12-point loss to continue their skid. As for Utah, they played Arizona in their last matchup. The Utes went on to lose in triple overtime, falling to 15-8 overall. Let’s get into our Arizona State vs. Utah prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Arizona State Sun Devils
The Sun Devils managed a decent 10-5 run over their first 15 games, losing to Mississippi State, BYU, San Diego, TCU and Northwestern along the way. Arizona State went just 1-6 in the next seven though, taking losses to Washington, UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and California.
Matched up against Colorado on Thursday, the Sun Devils were down by nine points going into the second half. Arizona State didn’t get any closer on a 38-35 run from there and lost 82-70. Frankie Collins was the team’s leading scorer on 18 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Utah Utes
Over on the Utes’ side, they only had losses to Houston and St. John’s in their first 13 games. Utah went 4-5 in the next nine, losing to Arizona State, Arizona, Stanford, Washington State and Washington with wins otherwise over UCLA, Oregon State, Oregon and Colorado.
In their Thursday game versus Arizona, the Utes had a lengthy triple-overtime battle that ended in disappointment. Utah came back from a 41-25 halftime deficit but eventually fell 105-99. Branden Carlson led the team with a valiant effort on 27 points, 15 rebounds and one assist in 44 minutes.
ANDREW’S FREE ARIZONA STATE VS UTAH PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Utah. The Utes produced a commendable effort in their Thursday loss to Arizona, out-rebounding the Wildcats 57-53 and shooting 43.8 percent form the field. The free throw shooting was a major Achilles heel however (10-of-21), as were the 13 turnovers. Still, if Utah can regroup in this short turnaround this is a much more manageable game.
The last time these teams met up back on January 4, Utah fell 82-70 on the road. It was a pretty sloppy game on both sides with 28 combined turnovers (15 for the Utes). Utah missed five of their 12 free throws as well. There’s plenty to clean up in this rematch, but I like the Utes to get some revenge.