Balanced effort powers Runnin’ Utes to blowout win over Arizona State in Pac-12 tournament

LAS VEGAS — Utah had Arizona State on the ropes well before halftime of their Pac-12 tournament first-round matchup late Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

The Runnin’ Utes’ efficiency and assertiveness set the tone, as they ran to a 90-57 victory over the Sun Devils.

The 33-point win tied for the largest margin of victory ever by any team in a Pac-12 tournament game.

“I thought our guys really competed well,” Utah coach Craig Smith said. “I thought we played super connected on both sides of the ball.”

The win also pushes No. 6 seed Utah — which earned its first league tournament win since 2021 — into the Pac-12 quarterfinals, where it will face No. 3 Colorado on Thursday night (9:30 p.m. MDT, FS1).

It also keeps the Utes’ slim hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid alive and sets up a critical matchup between them and the Buffaloes.

Colorado is No. 27 in the NET rankings and seen by several bracketologists as a contender for one of the last at-large spots in the NCAA Tournament.

Utah is currently No. 52 in the NET and trying to fight its way back into bubble contention after an 0-2 week that included a loss last week at Oregon State.

“They are very talented. Those guys really know who they are and what they are,” Smith said of Colorado.

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On Wednesday night at least, the Runnin’ Utes looked the part of a postseason caliber team, as they played arguably their best half of the season during the first 20 minutes against Arizona State.

Gabe Madsen scored eight of Utah’s first 16 points, and the Utes twice made ASU coach Bobby Hurley call timeout in the latter minutes of the half to stop the bleeding when Utah simply couldn’t miss.

Utah ended the first half shooting 70.4%, including 7 of 15 from 3-point range.

It was a team effort all the way around. Cole Bajema had 14 first-half points and made four 3-pointers, including three straight in just over a minute, while five other Utes scored four or more points in the opening 20 minutes.

While Utah built a 21-10 lead in the game’s first eight minutes, the Utes effectively put the game away by outscoring the Sun Devils 25-6 during an efficient first-half stretch in which Utah made 9 of 11 field goals.

“It was ugly out there on our end for sure,” Hurley said.

The domination extended into the second half for Utah, even if it cooled only a little.

By night’s end, the Utes shot 59.3% from the field while holding Arizona State, minus one of its top players in Jose Perez, to 31.4% from the floor.

“It really helps when you see the ball go through the hole,” Smith said.

Bajema finished with a career-high 22 points and made six of Utah’s 12 3-pointers, while Hunter Erickson hit three himself and had 11 points.

“Our guys had a great mindset. They knew Arizona State had taken care of us,” Smith said. “We had a very determined look to us.”

This was arguably the best performance from Utah’s guard lineup all season. Madsen added 10 points, four assists and a steal, while point guard Deivon Smith was his usual impactful self and finished just shy of another triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

He was just one assist shy of becoming just the second player ever to record a triple-double in a Pac-12 tournament game.

“Give credit to Utah. They showed the type of postseason desperation you need to have.”

—  Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley

Branden Carlson, who missed the last 17 minutes of Utah’s loss last week at Oregon after injuring his elbow, was wearing a padded elbow wrap and gutted it out, finishing with seven points and two rebounds.

“It was great to see Branden come out there,” Utah’s coach said. “That helped us as well as a team.”

The Utes set the pace all night, finishing the game with a 22-4 fast-break points edge, and they also held a 32-22 advantage in points in the paint.

Smith identified two items his team struggled with in its previous two meetings with ASU that he saw the Utes improve on Wednesday night — taking care of the ball and sprinting back on defense.

“I think we shot 70 percent, or right in that area, in the first half. So your transition defense is a lot better when the ball goes through the net,” he said.

“And the first two games (Utah played against ASU), 42% of their points were from our turnovers and their transition offense. And so I thought we did a really, really good job with that.”

While Utah had 18 turnovers, 13 of those came in the second half and seven in the final 10 minutes when the game was well in hand. The Utes also held a 16-14 edge in points off turnovers, even while ASU had seven fewer turnovers.

“Give credit to Utah,” Hurley said. “They showed the type of postseason desperation you need to have.”

Now, it’s one to the next one.

“This is my fourth year in the Pac-12,” Bajema said. “We wanted to make our mark and keep advancing.”