Arizona State basketball predictions against Utah

TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State basketball (14-17, 8-12) heads to Las Vegas, Nevada, to face Utah (18-13, 9-11) in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in T-Mobile Arena. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks or can be listened to on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM radio.

ASU, as the No. 11 seed, drew a pretty favorable matchup with No. 6 seed Utah. The Sun Devils swept the regular season series with the Utes and have won five straight in the series.

ASU reached the semifinals in last season’s Pac-12 tournament. A win Wednesday would be the first time in school history that ASU’s won its first-round game in back-to-back years.

Neither team comes into the matchup doing particularly well. Utah was swept on its final road trip of the season and lost six of its last nine games to end the regular season. Meanwhile, ASU lost three straight games and five of its final six down the stretch.

ASU will play its second game without graduate student guard Jose Perez, who left the team to pursue professional opportunities. In the one game without Perez, the Sun Devils scored just 47 points. ASU will need to find a way to get back into an offensive rhythm Wednesday night.

The winner of the first-round matchup between ASU and Utah will face Colorado on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

Here are our Sun Devil Daily staff predictions for ASU against Utah.

Arizona State basketball predictions against Utah.

ASU: 72 Utah: 81

Now with Jose Perez gone, ASU is losing a key piece to its offense. Utah is going to be looking for revenge after ASU beat them earlier this season. With ASU struggling these past several games, it’ll be tough for the Sun Devils to leave T-Mobile arena with a W. – Truitt Robinson (10-10)

ASU: 63 Utah: 78

Jose Perez leaving feels like the final blow in what has been a disappointing season. Utah has been inconsistent this season, but they will do enough to advance on the back of a strong game plan from Craig Smith. If ASU wins, it is likely that Adam Miller and Jamiya Neal both score well into double digits. – Anthony D’Amato (10-16)

ASU: 68 Utah: 79

With Jose Perez gone it is going to be hard to find offense for ASU. While Adam Miller will always be the option it will be hard for him to be the only person scoring tonight. Utah is shaky on the road but without ASU being able to score they should be OK. – Cooper Burns (14-10)

ASU: 79 Utah: 71

I think ASU somehow wins this game. Everything points in the opposite direction whether it be the absence of Jose Perez, Utah’s talent, or ASU needing to beat Utah for a third time this season. But I feel like this is a game that Bobby Hurley has his players ready for. I think ASU comes out and plays gritty defense and knocks down a few threes when it needs to pull out the win. – Douglas Santo (14-12)

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