TEMPE — Down 21-18 with just under eight minutes to play in the first half, Arizona State sophomore guard Noah Meeusen intercepted the pass of Utah freshman guard Lucas Langarita while weaving through traffic for a fast break layup.
Roughly a minute and 30 seconds later, ASU junior guard Bryce Ford hit a three from the wing, giving ASU its first lead of the game.
The Sun Devils relied on a heavy zone defense, efficient offense, and limiting fouls and turnovers, helping them leave the past in the rearview mirror and never surrender the lead in their 73-60 victory over the Utes on Saturday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
“I just got to compliment Allen Mukeba and Moe Odum,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. “I have had some teams that if guys had their injuries, they would be out six to eight weeks. But testament to the character of those two … (They) gutted it out so, very impressive and very thankful to have those two in the program.”
ASU’s resilience and fight were a complete 180 from what they showed on the road against TCU and Baylor the prior week. Instead of falling back into a never-ending sinkhole of blowing leads or not creating a lead, ASU escaped the daunting black hole that has followed them too many times this season.
Battling injuries, Hurley credited those he still has in the rotation and those who continue to be battle-tested throughout another injury-plagued season.
“I just cannot thank enough the guys that are playing and that are pushing through injuries,” Hurley said.
The Sun Devils played their cleanest game of the season thus far. In the first go-around against Utah on Feb. 4, the Sun Devils only turned the ball over six times and committed just 13 fouls.
Saturday afternoon’s performance saw ASU record season-low marks in turnovers (5) and fouls (6).
“This game was night and day compared to TCU,” Hurley said. That was a point of emphasis was to take care of the ball … It is great as a coach when you have so few mistakes that you could actually clearly remember them.”
Offensively, the Sun Devils had four players enter double-digits and a fifth, in Ford, finish with eight.
Those uniforming the bright gold jerseys with maroon numbers had one of their most efficient offensive performances. ASU shot 49% from the field, 83.3% from the free throw line and just under 53% from the three-point line, which was the second-best three-point percentage it has posted all year.
Senior guard Moe Odum led the way with 15 points and had a team-leading four assists. Behind him were freshman center Massamba Diop with 14 and senior guard Anthony “Pig” Johnson with 13.
Odum, who was battling an injury when entering Saturday’s game, highlighted his biggest area of improvement throughout the season. Despite his impressive scoring numbers, hustle, passing ability and rebounding, Odum took the unselfish approach, stating that how he becomes a leader to different guys to get everyone to work together was his biggest improvement.
“I learned this year how to choose what to say to different teammates,” Odum said. “Not everybody can take the same leadership or same vocal type. Just learning how to pick them up instead of trying to be that rah rah rah.”
Capping out those with double digits was sophomore forward Santiago Trouet, who had 12 points, four offensive rebounds and 10 total rebounds, both leading the team en route to his fifth double-double.
Trouet’s transition to become a guy who flies to the basketball, plays physical and generates rebounds was seemingly a gift from the heavens. The change of play happened after Hurley talked about the lack of rebounding and the inability of his team to collect boards in the press conference following ASU’s loss to Colorado on Jan. 3.
The Sun Devils were a dominating defensive presence once they switched to zone defenses that worked well against the Utes in their first matchup of the season. The 60 points allowed was the second-lowest mark of the season.
ASU attacked Utah with multiple different zone looks as it looked to force Utah to throw the ball into the middle part of the painted area while taking away the lanes and baseline looks.
In turn, the Utes struggled to formulate good passes, find open lanes and create good shots, thus shooting just 39% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc.
“I like to play zone,” Trouet said with a smile. “Gives me a little break on defense. We saw the film from our last game against them and we played zone. It worked for a little bit and then they figured it out. We just changed a couple things and it really messed them up.”
The Sun Devils will look to string together a winning streak as they welcome a tough Kansas Jayhawks team to Desert Financial Arena on March 3. For the Sun Devils, it will be honoring its Seniors in its final home game of the year, which has big implications for the NCAA Tournament later in March.
“We have got to get some win streak going on,” Odum said. “We cannot just just win one then drop one. I feel like we could shock the world but it is all about us believing as a team and just following what coach says.”
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