LAS VEGAS – Sixth-seeded Utah had no problem with Arizona State in the final game of Day 1 of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament, blowing out the 11-seed Sun Devils 90-57.
The Utes (19-13) made 70.4 percent of their shots in the first half and coasted in the second, advancing to play No. 3 seed Colorado in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Frankie Collins led Arizona State (14-18) with 20 points, but he and his teammates could not finish layups and inside shots with consistency. The Sun Devils shot 31.4 percent as a team, making 22 of 70 shots.
The Utes were energized by the presence of center Branden Carlson, who was questionable to play due to an arm injury. Carlson scored just seven points in 19 minutes, but Utah didn’t need him with the balance in scoring and hot shooting they got all night.
Cole Bajema led the Utes with 22 points. Point guard Deivon Smith added 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
On Saturday, Carlson hurt his left arm when it got tangled up with Oregon center N’Faly Dante, and the injury forced him to miss most of the second half of that game. But he suited up on Wednesday, and with his arm in a dark protective sleeve, Carlson started the game and hit his first shot of the night, a 3-pointer from the top of the arc early in the game.
Utah built a 22-point lead on three straight 3-pointers from Bajema, who put the Utes ahead 40-18 with 3:38 to play in the first half. They made 19 of 27 shot attempts in the first 20 minutes of the game, including 7 of 15 from long distance.
When Ben Carlson dunked with no one around him at the 2:28 mark of the first half, Utah led 44-18 and was on a 13-0 run.
Bajema had 14 points in the first half. The Sun Devils, meanwhile, went almost five minutes without a point and finally ended Utah’s run with a Collins 3-pointer.
Utah led 47-22 at halftime.
Bajema hit his fifth 3 of the game with 9:52 to play, giving Utah a 67-34 lead. His sixth trey gave Utah a 76-45 lead with 6:21 to go.
Utah ended up making 59.3 percent of their shots for the night.
–Jose M. Romero, Field Level Media
