Utah Suffers Fourth Straight Loss After Arizona State’s Second Half Surge

TEMPE, Ariz. – The University of Utah men’s basketball team lost their fourth straight game in frustrating fashion, falling to the Arizona State Sun Devils, 83-64.

The Sun Devils had a double-digit lead when freshman Matt Van Komen dunked the ball and as the 7’4 Ute was trying to get back on the floor after the dunk, he put his legs over the head of an ASU player. The officials assessed Van Komen with a technical foul, which ignited Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak. The Utah coach was ejected shortly after confronting the officials.

Arizona State was given five technical free throws. After knocking down all of them, the Sun Devils went from having an 11 point lead to 16. The technical’s came in the last two minutes of the game.

Larry Krystkowiak has just been ejected. Matt Van Komen dunked the ball and basically sat on an ASU player's head. Was called for a tech when Larry got upset leading to his ejection.#Utes #Pac12Hoops @kslsports

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) January 19, 2020

Utah was outscored 29-23 in the first half and 54-41 in the second half. Timmy Allen led the Utes with a double-double, 18 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 6-18 from the field and 1-3 from beyond the arc. Mikael Jantunen added 10 points off the bench. The duo was the only players for Utah to reach double figures in scoring.

During the four game losing streak, Utah has struggled shooting the basketball and Saturday night wasn’t any different. They went 39 percent from the field and just 25 percent from the perimeter.

Final from Tempe.#Utes return home to the JMHC on Thursday, Jan. 23 to host Washington. #GoUtes🏀🔴 pic.twitter.com/ymPHc2u5Cs

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) January 19, 2020

One of the other reasons for the woes was the rebounding battle. Utah corrected that against the Sun Devils with 38 rebounds and limiting ASU to 30.

The Sun Devils were led by Rob Edwards with 24 points and Remy Martin with 20 points. They combined for 44 of Arizona State’s 83 points. ASU shot 50 percent from the field and 11-18 from deep for 61 percent.

Utah dropped their record to 10-7 overall and 1-4 in Pac-12 play. They will be happy to be back in Salt Lake City when they will face the Washington Huskies on Thursday night at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

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