Defensive improvement is top of mind for Utah, Arizona State
Arizona State and Utah are showing an ability to score but struggling to stop opponents from getting baskets.
Due to those struggles both teams find themselves residing near the bottom of the Big 12 heading into Wednesday's contest in Salt Lake City, when Arizona State attempts to avoid a third straight loss and Utah hopes to stop its own three-game slide.
Arizona State (11-11, 2-7 Big 12) has allowed at least 80 points in six conference games so far and its 80.1 points allowed are 14th in the conference.
The Sun Devils are coming off Saturday's 87-74 home loss to top-ranked Arizona when they faded after an evenly-played opening half. Arizona State was outscored 49-36 in the final 20 minutes and shot 41.5%, marking its third-worst showing in conference play.
"We just weren't able to stand up to the challenge on the interior, whether that meant stopping their drive or getting a big defensive rebound when we needed to," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said.
Arizona State is led by Maurice Odum's 17.1 points, and he scored 15 on Saturday. Odum had a 33-point showing in a 14-point win over Cincinnati on Jan. 24 but is 11-of-29 from the floor in his past two games.
Utah (9-12, 1-7) is averaging 79.5 points but allowing a league-worst 81.5. The Utes have five double-digit conference losses, including an 81-69 setback at Oklahoma State on Saturday which prompted coach Alex Jensen to criticize the selfishness of his team.
"Too many guys are in their own world," Jensen said. "Too many guys start the game thinking about just scoring. We didn't pass, and then, obviously, that hurts our defense. But there's also other ways to be selfish: guys not talking, guys not being ready to shoot, like that. That's a way to be selfish, as well, but we need to do a better job."
The Utes allowed 48.5% shooting, the seventh time they allowed at least 48.5% in conference games.
Utah is hoping to get another productive showing from Terrence Brown, whose 22.1 points per game are third in the Big 12.
Brown scored 20 points on Saturday and is 38-for-69 (55.1%) over his past four games.