Tempe, AZ (Sports Network) - Carrick Felix registered a double-double with 17
points and 13 rebounds to lead the Arizona State Sun Devils as they outlasted
the Utah Utes to earn a 55-54 overtime victory in the Pac-12 opener for both
schools at Wells Fargo Arena.
Jahii Carson went 5-of-18 from the floor to score 15 points for Arizona State
(12-2, 1-0 Pac-12) and Jordan Bachynski contributed 14 points and eight
boards. The win was the fourth in a row for the Sun Devils.
Utah (8-5, 0-1) lost despite Jordan Washburn's monster double-double of 19
points and 18 rebounds, which he accompanied with four blocks. Jarred DuBois
added 12 points and Jordan Loveridge came up one point shy of a double-double
as he also grabbed 11 boards for the Utes, who have lost two of their last
three games.
Both sides held a six-point lead at different points in the opening half, but
Arizona State held a 25-24 advantage on the scoreboard as the game progressed
into the intermission after it knocked down 39.3 percent of its field goal
attempts. The Utes went into the break trailing after being limited to 35.7
percent shooting from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
Utah faced a narrow deficit for most of the second half, but Washburn
completed a traditional three-point play to give it a 47-46 lead with 1:37
showing on the clock. Loveridge added a pair of free throws on the Utes' next
possession to put the visitor ahead by three points, but Carson sank a shot
from beyond the arc to even the score at 49 with just over a minute remaining.
Neither team managed to put any more points on the scoreboard before time
expired, which created a need for overtime.
Carson made a go-ahead layup to give ASU a 55-54 lead with 35 seconds left in
the extra session and Ruslan Pateev rejected DuBois when he tried to put Utah
back on top. The Utes had a few chances down the stretch, but Loveridge rushed
a tip back in the closing seconds and the visitors ran out of time.
Utah held a 44-39 edge in the rebounding battle, but the Sun Devils outscored
it, 30-20, in the paint to survive the thriller.
GAME NOTES:
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