ASU, Arizona basketball teams face the mountain schools as Pac-12 play commences

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The calendar is flipping to January and that means one thing for college basketball fans, the conference season is in full go. No more nonconference tune-ups.

The Arizona State and Arizona men’s teams will start the new year with home games this week against the mountain schools, both of whom loom as significant challenges.

ASU will host Utah at 9 p.m. Thursday at Desert Financial Arena in a game to air on ESPN2 and it will entertain Colorado at 6 p.m. Saturday with that one televised on ESPNU.

The Sun Devils are coming off their first Pac-12 series which came against the Bay area schools. They snapped a three-game losing streak with a 76-73 win at Stanford on Friday in a game in which it didn’t take its first lead until a bucket by Frankie Collins with just 30.3 seconds remaining after trailing by double digits much of the way.

Coach Bobby Hurley has been dealing with a changing personnel situation, but things appear to be on the upswing with 7-footer Shawn Phillips making his return against the Cardinal after being out for eight games with a foot injury. Guard Adam Miller is now back in the mix after the NCAA deemed two-time transfers immediately eligible. He has now played four games and has provided a much-needed scoring boost.

Meanwhile, Arizona looks like it is in a class by itself in the Pac-12. The Wildcats play the same schools in reverse order with Colorado making a stop at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the McKale Center, that game airing on ESPN. Then it’s Utah facing the Wildcats there at 6 p.m. Saturday, the game airing on Pac-12 Network.

Utah defeated Arizona by 15 points last year during the regular season and looks to be one of the most improved teams in the conference this season.

The Wildcats have five players averaging double figures led by newcomer Caleb Love (16.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and returning veteran Oumar Ballo (13.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg). Its losses this season have been to No. 1 Purdue and last year’s Final Four participant Florida Atlantic, the latter coming in double…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/asu-arizona-basketball-teams-face-170713249.html

Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2023-12-31 17:07:13

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