Injuries test ASU, and its toughness leads to 73-60 win over Utah

Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley has coached enough games to know when a season starts to turn on him. This one has not.

Instead, his group keeps showing him something different. This is not last year’s roster, not a team that unravels under pressure. It may not be the most talented lineup he has had, but it is one that keeps fighting for each other.

That identity was tested before Saturday even tipped off.

Senior guard Moe Odum and senior forward Allen Mukeba did not practice in the two days leading up to Saturday’s matchup against Utah after injuries suffered Tuesday against the Horned Frogs. Hurley said Mukeba was dealing with an ankle injury, while Odum was battling a midfoot sprain.

Hurley joked that different players, whether speaking broadly or recalling past teams, “might be out for six to eight weeks.” Not this one. Not Odum. Not Mukeba. Not a roster built around accountability and trust in each other and in their coach.

A season ago, ASU (15-14, 6-10 Big 12) limped to the finish line, at times barely fielding a full scholarship rotation. This year, players like Odum and Mukeba refuse to leave teammates exposed, regardless of pain. That commitment showed against the Utes. Four players scored in double figures. Odum and Mukeba, both limited during the week, combined for 21 points as Arizona State controlled both halves defensively. The Sun Devils held Utah (10-19, 2-14) to 39 percent shooting and committed just five turnovers, playing one of their cleanest games of the season in a 73-60 win at home.

When asked if there was any consideration for Odum to sit out Saturday and recover for the regular-season finale against the Jayhawks, his answer came quickly.

“Oh, nah, nah, nah. I wouldn’t even count that as banged up,” Odum said. “(Hurley) told me to sit out practice. I really didn’t want to sit out, so I’m alright.”

If Odum was hurting, it never showed. He played with his usual edge, flying into passing lanes, pushing tempo, and working off screens to create offense. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, knocked down three 3-pointers, and added four assists while keeping the offense steady.

“I look at it as like, there’s a lot of people, a lot of kids, who wish they were in my position,” Odum said. “If I could walk, I could run. If I could run, I definitely could play. So I’m not really worried about too much, you know, baby injuries or lingering injuries, and so are my teammates.”

ASU never needed an offensive explosion. Instead, it built separation through balance and patience.

Sophomore forward Santiago Trouet recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, controlling the glass and finishing inside. Freshman center Massamba Diop added 14 points, including two 3-pointers that matched a career high, while protecting the rim throughout the night. Senior guard Anthony Johnson scored 14 points for his seventh straight double-digit performance, helping fuel Arizona State’s transition attack.

The Sun Devils scored 36 points in the paint and added nine fastbreak points, consistently forcing Utah to defend deep into possessions.

Still, the story of the night lived on the defensive end.

Utah opened fast, jumping out to a 14-5 lead while shooting 6 of 10 from the field. The Utes carried that rhythm into the second half, starting a perfect 7 of 7 and trimming a 10-point deficit to four.

ASU responded with adjustments that flipped the game.

A zone look slowed Utah’s pace, shrank driving lanes, and forced tougher perimeter decisions. After that early first-half surge, Utah finished the half just 4 of its next 19 shots. The pattern repeated after halftime. Following the 7-for-7 start, the Utes closed the game shooting 6 of their next 23.

“The zone worked in both games versus Utah, and for some reason, we’ve sprinkled it in some other games,” Hurley said. “It hasn’t always been great, but it’s a good fit for this opponent, because (Terrence) Brown is a nightmare to keep out of the paint, and if you just allow him to have space to work in a man defense the whole game, then all those fouls that we didn’t commit, we would have had a lot more guys potentially in foul trouble.”

Interior defense anchored everything. Arizona State blocked nine shots, with Diop recording four and Trouet adding four more, eliminating easy looks and reinforcing the defensive wall.

Clean execution finished the job. The Sun Devils turned the ball over only five times and allowed just nine Utah free-throw attempts, while earning 12 themselves. Possession by possession, the margins continued to lean toward Arizona State.

“This game was night and day compared to our TCU game,” Hurley said. “It was very, very cleanly played. And I knew coming in, they were only turning teams over eight and a half times a game in league games. So we have to be under eight turnovers in this game, because we’ve done a very good job in the turnover differential, and we didn’t do that versus TCU…So that was a point of emphasis to take care of the ball.”

Depth also proved important. Junior guard Bryce Ford added eight points, including two 3-pointers, while Mukeba contributed six points and physical defense throughout.

More than the numbers, though, it was the mindset that stood out.

Whether it was a cut, a bruise, or an injury that might have sidelined others, Hurley’s group refused to leave teammates hanging. It is a tone that has quietly shaped this roster as it continues pushing toward a strong finish in 2026. Odum never planned to sit, and according to Trouet, Mukeba carried that same approach. 

Trouet pointed to Mukeba’s presence as one of the subtle differences in the game and a reflection of the team’s collective mentality.

“Even Alan today, he didn’t practice this week at all,” Trouet said. “His foot was hurting, but he knew we had eight guys, so if we get in foul trouble, we’re gonna need him. So he was there. He played a good game. We just gotta all have the same mindset… We just have to help each other and not let the team down, just push through something.”