Utah knocks off No. 11 Arizona State 80-77 in overtime

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Larry Krystkowiak saw Sedrick Barefield hesitate and tried to call a timeout. The Utah junior guard thought he was yelling "Go!" so he pushed the ball up the court and pulled up for a 3-pointer.

"It's a good thing they were on the other side of the court and don't listen to their coach," Krystkowiak said.

That's for sure.

Barefield hit the tying 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in regulation and scored 17 points, helping Utah knock off No. 21 Arizona State 80-77 in overtime Thursday night.

"It's just another shot you've got to make," Barefield said.

Utah (13-7, 5-4 Pac-12) lost a close game to Arizona State two weeks ago, unable to make the big plays when it needed to.

The Utes had the answers in the desert, starting with Barefield's against-orders 3-pointer after Arizona State's Shannon Evans II scored inside with 9 seconds left.

Utah made all four of its shots in overtime -- two by Barefield -- and contested two Arizona State shots while clinging to a 79-77 lead. Barefield hit 1 of 2 free throws and Arizona State's final shot, a running 3-pointer by Tra Holder at the buzzer, was nowhere close.

Barefield made all four of his 3-point attempts and the Utes went 14 of 32 from the arc to avenge the earlier loss to the Sun Devils.

"We scrapped. It wasn't always perfect," Barefield said. "It says a lot about our team to rally back and pull out a W in overtime."

Arizona State (15-5, 3-5) went up three on Evans' layup at the end of regulation, but opted not to foul and Barefield knocked down his shot to send it to overtime tied 69-all.

The Sun Devils had chances before and after the decision, but couldn't get open looks to drop when they had them, including a 1-for-5 overtime from 3-point range.

Holder led Arizona State with 23 points.

"We have to connect when we have open shots as the game progresses," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. "We didn't do that consistently enough to score enough points to win."

Arizona State won the first meeting on Jan. 7 in Salt Lake City, grinding out an 80-77 victory despite committing 31 fouls and its top three frontcourt players fouling out.

The Sun Devils' issue in the first half of the rematch: defense.

After a good start , Arizona State repeatedly left shooters open on the perimeter and open lanes to the basket, allowing the Utes to build a 35-27 lead late in the half.

Jayce Johnson had 13 points by halftime and Utah made seven of its 15 attempts from the 3-point arc to lead 40-33.

The Sun Devils tightened up defensively to open the second half, pulling within three after Utah missed eight of its first nine shots.

The Utes continued to clank shots, but Arizona State had a hard time capitalizing as Utah pushed the lead back to eight.

Remy Martin brought the Sun Devils back. He hit a pair of 3-pointers while scoring 10 straight points to put Arizona State up 57-55.

Evans followed with a 3-pointer to make it a 13-0 run, but the Utes fought their way back.

"The 50-50 (balls), we've got to get those and we didn't get them tonight," said Martin, who scored all 10 of his points during Arizona State's run.

BIG PICTURE

Utah was unable to close out its first game against Arizona State, but picked up a crucial win by making the plays down the stretch in the rematch.

Arizona State is in danger of dropping out of the AP Top 25 after losing for the fifth time in eight games.

JOHNSON'S LIFT

Jayce Johnson gave Utah a nice lift in the first half with David Collette limited to three minutes due to foul trouble. The Utes' 7-foot sophomore averages 6.3 points, but had 13 in the first half and finished with 15.

EVANS' BOUNCEBACK

Evans was not much of a factor in the first half, missing all four of his shots. He got going with a step-back 3-pointer early in the second half and finished with 14 points while making 4 of 8 from the 3-point arc.

UP NEXT

Utah: At No. 11 Arizona Saturday.

Arizona State: Hosts Colorado on Saturday.

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