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It's not too often in college basketball the opening five minutes of a game would define the entire night in a nutshell.
But when the Arizona State Sun Devils fell behind to the Utah Utes on a 15-0 run to start the game, it hardly got any better for ASU, as the Sun Devils fell on the road, 81-46, in a wire-to-wire loss.
Utah got hot from the start, as the Utes used five 3-pointers to go on their opening run. Utah would go on to shoot 40 percent from the field (16-for-40). Forward Jordan Loveridge led the Utes' scoring barrage with four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points in 18 minutes.
Playing its first game without guard Andre Spight, whose intention to transfer was announced Tuesday, ASU had no rhythm or chemistry throughout the entire night, shooting just 15-for-60 from the field (25 percent). The Sun Devils worked with a seven-man rotation for most of the game until coach Bobby Hurley emptied the bench in the final minutes.
After finally getting on the board with Obinna Oleka's jumper, ASU missed its next 14 shot attempts.
ASU went into halftime trailing 44-10. The Sun Devils have had their share of trouble in Salt Lake City in the past:
History does repeat itself:
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) February 26, 2016
Utah's lead last year at halftime: 41-9.
Utah's lead this year: 44-10.
ASU lost last year's meeting in Salt Lake City, 83-41.
The Sun Devils had a slightly better start in the second, outscoring Utah 7-2 in the first five minutes. Both teams fired away with 3-pointers and traded turnovers, until Utes exploded for a 45-point lead with about 10 minutes left in the game.
Four Utes — Loveridge, Brekott Chapman (15), Brandon Taylor (11) and Dakari Tucker (10) — finished with double-digit point totals.
Arizona State got 10 points and eight rebounds from guard Gerry Blakes off the bench, while Oleka finished with nine points and 16 boards.
Forty-six points is ASU's lowest scoring output of the season.
The Sun Devils will wrap up their Rocky Mountain road trip by facing the Colorado Buffaloes on Sunday.