The Runnin’ Utes saw their eight game winning streak come to an end on Thursday night with an 82-70 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils. After a back and forth first half, the Utes went ice-cold in the second half, and the Sun Devils coasted late to a comfortable victory.

Here are the takeaways from the game:

Utah struggled to involve Madsen

ASU held the Runnin’ Utes sharpshooter to three points on 1-4 shooting — all from long-distance. Additionally, Madsen had zero free-throw attempts.

All credit should go to the Sun Devils as they effectively took him out of the offense. Only one other Ute that played meaningful minutes shot less than four shots, Hunter Erickson. Madsen is a volume shooter. While it’s up to him to effectively get open, it also falls on the staff to adjust and get their weapon his fair share of shots.

There should never be a game where six other Utes put up more shots than a top-two offensive weapon and one of the best shooters in the Pac-12 conference.

Nothing went well for Utah offensively

Struggling to get Madsen involved wasn’t the only issue for the Utes. The team as a whole struggled mightily to score around the low post, missing several easy buckets. Keba Keita also struggled with foul trouble on some questionable calls, limiting his effectiveness.

In the decisive second half, Utah shot only 13-33 from the field for 39.4%. They were even worse from long-distance, going 2-10 of 20%. The recent struggles also continued from the free-throw line with them going 7-12 for the entire game.

Don’t trust the pregame reports

Not long before the Utes and Sun Devils were about to tip off, ASU star guard Frankie Collins, was expected to sit out being sick. Boy, does Utah wish that was the case. Collins ended up playing and playing phenomenally well. Despite being sick, Collins played just under 35 minutes. He had 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

Utah had no answer for the talented guard. Collins was joined in double-figures by fellow guard Jose Perez who had a game-high 26 points.

In recent years, Utah has struggled with opposing guards when they’ve entered Pac-12 play. They can only hope that this isn’t a sign of things to come.

Up next

Utah will close out their Arizona road trip against the No. 10 Arizona Wildcats on Saturday at 6PM. The Wildcats are fresh off of a 97-50 pounding of the Colorado Buffalo after being upset by Stanford last week.