Struggling Arizona State basketball hoping for fresh start at Colorado, Utah

Watching film is part of the routine when preparing for an opponent. Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley hopes it serves another purpose too.

The Sun Devils (11-11, 5-6) are headed to the mountain schools, with a showdown looming on Thursday against Colorado (15-7, 6-5) at the CU Events Center and then one on Saturday against Utah (15-7, 6-5) at the Huntsman Center. Both venues have been challenging for visiting teams. Both the Utes and Buffaloes are 12-0 at home this season.

Each games tips off at 6 p.m. with Thursday's to air on FS1 and Saturday's to be telecast by ESPN2.

Hurley's squad is reeling, having lost four straight games and six of the last seven. But he is hoping watching footage of the previous games against those two foes brings back good memories. The Sun Devils defeated both teams earlier this season at Desert Financial Arena. They surged past Utah 82-70 in what was their most impressive performance of the season and two days later edged the Buffaloes 76-73.

Those wins gave ASU a 4-0 start in Pac-12 play. The slide started right after that.

"We've proven if we play the right way, when we play together, that we have good enough players to win games. But, if we don't have a collective approach to playing the game and sharing the ball and, being happy for a teammate's success within the game and being there defensively for each other in all ways, just being good teammates, we can play quality basketball," Hurley said.

While the road venues have been historically tough, the Sun Devils have held their own in Boulder and Salt Lake City. Last season, ASU did not play in Salt Lake City but won its game in Colorado 60-59, the difference being a 3-pointer by Desmond Cambridge Jr. at the buzzer, ending a game in which the Sun Devils rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit.

The last time ASU played both on the road was the 2021-2022 season. On that trip, it won both to earn the program's only road sweep of Colorado and Utah. Overall ASU has won its last two at Colorado and three of the last four at Utah.

In the first game against Colorado this season Jamiya Neal scored 19 points with Adam Miller adding 18 in a game in which ASU scored 27 points off turnovers. The Buffaloes did play that game without injured freshman Cody Willliams, who some say will be an NBA lottery pick come draft time.

If ASU is to snap its losing streak, defense will have to be a key component."We played an NCAA caliber game vs. them the first time around so it was great to see, you know you kind of move on after something and get ready for the next thing you don't take the time to appreciate just how well we played in that game so you know the guys are capable of doing it," Hurley said. "You just hope it sinks in that we have to do it this way all the time, every time we step on the floor."

Arizona looms as the frontrunner for conference honors, but both ASU's upcoming opponents have resumes that could get them into the March Madness field.

Hurley said he hasn't decided on a lineup change, which coaches sometimes turn to in an effort to shake things up when all is not going well. He has limited personnel so there aren't a lot of options. He added that veteran Jose Perez is back in his good graces as well as that of the team. An incident at the end of the first half of Saturday's lost to California led to Perez not playing in the second half.

But Hurley said the incident was the result of frustration.

He said his team is still invested.

"It still doesn't look like a group that doesn't want to be here. It looks like a group that is energized, trying to get better," he said.

Hurley said Zane Meeks and Brycen Long are no closer to returning to action. Long has returned to practice but on a very limited basis. He has been out since Dec. 20 with a medical issue, while Meeks has missed 17 games with a foot injury.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU basketball looking to break skid on Pac-12 road trip