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Thursday’s Three Things To Know: Ohio State lost at the buzzer, Arizona State’s slide continues

Arizona State v Kansas

LAWRENCE, KS - DECEMBER 10: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils paces the sideline during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on December 10, 2017 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)

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1. ARIZONA STATE LOST AT HOME TO UTAH

Whatever deal Arizona State had with the devil for the first month of the season, it has expired. The Sun Devils are now 3-5 in the Pac-12 after falling to Utah at home in overtime on Thursday night. They are a full four games out of first place in the conference race, and if it wasn’t for a three-point win at Utah and a two-point over Oregon State at home, the only conference win that Bobby Hurley’s club would have to their name would be against Cal.

And frankly, this was the easiest decline to predict.

The Sun Devils have a roster full of talented guards that do nothing but fire up tough shots. They also don’t play any defense. Once they started facing better defenses and and opponents that knew them -- and knew how to attack them offensively -- this was the only possible result.

This is who the Sun Devils are. A middle of the Pac-12 team with enough firepower that, when they’re hot, can beat anyone.

But they are just as likely to get upset in March as they are to pull an upset.

2. THERE WAS A WILD FINISH IN COLUMBUS THAT CHANGED THE BIG TEN RACE

No. 13 Ohio State suffered their first loss in Big Ten play on Thursday night in an absolute thriller.

Trailed by nine points with less than two minutes left on the clock, but they went on an 11-2 run thank to three threes from Keita Bates-Diop. The third was from 30 feet and came with just five seconds left on the clock, so of course Penn State answered when Tony Carr banked in a 40-footer at the buzzer.

The loss dropped the Buckeyes one game off the pace in the Big Ten race, as No. 3 Purdue knocked off No. 25 Michigan in West Lafayette. Ohio State only plays Purdue once this season, and it is at Purdue.

We wrote a long feature on the Boilermakers today. If you are a Purdue fan, you will like it.

3. THE TAD BOYLE-SEAN MILLER BEEF DIED A QUICK DEATH

To recap: Sean Miller, Arizona’s head coach, was tied up in the FBI’s investigation into corruption in college basketball. Colorado beat Arizona in Boulder earlier this year. After the game, Tad Boyle was very clear when saying how much he enjoyed beating Arizona. He said the same about USC, and when Colorado played at USC the next week, Andy Enfield called a timeout with 20 seconds left and the game already in hand.

Unfortunately, it seems like that was the end of it.

No. 14 Arizona knocked off Colorado in Tucson on Thursday night, 80-71, but there were no fireworks. There was no argument in the handshake line or any unnecessary timeouts called; trust me, Sean Miller would call a timeout if he wanted to make a point.

Anyway, Allonzo Trier continued to play great this season, finishing with 23 points and three assists on 8-for-13 shooting.