Kyle Anderson scored a career-high 28 points (file photo by Don Liebig)
Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
SALT LAKE CITY - Kyle Anderson scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the No. 25 UCLA basketball team dropped a 74-69 decision at Utah on Saturday afternoon.
Anderson connected on 10-of-16 field goal attempts, including a career-best 5-of-5 from 3-point range for the Bruins (14-4, 3-2 Pac-12).
Jordan Loveridge scored a team-leading 17 points for Utah (14-4, 3-3). The Utes also received 12 points each from Brandon Taylor, Delon Wright and Kenneth Ogbe.
The Bruins stormed back from a 17-point deficit in the game’s final 12 minutes, reducing the Utes’ margin to just two points in the game’s final minute.
UCLA's 74-69 loss at Utah came two days after securing a 13-point win at No. 21 Colorado.
"Utah really played well in the first half," UCLA coach Steve Alford said. "We didn’t. I thought we had a really bad start to this game. It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the game. This is a tough turnaround. We didn’t handle our first road trip, we got the split. We didn’t come to get a split, we came to get a sweep."
Leading 36-26 at halftime, the Utes pushed their margin to 53-36 on a 3-pointer by Loveridge at the 12:47 mark in the second half. Trailing 60-45 after Jeremy Olsen nailed a pair of free throws, the Bruins used an 11-0 scoring run to cut Utah’s advantage to 60-56 with 6:01 to play.
The Utes responded with a 6-0 run over the next 2:18, pushing their lead to 66-56.
Utah boosted its cushion to 69-60 on a corner 3-point basket from Dakarai Tucker with 2:34 to play before UCLA cut into the deficit again, making it a one possession game. Jordan Adams’ jumper reduced the Utes’ cushion to 71-69 with 22.4 seconds remaining.
Taylor made of pair of free throws and Wright stole the ball from Anderson with 11.1 seconds left, helping Utah seal their first win over UCLA since 1983.
UCLA outrebounded Utah, 35-31. Anderson totaled seven boards and Zach LaVine finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
The Utes erased UCLA’s early 18-15 cushion by using a 15-0 scoring run midway through the first half to lead by a 30-18 margin with 5:53.
The Bruins return to action against Stanford in Pauley Pavilion on Thursday, Jan. 22. Game time is 8 p.m. (PT).
Da Box
No comments:
Post a Comment