LOS ANGELES — The UCLA men’s basketball team held their emotions in check and stayed together but after a wild scramble in the final seconds, they suffered a heartbreaking 70-69 loss against Utah at Pauley Pavilion Sunday night.
After being fouled twice in six seconds, sophomore guard Dylan Andrews had 13 seconds left to win the game. It took him less than seven seconds to size up his defender with a crossover and calmy drain a go-ahead jump shot. UCLA (14-12, 9-6) led 69-68 with 6.6 seconds to go.
However, after a wild scramble at the rim off a missed layup by Utah senior guard Deivon Smith, senior center Branden Carlson tipped in the game-winning shot, with .2 seconds left. UCLA tried to throw a full-court inbounds pass but it was intercepted by the Utes.
“It feels horrible,” UCLA junior guard Lazar Stefanovic said. “I don’t know how to exactly explain it, it feels horrible… it came down to the last play but you can count 20 plays down the stretch that we didn’t make that, which would have made a difference. We have to learn from it and we have to be better.”
Stefanovic, a junior guard from Belgrade, Serbia, who transferred to UCLA from Utah during the offseason, finished with a season-high 19 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore point guard Dylan Andrews had 15 points. Sophomore forward Adem Bona finished with seven points in 18 minutes after spending the game in foul trouble.
The Bruins, who shot 39.7% from the field on 25 of 63 shooting sought but were not able to earn redemption after their embarrassing 90-44 loss to Utah on Jan. 11. Since that game, UCLA has won eight of their last 10 games but the Utes ended the team’s six-game winning streak on Sunday.
The team’s leading scorer, Sebastian Mack (13.5 points), a 6-foot-2 freshman guard from Chicago, was ejected midway through the first half after being called for a flagrant 2 foul for an apparent elbow to the neck/throat area of Utah’s 7-foot senior center Branden Carlson. Mack finished with four points and one rebound in eight minutes.
Utah (16-10, 7-8) was led by Smith and Carlson with 17 points each. Senior guards Gabe Madsen and Cole Bajema each added 11 points.
It was a slow start for the Bruins who trailed 7-0 early. UCLA missed their first three shots before Mack’s driving layup got the Bruins on the scoreboard with 17:05 left in the first half. Andrews drained a 3-pointer to make it 7-5.
A nice assist from sophomore forward Adem Bona to Andrews for a jump shot just inside the free-throw line put UCLA up 9-8 with 14:03 left in the first. UCLA freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel’s offensive rebound and putback made it 11-8.
Mack, the team’s leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, was ejected with 9:53 remaining in the first after being called for a flagrant foul while trying to go through a screen set by Carlson. UCLA led 16-12 at the time. However, Madsen made both four straight free throws to tie the game at 16. Carlson returned to the game less than minutes later.
After review, it was ruled a flagrant 2 and Sebastian Mack will be ejected from the game after this play pic.twitter.com/qul0x9eLji
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 19, 2024
Bona’s three-point play put the Bruins up 21-18 with 6:55 to go in the first.
The Bruins were called for another technical foul, this time on Coach Mick Cronin with 6:04 remaining in the first. Madsen made one of two free throws. UCLA led 21-19 but the Utes retained possession.
Andrews, a 6-foot-2 180-pound point guard, muscled his way to the rim for a three-point play, which pushed UCLA’s lead to 24-19. Bruins freshman forward Brandon Williams made both free throws, which put UCLA up 26-19, their largest lead of the first half. Utah responded with a 5-0 run, which cut the Bruins’ advantage to 26-24.
After another back-and-forth stretch, Bajema made a tough layup through contact, which tied the game at 34 with 40 seconds to go before halftime.
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McClendon’s corner jumper with 12 seconds left in the first half put the Bruins up 36-34 at halftime. Stefanovic had 13 points and six rebounds in the first half, including 8 of 9 from the free throw line.
Utah began the second half on an 8-2 run. The Utes led 42-38 with 17:35 remaining in the second.
UCLA senior center Kenneth Nwuba’s baseline spin into a vicious slam dunk and a transition layup by Stefanovic put the Bruins up 44-43.
A 3-pointer by Andrews gave the Bruins a 49-46 cushion with 12:52 left in the second half. Williams’ turnaround bank shot put UCLA up 53-48. Bejama’s 3-pointer cut it to 53-51. Back-to-back baskets by Stefanovic and Bona put the Bruins up 57-51 with less than eight minutes to go.
The Utes responded one more, on a 7-0 run, capped off by a three-point play by Smith. Utah led 58-57. Buyuktuncel went right back down and bullied his way inside to put the Bruins back up 59-58. Buytuktuncel followed that up with an even bigger basket, a 3-pointer to go up 62-58 with 5:20 remaining.
With the game tied at 64 sophomore guard Will McClendon, who finished with nine points and nine rebounds, drained a wide-open 3-pointer to put the Bruins up 67-64 with 2:24 to go. Smith’s tough layup cut it to 67-66 with 1:19 to go. The Utes called timeout down one, with 41.4 to go. Sophomore center Keba Keita’s layup put Utah up 68-67 with 19.7 left in the game.
UP NEXT
UCLA will host USC (10-16, 4-11) at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 24.