No comeback this time as Utes fall to Bruins in another road loss

UCLA guard Jules Bernard, left, drives to the basket past Utah guard Eli Ballstaedt during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Los Angeles, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo) | AP

LOS ANGELES — This time there was no big comeback for the Utah basketball team.

A year after Parker Van Dyke’s memorable buzzer-beating 3-pointer capped a 22-point second-half comeback for a Utah victory over UCLA, the Utes couldn’t overcome a double-digit second-half deficit and fell to the Bruins 73-57 Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.

The Utes had trailed by 11 points at halftime and pulled within four points midway through the second half, but as been the problem in recent games, they couldn’t find the hoop as the Bruins pulled away.

The loss, Utah’s fifth road defeat in five Pac-12 tries, dropped the Utes to 3-6 in conference play and 12-9 overall, while the Bruins improved to 5-4 and 12-10.

“At the start of the second half we hit some 3s early on and cut it to a couple-of-possession game and just couldn’t sustain it,” said Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak.

“It’s very frustrating,” added Ute forward Timmy Allen. “We had opportunities to get over the hump and cut the lead and tie it up. It’s the details, there’s no small things. We’ve just got to get back to work.”

Krystkowiak said there were several factors in his team’s fourth Pac-12 loss by at least 16 points. He pointed to “a lid” being on the basket in the first half when his team shot 33 percent overall and 1 for 12 from 3-point range. He lamented “seven turnovers in the first 12 or 13 possessions” and the lack of free throws, just five all game compared to UCLA’s 22.

Shooting was a big problem for the Utes who finished under 40% for the ninth time this season and sixth time in Pac-12 play, going 22 for 56 for 39.3% and were just 36% from 3-point range.

“We missed a bunch of open shots — 1 for 12 (on 3-pointers) at halftime — and six or seven were the shots we’re seeking,” said Krystkowiak.

Riley Battin, a SoCal native playing in front a contingent of family and friends, led the Utes with 14 points, including three 3-pointers early in the second half when the Utes made their rally. Allen had still another tough day shooting, with 5 of 16 from the field, and finished with 13 points, but came up with a career-high eight assists. Rylan Jones scored 11 points, but hit just 3 of 11 3-pointers.

For the game, the Utes had 15 turnovers as Allen had five and Jones four. “The margin of error is too small for a team like this to throw the ball away,” said Krystkowiak.

The game tipped off at noon local time on a beautiful 70-degree Super Bowl Sunday in Los Angeles.

Unlike Thursday’s game at USC when they jumped out to an early lead that they held most of the night, the Utes fell behind from the start and quickly found themselves down 26-13 with 7:34 left in the first half.

At that point, the Bruins went cold and couldn’t score for more than five minutes, but the Utes could only cut the deficit to seven. At halftime, UCLA pushed the lead back to 32-21.

The Utes made a run early in the second half and Battin, brought Utah within five at 42-37. They got within four when Alfonso Plummer sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead to four at 50-46 with 9:06 left, but the next time down the floor after a Bruin basket, Plummer’s wide-open 3-pointer bounced away and that was as close as the Utes could get.

UCLA was led by freshman guard Tyger Campbell, who scored a career-high 22 points and handed out eight assists. Another freshman, Jaime Jaquez, scored 18 points and made 8 of 8 free throws and Jalen Hill added 14. The Bruins’ leading scorer, Chris Smith, was held to six points.

The Utes have fallen to 10th place in the Pac-12 and things don’t get easier with 5-3 Stanford and 4-4 Cal coming to the Huntsman Center this week.

GAME NOTES: With the win, UCLA went ahead 11-10 in the all-time series and 7-6 since Utah joined the Pac-12 ... Going into the game, Utah ranked 74th in latest NET rankings, while UCLA was 116th ... At halftime, the Bruins celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1970 NCAA Championship team that went 28-2 ... The Utes and Bruins will play again Feb. 20 at the Huntsman Center.

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