Utah vs UCLA Player Stats and Box Score, February 18, 2024 | College Basketball Season 2023-24
The clash between Utah and UCLA on Sunday night at the Pauley Pavilion was an important Pac-12 Conference showdown for both teams' status in the selection of NCAA Tournament competitors. The Utes won 70-69.
The Bruins were aiming for their seventh-straight win, while the Utes were looking to end their three-game losing streak.
Utah opened with a 7-0 run, with Branden Carlson scoring five quick points. Moments later, UCLA responded with a 14-3 spurt to take a 14-10 lead. The Bruins led by as much as seven in the first half, but the Utes kept it close and trimmed the gap to two, 36-34, after 20 minutes of action.
The visitors scored eight straight in the second half to retake the lead, 42-38. However, the home team responded with their own 13-4 outburst to make it 51-46.
Utah reclaimed the lead briefly after a layup from Deivon Smith, but UCLA restored order with a Will McClendon jumper that put them up by four, 64-60.
Keba Keita tied the game at 64, but McClendon answered with a triple to make it 67-64.
Smith and Keita again combined forces to put Utah in the driver's seat with 19 seconds remaining. Dylan Andrews handed UCLA their last lead of the game with a jumper.
In the next play, Carlson followed up on a Smith miss to beat the buzzer and hand the Utes a morale-boosting win.
With the victory, Utah improved to 16-10 win-loss (7-8 in Pac-12). On the other hand, UCLA dropped to 14-12 (9-6).
The Utes will face Colorado on Saturday, while the Bruins meet USC on the same day.
Utah vs UCLA College Basketball Season 2023-24 stats and box scores
Utah stats and box score
Carlson and Smith paced the Utes' offense with 17 points each. Smith had 10 assists to pick up a double-double. Gabe Madsen and Cole Bajema added 11 markers apiece.
The Utes shot 32.1% from the three-point area, making 9 of 28 triples. Utah only got five bench points as the team relied on their starters in offense.
UCLA stats and box score
Lazar Stefanovic played the whole 40 minutes for the Bruins and finished with a team-high 19 points. Andrews added 15 in 39 minutes of play for UCLA.
The Bruins had 18 bench points, with McClendon and Berke Buyuktuncel contributing nine and seven markers, respectively.
However, the Bruins were awful in the three-point area, shooting 5 of 21 for 23.8%.