Utah Utes Fall To No. 7 UCLA Bruins On Road

LOS ANGELES – The Utah Utes travelled to Pauley Pavilion in California to face-off against the No. 7 UCLA Bruins on Thursday.

The matchup will be a tough one for the Utes, Utah is 3-2 in their last five and 12-5 overall. The Bruins entered the match on an 11-game win streak and 14-2 overall. UCLA is also 9-0 in conference play so far this season.

The Utes last game was a tough home loss to Oregon, Utah’s first Pac-12 loss of the season. The Bruin’s last game was a thrilling 2-point home victory over the USC Trojans.

Just before tip-off, it was announced that Branden Carlson would not play with an illness.

First Half

It was all defense early on in Los Angeles. After four minutes of play, the Utes held a 4-0 lead. Utah and UCLA combined for 2-8 shooting in that span.

.@ben_carlson20 gets us going here at Pauley Pavilion!

📲 https://t.co/XQ5W3N3JTs #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/4RRjXGnfhl

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 13, 2023

David Singleton took the lid off of the rim for the Bruins with a driving layup down the center of the lane.

UCLA settled into a full-court press early. This resulted in six turnovers for the Utes in the first 7 minutes. The Bruins took advantage of the turnovers in transition.

The two-time defending Pac-12 Player of the Week making his case for another 💥

📺: Pac-12 Network
💻: https://t.co/atQ1GL1luL #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/mi8S9UxBxl

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 13, 2023

After giving up a few buckets off turnovers, the Utes answered with a quick 6-0 run.

.@_Lazar_Stef with the pull-up J to make it a 6-0 run for us!

📲 https://t.co/XQ5W3N3JTs #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/KCTi9Pt6sR

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 13, 2023

The defensive-mindedness continued for both squads. Twelve minutes into the first half, UCLA was shooting 7/17 from the field and Utah was shooting 4/11 from the field.

The Utes had trouble guarding the freshman forward Adem Bona. Bona made all of his first five shot attempts with multiple powerful dunks.

Look at Bona man … so inspirational.

📺: Pac-12 Network
💻: https://t.co/atQ1GL1luL #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/HCKBHG1FTg

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 13, 2023

Bona did most of UCLA’s work inside-the-arc while Tyger Campbell did what the Bruins needed from deep. Campbell shot 4 for 7 in the first half with three 3-pointers.

Tyger’s seeing triple! His third three of the half!

📺: Pac-12 Network
💻: https://t.co/atQ1GL1luL #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/in9hVPldNm

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 13, 2023

UCLA went on a 19-7 run to open up a 29-18 lead with three minutes left in the half.

Fresh out of a timeout, Ben Carlson had a statement and-one dunk following an offensive rebound.

.@ben_carlson20 with the OREB and JAM!!!

📲 https://t.co/XQ5W3N3JTs #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/S76QipUW6Z

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 13, 2023

Bostyn Holt got the last basket of the half for the Utes on a fastbreak layup.

.@bostynholt goes COAST 2 COAST for the bucket!!#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/vgGgbVK5xD

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 13, 2023

The score was 31-22 at halftime.

At the half pic.twitter.com/UCnInZqZwt

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 13, 2023

Second Half

The Bruins started the second half strong. They opened up a double-digit lead and gained momentum with some highlight plays.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane … IT’S J ROCK!

📺: Pac-12 Network
💻: https://t.co/atQ1GL1luL #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/PPjjxqp5Pf

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 13, 2023

The Utes defense did a good job of bending but not breaking in the first half. The same couldn’t be said early on in the second for Utah.

Adem Bona continued to have his way in the paint.

Made ya look.

📺: Pac-12 Network
💻: https://t.co/atQ1GL1luL #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/4leFsNjyMz

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 13, 2023

Gabe Madsen stopped the bleeding for Utah with a tough stepback mid-range jumpshot.

.@GabeMadsen53 nails the TOUGH fadeaway#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/mBbP6aun0c

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 13, 2023

Rollie Worster prevented a 20-point lead for the Bruins with an and-one driving layup with 12 minutes left in regulation.

Worster hit a three-pointer shortly after the and-one. Worster was one of the only Utes who was able to shoot efficiently in spite of the staggering UCLA defense.

PG ↔️ PG ✅#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/6Uz6QCTNA7

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 13, 2023

Tyger Campbell continued to score in any way he wanted for UCLA. He hit a tough driving layup to extend the Bruins lead to 19.

.@tygercampbell15 goes high off the glass!

📺: Pac-12 Network
💻: https://t.co/atQ1GL1luL #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/C0WMtJUwsQ

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 13, 2023

The Bruins opened up a 20-point lead for the first time with 5 minutes left in the game. After an offensive rebound, it was quickly turned into a 23-point lead.

Wilguens Exacte Jr. came in for the Utes and hit a couple of three’s to get the lead back under 20.

The freshman @wexactejr looking to get us going with his first points of the night!#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/tFceN7fCqS

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 13, 2023

The final score was 68-49.

Chandler Holt is a Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter at @ChandlerHoltKSL.