Bruins lead from the start in handing Utah its second home loss of the season
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Utah Utes center Branden Carlson (35) drives against UCLA Bruins guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (4) and forward Cody Riley (2) during a Pac-12 basketball game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah basketball team’s home magic came to a crashing halt Thursday night with a 69-58 loss to UCLA at the Huntsman Center.
The Utes, who have only won one road game all season, had won 10 off 11 games at home this season before Thursday, but couldn’t match up with the hot Bruins, who improved to 9-5 in Pac-12 play and 16-11 on the season. Utah dropped to 5-9 in league play and 14-12 overall with the loss.
Sophomore guard Jules Bernard, who came into the game as UCLA’s seventh-leading scorer at 5.6 points per game, led the Bruins with 16 points, while Utah was led by Alfonso Plummer with 16 points, Timmy Allen with 11 points and Branden Carlson, who scored 10 points in just 13 minutes before fouling out.
UCLA had defeated the Utes 73-57 earlier this month in Los Angeles, which was part of a stretch that saw the Bruins win five of their last six and seven of their last nine.
Like they did in Los Angeles, the Bruins came out strong and took a quick lead at 16-7 as the Utes turned the ball over five times in the first five minutes.
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Utah Utes guard Jaxon Brenchley (5) goes for the basket while UCLA Bruins guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (4) attempts to block the shot during the game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes guard Alfonso Plummer (25) attempts a 3-pointer during the game against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes forward Mikael Jantunen (20) goes for the basket during the game against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes guard Both Gach (11) and UCLA Bruins guard David Singleton (34) compete for the ball at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes forward Mikael Jantunen (20) attempts to secure the ball against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (1) goes for the basket against UCLA Bruins guard Jules Bernard (3) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes guard Alfonso Plummer (25) looks at the clock during the final seconds of the game against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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UCLA Bruins forward Cody Riley (2) goes for the basket against Utah Utes center Branden Carlson (35) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes guard Rylan Jones (15) and Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (1) react to a call during the game against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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UCLA Bruins guard Chris Smith (5) and Utah Utes guard Alfonso Plummer (25) react to a call at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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UCLA Bruins forward Cody Riley (2) attempts to steal the ball from Utah Utes guard Rylan Jones (15) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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UCLA Bruins forward Cody Riley (2) attempts to get up while Utah Utes forward Mikael Jantunen (20) and guard Rylan Jones (15) go for the ball at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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UCLA Bruins forward Cody Riley (2) goes for the basket against Utah Utes forward Mikael Jantunen (20) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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The Utah Utes form a huddle before the game against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (1) high fives Caleb Calligan, 7, before the basketball game against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Utah Utes forward Mikael Jantunen (20) drives against UCLA Bruins forward Cody Riley (2) during the basketball game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
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Team Chaplin Tommy White prays with Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (1) before the game against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News
The Utes crept within three points at 18-15 and were down 21-17 when they were the victim of a missed goaltending call on a Mikael Jantunen layup. Then the Bruins went on a 9-0 run, including a pair of free throws, after a technical foul on Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak protesting a foul call and went into halftime leading 33-21.
The Utes were hurt by Carlson missing the final 10 minutes of the half after scoring eight points in seven minutes of action.
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In the second half, Carlson picked up his third foul in the opening minute and the Bruins scored the first six points of the half to push the lead to 19 at 43-24.
After the lead got as high as 20, the Utes made a rally behind Plummer and cut the lead to seven at 63-56 with 1:44 left, but ran out of time.
The Utes will play USC Sunday at 4 p.m. and then hit the road next week for games at Stanford Wednesday and Cal Sunday. UCLA will play at Colorado Saturday in a 2 p.m. game. Colorado defeated USC 70-66 earlier on Thursday night.
GAME NOTES: Utah’s only other home loss was a 69-64 defeat to Oregon. ... The all-time series between the two schools had been tied at 10-10 before the Bruins’ win over Utah at Pauley Pavilion on Super Bowl Sunday and now stands at 12-10 UCLA. ... Thursday’s game was Utah’s only 8:30 p.m. start of the season and the game was televised on the FS1 Network. ... UCLA came into the game as the top team in the Pac-12 in rebounding margin at 6.15, while Utah was fifth at 3.04. ... Coming into the game, Utah’s Rylan Jones ranked second in free-throw shooting at 87%, while UCLA’s Chris Smith was third at 85.7%.
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