UCLA comeback falls short in 75-73 men's basketball loss to Utah

UCLA knew it would have its hands full this week.

Set to arrive at Pauley Pavilion was Utah’s Jakob Poeltl, a 7-footer who may be the odds-on favorite to win Pac-12 Player of the Year. Entering Thursday night’s tipoff in Los Angeles, the sophomore center ranked second in the conference in scoring, first in field goal percentage, and fifth in rebounding. No other player in the league had a top-five spot in all three categories.

Poeltl, in other words, is the type of matchup that’s almost impossible to duplicate in practice.

“There haven’t been too many guys — if any — that we’ve seen, that plays the way he plays,” said Bruin point guard Bryce Alford.

UCLA contained Poeltl in the first half, forcing him into missing four of his first five shots from the floor. After averaging 22 points in his last seven games — making 74 percent of his attempts along the way — the future first-round pick entered halftime with just two baskets.

It didn’t last. Poeltl ended the game with 15 points, making seven of 15 shots while corralling 11 rebounds. The Utes finished off a 75-73 decision. It was their first-ever win in Pauley Pavilion, and their first over the Bruins in Los Angeles in more than half a century.

And, it almost certainly ended UCLA’s chances at an at-large bid to the NCAA Touament.

“This was a must-win,” said head coach Steve Alford, whose Bruins likely need to sweep their last five games for a spot in March Madness. “You come back home, you’ve got to win home games. You lose home games, you’re not going to fare well in this league. ...

“Where we’re at record-wise, and we’re at standings-wise, that’s what we deserve.”

Fittingly, a game that saw 14 lead changes in the first 17 minutes still featured a bit of late drama. With less than four minutes left on the clock, Isaac Hamilton and Alford combined to score eight points for UCLA in 72 seconds, stringing together an and-one, a 3-pointer, and a layup. A deficit that had grown to as much as 14 points suddenly stood at just two.

Utah, which had all the momentum just minutes earlier, looked flustered. Poeltl tried for a layup, but center Thomas Welsh recorded his first block of the game. Senior Jordan Loveridge, who already had five 3-pointers, missed from beyond the arc.

However, the Bruins (14-12, 5-8) couldn’t capitalize either. UCLA made 10 of its last 12 shots, but the two misses came in the final 45 seconds.

Truth be told, they had been done in much earlier by their own lack of defensive intensity. Anchored by Poeltl’s presence in the paint, Utah (20-7, 9-5) scored 12 of its first 14 baskets in the second half came on either a layup, dunk, or tip-in.

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“He did a good job of making us be slow to come double him,” Bryce Alford said of Poeltl. “He was passing out to shooters, and they were rotating the ball.”

With 15 seconds left, the Utes pushed ahead on a 3-pointer by Brandon Taylor, giving themselves a five-point cushion. Welsh hit a jumper shortly afterward, but Utah’s Kyle Kuzma somehow found himself behind the entire UCLA defense. He reeled in the long inbound pass, and flushed in a final dunk for good measure.

When Holiday pulled up for meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer, there wasn’t a Ute near him. They all knew the game was over.

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