Utah forward Branden Carlson corralled an offensive rebound and converted the game-winning lay-up with 0.2 seconds remaining to lift the Utes to a 70-69 over UCLA on Sunday night at Pauley Pavilion, snapping the Bruins’ six-game winning streak.
Deivon Smith drove coast to coast on the final possession of the game with six seconds remaining, but missed the shot that was heavily contested by Adem Bona, allowing Carlson to make the game-winner to keep Utah’s bubble hopes alive for March.
“We ran a play called “world’s greatest play,” and our guys ran it to perfection. We just had such poise,” said Utah coach Craig Smith.
Sophomore guard Dylan Andrews finished with 15 points and converted the go-ahead jumper to give the Bruins a 69-68 lead with six seconds remaining on the prior possession.
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“Obviously a hard-fought game, disappointed in the outcome. Defensively, we’ve had some slippage lately … Statistically, during our winning streak, teams have been shooting too high of a percentage against us,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said.
Utah (16-10, 7-8 Pac-12) completed their season sweep over the Bruins after routing UCLA 90-44 in Salt Lake City on Jan. 11, marking the second-worst loss in program history.
The Utes made nine three-pointers on 28 attempts while the Bruins made five on 21.
Carlson and Smith finished with 17 points apiece for the Utes, giving Utah their first win at Pauley Pavilion since 2018-19. Smith also added a team-leading 10 assists and four rebounds.
UCLA (14-12, 9-6 Pac-12) junior forward Lazar Stefanovic finished with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds, while playing all 40 minutes for the Bruins. Sophomore guard Will McClendon added nine points and a team-high nine rebounds off the bench for UCLA.
Bruins’ freshman guard and leading scorer Sebastian Mack (13.5 ppg.) attempted to navigate through a defensive screen but appeared to strike Carlson near the throat area with his forearm with 9:53 remaining in the first half, resulting in a flagrant foul 2 and immediate ejection from the game.
“Excuses are for losers. I mean, it’s five-on-five.. We got to sub somebody in. We didn’t get the job done. That’s on me. Sure, we would have liked to have him,” added Cronin on losing his team’s leading scorer.
The Bruins led by as many as seven, 26-19 with 4:55 left in the first half after freshman forward Brandon Williams made two free throws. UCLA held a 36-34 lead at halftime.
“It came down to the last play, but you can count 20 plays down the stretch that we didn’t make, that we could have made, that would have made a difference,” said Lazar Stefanovic. “We’ve got to learn from it, we’ve got to get better.”
Bona made a lay-up that gave UCLA a 57-51 lead with just under nine minutes to play but the Utes were able to respond and tie the game at 64-64, with 2:44 to play after a Keba Keita lay-up.
McClendon drained a three-pointer to give the Bruins 67-64 advantage with 2:24 remaining but Smith and Keita baskets gave the Utes a 68-67 lead with 19 seconds left in the game.
“We should have just stayed in front of the ball, and hopefully the outcome would have changed,” said McClendon.
Andrews made the go-ahead jumper with six seconds remaining on the next possession to retake a 69-68 lead but it was Carlson who was able to deliver a put-back layup under the rim with 0.2 seconds left to give the Utes a huge 70-69 win over the Bruins on the road.
“The rebound, we should have got the rebound as well,” added McClendon. “Bona did a great job of forcing a tough shot, and usually when your five-man goes to stop the ball or block a shot, there’s a mismatch for the guards and the bigs. We didn’t do our part in blocking out and getting the rebound.”
UCLA will next host crosstown rivals, USC (10-16, 4-11 Pac-12) on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
The Bruins will look to sweep the Trojans after beating them 65-50 last month at Galen Center.
