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Thursday, February 20
Salt Lake City, UT
8:30 PM
University of Utah
14-12,5-9Pac-12
58
vs
69
UCLA
16-11,9-5Pac-12
1
2
F
UCLA
33
36
69
Utah
21
37
58
Late Rally Not Enough for Men's Hoops in Loss to UCLA
2/20/2020 11:54 PM | Men's Basketball
A late rally in the second half was not enough for the Utah men’s basketball team, falling to UCLA 69-58.
SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a 16-point injection from transfer Alfonso Plummer off the bench, the rally in the second half was not as the University of Utah men's basketball team fell to UCLA 69-58 at home in a late Thursday night game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Branden Carlson got the offense going early on, scoring the first six points, scoring his eighth point of the contest at the 11:31 mark before picking up his second foul – which sent him to the bench.
The Utah (14-12, 5-9 Pac-12) offense went through a long scoring lull late in the first half, with 7:46 between field goals, and allowed UCLA to go on a 10-0 run – which set the Utes behind 30-17. Lahat Thioune finally put an end to that scoring drought when he connected on a hook shot in the heart of the paint with 2:36 left in the first half.
A nice pull-up jumper from Alfonso Plummer cut the UCLA lead down to 30-21 but an offensive rebound on the other end led to a triple from the Bruins and pushed Utah's deficit to 33-21 heading into the break.
Turnovers plagued the Utes in the opening minutes of the second frame, which UCLA (16-11, 9-5 Pac-12) took advantage to the tune of a 6-0 run before Timmy Allen hit a pair of free throws. Utah didn't get its first field-goal of the second half until Carlson hit a jumper at the 15:49 mark.
The Bruins then took their largest of the game, 46-26, when David Singleton knocked in a trey 3:57 in to the second stanza. The Utah offense picked it up when Plummer drained a 3-pointer that started a 7-0 run with 10:19 left to go right in front of the Ute bench – which was also Utah's first triple of the game.
Utah's rally continued behind two more long balls from Plummer in addition to baskets from Mikael Jantunen and Rylan Jones in the paint. With 1:44 remaining and the team down 63-53 on a lay-in from Jones, Plummer was able to draw a foul on UCLA's Tyger Campbell before knocking down all three free throws to bring the deficit back down to 63-56.
However, the rally for Utah ended there as the Ute offense went cold while UCLA knocked down six free throws to ice the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
The three 3-pointers ties for the season-low, matching the three Utah recorded against Washington at home on Jan. 23 … UCLA held a 33-24 edge over Utah on the boards, the second highest differential on the glass this season … the 11 steals is just the fifth time Utah has reached the double-digit mark in steals this season and ties for the second-most this year in game (Central Arkansas on Dec. 7) … Utah is now 10-12 all-time against UCLA and 4-3 against the Bruins inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
QOUTEABLE
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak…
Coach K on changing around the lineup this late in the season…
"Yes, and I discussed that with our team tonight. I love all of our guys and I think everyone is in it for the right reason. We have a lot of high character guys and this isn't the point of the season to worry about anybody's feelings. We need to put guys on the floor that are ready to produce and commit to it. So yeah, at this point it might be time to shake a few things up and see if guys are better coming off the bench. I really liked the way some guys competed tonight, I think Alfonso showed me something and Mickey showed me something and we just need to get a little dirty and nasty from time to time. Everybody needs to stay connected and I trust that there'll be some changes, it's not a threat, but something that needs to be evaluated."
Junior guard #25 Alfonso Plummer…
On his shots falling tonight…
"It's nice, but I feel like we have to get better on defense, try to communicate more on that end but I feel nice. I'm trying to just work hard every practice and try to get better and just wait for my chance. Tonight I just felt like it was my night and I thank all my teammates for giving me the looks."
UP NEXT
The Utes will look to regroup on Sunday, Feb. 23, as they welcome in the Trojans of USC for a 4 p.m. (MT) contest on ESPNU inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Eric Rothman will have the call while Ben Braun serves as the analyst in the second meeting this season between the Utes and Trojans.
Branden Carlson got the offense going early on, scoring the first six points, scoring his eighth point of the contest at the 11:31 mark before picking up his second foul – which sent him to the bench.
The Utah (14-12, 5-9 Pac-12) offense went through a long scoring lull late in the first half, with 7:46 between field goals, and allowed UCLA to go on a 10-0 run – which set the Utes behind 30-17. Lahat Thioune finally put an end to that scoring drought when he connected on a hook shot in the heart of the paint with 2:36 left in the first half.
A nice pull-up jumper from Alfonso Plummer cut the UCLA lead down to 30-21 but an offensive rebound on the other end led to a triple from the Bruins and pushed Utah's deficit to 33-21 heading into the break.
Turnovers plagued the Utes in the opening minutes of the second frame, which UCLA (16-11, 9-5 Pac-12) took advantage to the tune of a 6-0 run before Timmy Allen hit a pair of free throws. Utah didn't get its first field-goal of the second half until Carlson hit a jumper at the 15:49 mark.
The Bruins then took their largest of the game, 46-26, when David Singleton knocked in a trey 3:57 in to the second stanza. The Utah offense picked it up when Plummer drained a 3-pointer that started a 7-0 run with 10:19 left to go right in front of the Ute bench – which was also Utah's first triple of the game.
??????@AlfonsoPlummer9
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) February 21, 2020
??@FS1#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/Rgg6vuKHfm
Utah's rally continued behind two more long balls from Plummer in addition to baskets from Mikael Jantunen and Rylan Jones in the paint. With 1:44 remaining and the team down 63-53 on a lay-in from Jones, Plummer was able to draw a foul on UCLA's Tyger Campbell before knocking down all three free throws to bring the deficit back down to 63-56.
However, the rally for Utah ended there as the Ute offense went cold while UCLA knocked down six free throws to ice the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
The three 3-pointers ties for the season-low, matching the three Utah recorded against Washington at home on Jan. 23 … UCLA held a 33-24 edge over Utah on the boards, the second highest differential on the glass this season … the 11 steals is just the fifth time Utah has reached the double-digit mark in steals this season and ties for the second-most this year in game (Central Arkansas on Dec. 7) … Utah is now 10-12 all-time against UCLA and 4-3 against the Bruins inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
QOUTEABLE
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak…
Coach K on changing around the lineup this late in the season…
"Yes, and I discussed that with our team tonight. I love all of our guys and I think everyone is in it for the right reason. We have a lot of high character guys and this isn't the point of the season to worry about anybody's feelings. We need to put guys on the floor that are ready to produce and commit to it. So yeah, at this point it might be time to shake a few things up and see if guys are better coming off the bench. I really liked the way some guys competed tonight, I think Alfonso showed me something and Mickey showed me something and we just need to get a little dirty and nasty from time to time. Everybody needs to stay connected and I trust that there'll be some changes, it's not a threat, but something that needs to be evaluated."
Junior guard #25 Alfonso Plummer…
On his shots falling tonight…
"It's nice, but I feel like we have to get better on defense, try to communicate more on that end but I feel nice. I'm trying to just work hard every practice and try to get better and just wait for my chance. Tonight I just felt like it was my night and I thank all my teammates for giving me the looks."
UP NEXT
The Utes will look to regroup on Sunday, Feb. 23, as they welcome in the Trojans of USC for a 4 p.m. (MT) contest on ESPNU inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Eric Rothman will have the call while Ben Braun serves as the analyst in the second meeting this season between the Utes and Trojans.
###
Team Stats
UCLA
Utah
FG%
.500
.438
3FG%
.400
.250
FT%
.789
.650
RB
33
24
TO
19
16
STL
8
11
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
C
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