LOS ANGELES – The Utah men's basketball now shifts its focus on the Bruins of UCLA as it closes out the LA trip with a 5 p.m. (MT) bout against UCLA inside Pauley Pavilion on Sunday, Feb. 18. Dan Hellie and Casey Jacobsen will once again have the call between the Runnin' Utes and Bruins as Utah looks to secure the in-season sweep of UCLA since 2018-19.
TIME IN THE CITY OF ANGELS
With its loss against USC on Thursday, the Utah men's basketball team looks to salvage the trip and split the weekend against the LA schools. Since joining the Pac-12, Utah has managed to split the trip two times (2013-15) with both wins coming against USC in those instances. Meanwhile, the Utes will fight to not get swept by the LA schools for the sixth time in the Pac-12 Era.
WESTWOOD ON TAP
With Utah's last trip to Pauley Pavilion coming up this weekend, the Runnin' Utes are 4-10 all-time on the road against UCLA and 2-7 inside Pauley during the Pac-12 Era. The Utes have lost three-straight in LA against UCLA with their last win inside Pauley occurring in 2019 behind a buzzer-beater from Parker Van Dyke that helped Utah erase a 22-point deficit for the win.
Since joining the league, Utah has only swept the in-season series against UCLA once (2018-19). The Utes only played UCLA once in 2015-16 – a 75-73 victory in favor of Utah in Westwood.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite its second-poorest shooting performance from beyond the arc this season (4-for-21), the Utah men's basketball team had three opportunities with 1:56 left to play to tie or steal the win on the road but ultimately fell 68-64. The Utes fought hard in the second half, erasing USC's lead each time it went on any sort of run to keep the lead in the single-digit range and put them within striking distance. However, a tough night on the defensive boards saw USC convert 10 offensive rebounds into a 14-4 edge in second-chance points.
UP NEXT
The Runnin' Utes return home with a few extra days to prep and get ready for another one-off game as they match-up against Colorado next weekend on Saturday, Feb. 24, inside the CU Events Center. Ted Robinson and UCLA legend Bill Walton will be calling the game on Pac-12 Networks as Utah hopes to record just its fourth in-season sweep of the Buffs since joining the two programs joined the Conference of Champions.
LOOKING AHEAD
Utah returns home for its final two home games of the regular-season inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center the following week. The Runnin' Utes will first welcome in the Stanford Cardinal on Thursday, Feb. 29, to close out the month of February at 6:30 p.m. (MT). Utah will then close out its home slate for the 2023-24 campaign with Cal on Saturday, March 2, beginning at 7 p.m. (MT). Roxy Bernstein and Don MacLean will have the call on Pac-12 Networks for both games.
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