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PREGAME

Utah enters the matchup 14-11 overall and 5-8 in the Pac-12, sitting in eighth place in the conference standings. UCLA enters Thursday night in a tie for fifth in the Pac-12 with an 8-5 record, and 15-11 overall.

In the first meeting between the two teams on Feb. 2, Utah's road woes were in full effect as they only scored 57 points in a 73-57 loss. Riley Battin led the way with 14 points, while Timmy Allen (13) and Rylan Jones (11) also finished in double-figures. Tyger Campbell led UCLA with 22 points.

Starters:

Utah — Timmy Allen, Riley Battin, Jaxon Brenchley, Both Gach, Brendan Carlson

UCLA — Jaime Jaquez Jr., Chris Smith, Tyger Campbell, David Singleton, Jalen Hill

*Interesting that Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak isn’t starting freshman guard Rylan Jones — have to wonder if it’s strategic or injury-related. … Safe to rule out disciplinary as their might not be a better person on the roster

**Update as Utah goes with the fake out. Jones is listed as a starter now in place of Brenchley 

FIRST HALF

*UCLA wins the tip and we are underway...

*After getting a stop on the opening defensive possession, the Utes have given up points on three consecutive possessions...

*Carlson active early for Utah with all 4 of the team's points as the Utes trail 7-4 early...

*With Carlson getting loose early for the Utes, UCLA makes the games first subs and brings in a bigger lineup to match up...

*@UtahMBB 6 — @UCLAMBB 11
15:10 left 1H
Carlson with six quick points but also two early turnovers — very effective when being assertive but struggles when he puts the ball on the floor...

*Jones with an and-one to hopefully spark the Utes a bit on offense as they've gone stagnant. UCLA just playing harder and making shots...

*Utah has the size differential down low… they need to slow the game down, trust their zone defense and pound away on the inside because that’s where they’ve found the most success thus far on offense. Scoring down low will open things up for shooters later on...

*@UtahMBB 15 — @UCLAMBB 20 
9:51 left 1H
Utes continuing to fight but 0-for-2 on three-pointers the early difference as the Bruins are 2-for-4 from deep...

*Tough to keep seeing Both Gach pass up wide open three-pointers. Earlier in the year he had no problem knocking those down but something happened in the beginning of Pac-12 play and his confidence (and shot) haven’t been the same...

*Utes with seven turnovers, which UCLA has converted into 9 points. Meanwhile, Bruins with six turnovers but Utah only has two points to show for it...

*Fans going crazy after the refs missed a blatant goaltending... no surprise in the Pac-12...

*@UtahMBB 17 — @UCLAMBB 21
7:19 left 1H
Utah playing well defensively and slowly chipping away on offense. Caught a break as UCLA’s Jones went to the bench with two fouls...

*Utah shooting free throws the rest of the half while having only committed three fouls...

*Interesting that Utah isn’t even trying to shoot the three-pointer. Utes 0-for-2 in the half thus far with just under six to play. The non-threat has allowed UCLA so just pack the paint defensively...

*Another blown call by officials results in a foul on Battin — and Krystkowiak has had enough. He goes off on the officials and gets a well-earned technical foul… curious to see if that fires up the Utes for the final 5 minutes...

*Utah continues to be its own worst enemy — now with 10 turnovers while shooting 7-for-13 from the free throw line...

*Utah 17 — UCLA 27
3:38 left 1H
A rough stretch there for Utah as a technical foul by Krystkowiak is compounded by a Bruin three-pointer. Very important last few minutes upcoming for the Utes...

*Utah 21 — UCLA 30
45.4 left 1H
Plummer knocks down a jumper, a good sign to see. Final two possession are big for the Utes, can’t afford to go into the break down double-digits...

HALFTIME ANALYSIS

*Last two possessions are back-breaking and everything wrong with Utah this game — The Utes get the stop on defense (albeit missed FT) but then the shortest guy on the court grabs a rebound for UCLA and finds an open shooter for a three-pointer. ... and then Utah fails to get a shot off before the buzzer sounds...

*Carlson with 8 points to lead the way — but with two fouls is a little concerning. No other Ute has more than three points in the game...

Halftime Stats

Halftime Stats

*Not sure what Utah needs to do to get back into the game — Bad news is that it was a very ugly first half and the Utes find themselves down by double-digits. ... Good news is that it's a #Pac12AfterDark game tonight so anything is possible...

*This second half will be big for Utah's psyche the rest of the season. Do the Utes come out, show some fight and battle back to make it close in the end and maybe get the win. Or do the wheels completely come off…???

SECOND HALF

*Utah begins the second half with the ball... and we are underway...

*On UCLA's opening possession, Carlson picks up his third foul. That's not good news but Krystkowiak is choosing to trust the freshman and leave him... even though he doesn't have much of an option...

*Allen gets Utah on the board with a three-point play, but UCLA is off to a good start with a 10-3 run to begin the half...

*@UtahMBB 24 — @UCLAMBB 43
16:56 left 2H
Apart from Allen’s three-point play, Utes look completely out of sync on both ends of the floor…

*Just over 3 minutes into the second half and it appears we have our answer about Utah — Utes rolling over and dying right now as the Bruins open the half on a 10-3 run. But Utah just not even playing hard on either end...

*That just about does it now. Carlson picked up his fourth foul 30-feet away from the hoop — now the only Ute in double-digits has four fouls and must sit for a LONG time...

*Utah 26 — UCLA 43
15:25 left 2H
Carlson picks up his fourth foul, so now the Utes are in massive trouble. Someone must step up

*Never a good sign when the loudest the HOME crowd gets is to yell at the refs OR cheer on a kid dancing on the big screen (although he was killing it) — but this is currently Utah's reality…

*Utah 31 — UCLA 46
13:57 left 2H
The Utes have hit their last 4 FG attempts, so there might be something brewing… but still a long way to go...

*And there go the Utah fans again, and for good reason. Another blown goaltending call that wasn’t even call, and the Bruins hit a three-pointer on the other end after Gach (who shot the ball) protested the call...

*Utah 31 — UCLA 49
11:44 left 2H
Another blown call followed by a UCLA three-pointer was a big five-point swing that went against Utah following a quick 5-0 run. Hard to see the Utes coming back from that...

*One of the most entertaining parts of the game just happened when Allen threw the ball off a UCLA player while going out of bounds... and hit him in a spot that should never be hit...

*ALFONSO PLUMMER — Utah finally makes a three-pointer with 10:09 left in the game...

*Utah showing some fight with a quick 7-0 run while forcing three turnovers in the process. the full court press is speeding the Bruins up and they don't like it... but is it little too late...

*Another Plummer three-pointer has the crowd hyped but UCLA answers with a three of tits own to keep it a 15-pt game...

*Utah 41 — UCLA 56
6:09 left 2H
Fans are streaming for the exit after Utah’s late comeback is batted down by the Bruins...

*Surprised it took until 6 minutes left in the game but Utah has been warned for fans throwing stuff onto the court. After some of the “questionable” calls by officials, it was only a matter of time until it happened...

*I don’t think its good when your two leading scorers have only played 11 minutes each, and there’s just over 5 to go in the game. Doesn’t seem like the right recipe for success if I’m Utah...

*And there goes Carlson with just under 5 to play. He plays good defense and forces a miss, but then fails to grab the rebound, falls down and Jones of UCLA trips over him while making his outback… just a bad sequence for Carlson to foul out on...

*Utah 41 — UCLA 58 
4:32 left 2H
Carlson fouls out… which means Utah’s leading scorer is done for the game. Utes just trying to make this one respectable at this point...

*Utah 45 — UCLA 60
3:44 left 2H
Final media timeout and the Utes are still playing hard. Allen now the team’s leading scorer with 11 points...

*Plummer knocks down his third three-pointer of the night — the only Utes to connect from the deep as the rest of the team is a combined 0-for-6...

*Utah 53 — UCLA 63
1:57 left 2H
Utes fighting back to get within the 10 but it might be a little late. Plummer with 11 points now, and three three’s in the half

*Plummer’s confidence shooting the ball has been big for the Utes. If he keeps this up, this team becomes a lot more interesting. They lack a scorer and shooter off the bench and he can be both...

*Plummer was just fouled on a three-point attempt. Utes now down by 7 with 1:44 to play — and the Utes immediately foul to try and extend the game...

*And that’s the end of that. UCLA's Campbell makes two FT’s, Plummer misses a layup, Jones fouls out for the Utes and the Bruins knock down two more FT's for the 11-pt lead...