UCLA Loses Fifth Straight, Lose To Utah 71-39

There was not much going on in this game, as UCLA (8-7, 0-2) was taken out early by Utah (12-2, 20) with a 71-39 loss in Salt Lake City. Once again, the Bruins started slow and had bad shot selections which plagued them early. UCLA loses their fifth game in a row and now start conference play 0-2.

UCLA Bruins

Utah, which has done a fantastic job the season under coach Larry Krystkowiak, used their two big scorers Delon Wright and Jordan Loveridge to lead the Utes to victory. Wright had finished the game with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 1 block and was a general headache for the UCLA defense all day long.

Aside from Utah’s scoring, the Utes had put some suffocating defense on UCLA as they challenged nearly every shot, resulting in the Bruins shooting 28.8% (15-of-52). Not only that, but the Utes knew exactly what to do against UCLA: stop Bryce Alford.

As stated in one of our earlier articles, when a little bit of defense is put on Alford, he is completely shut down as a distributor. It also leads to all the hordes of errant shots he takes and this game was no different. Alford, who averages 16.8 points per game, had 0 points and shot 0 for 10 from the field. He took the most shots of anyone in the game.

At halftime, the score was UCLA 15 – Utah 32. Though head coach Steve Alford is known for making second-half adjustments, it was more the same in the next half.

Jan 4, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Tony Parker (23) shoots a free throw during the first half against the Utah Utes at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

It seems that only Tony Parker had woken up from the first half funk as he scored a team-high 12 points. The majority of those came in the second half as UCLA finally tried to establish a low-post presence. Though it was not 100% successful, it was the only thing going for the Bruins.

Still, the whole thing had looked like it was over way before the final buzzer sounded, especially the way everyone associated with the Bruins was carrying themselves. Utah just kept raining in points, even from their bench in which six players scored a total of 28 points. UCLA could do nothing to stop them.

Right now, there is a big problem. At least the good news is that UCLA finally returns home to Pauley for their next game, as if that will help.