Runnin’ Utes annihilate UCLA, 90-44

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – The Utah men’s basketball team suffered through seven straight losses to UCLA dating back to 2019.

That all changed Thursday night.

Keba Keita and Cole Bajema both scored 14 points, as Utah recorded its largest margin of victory ever in Pac-12 play, beating the Bruins 90-44.

The 46-point margin eclipses Utah’s previous largest win of 42 points over Washington State in 2015.

#10 Arizona runs away from Utes in second half, 92-73

Six Utes scored in double figures, including Branden Carlson with 12 to go along with 14 rebounds. Deivon Smith and Gabe Madsen with 11 points apiece, with Smith adding eight assists and four rebounds.

“I thought we had an excellent week of practice coming into tonight,” Utes head coach Craig Smith said. “We needed to. We had to tighten up some things and get a lot better after the road trip [to Arizona] last week. I just love how connected we played on both ends of the floor, and I love how we communicated.”

Utah led 33-23 at the half, and by just six points at 33-27 early in the second half, before blowing the game wide open with a 49-8 run to lead 82-35.

The Utes outscored UCLA in the second half 57-21 to improve to 9-0 at the Huntsman Center this season.

Bajema hit two 3-pointers and scored eight, Keita added seven points in a 25-6 run to begin the second half and the Utes led 58-29 with 11:10 left. UCLA missed 10 of 12 shots during Utah’s run, including all four from distance. Bajema hit a 3-pointer to give Utah a 50-point lead (87-37) with 3:03 remaining.

Utah shot 50.0 from the field, making 13 of 32 from three-point range. Bajema led the way, making 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc.

“We really did take away from last week that we were not ourselves in those games,” Carlson said about Utah’s losses to Arizona State and Arizona. “So, we really had to get back to our identity. I thought our whole team did a great job of really buying into that, and it paid off today.”

Carlson is one of 21 players nationwide and the only member of the Pac-12 with at least 1,500 career points and 600 rebounds in his career.

The Bruins really struggled from the floor, making just 31.5 percent of its shots. UCLA made just 3 of 17 three-pointers. No UCLA player reached double figures, as former Utes guard Lazar Stefanovic scored eight points for the Bruins.

Runnin’ Utes fall to Arizona State, 82-70

Utah (12-4, 3-2 Pac-12) will next play at Stanford Sunday.

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