LOS ANGELES—A few distant weeks ago, Brandon Taylor made a mistake that took away a win from his team. But tonight in his hometown, he was the hero.
With 15 seconds on the clock, and UCLA finding a way back from a 14-point second-half deficit, Taylor hit a three-pointer from the center of the arc to give the Utes (20-7, 9-5 Pac-12) a three-point lead, opening the way to their first victory at UCLA (14-12, 5-8 Pac-12) since 1961 by a final score of 75-73.
Taylor only made two of seven three-point shots, but the last one counted the most. “Once it left my hand, it felt good,” he said on the postgame show.
The first half was a back-and-forth effort and about as evenly matched as you’ll find, with neither team finding a lead of more than four points. The lead changed hands 14 times, and the score was tied six times.
Utah’s strategy to feed the big men down low didn’t change as the Utes went on a 22-2 points-in-the-paint run. UCLA coach Steve Alford called a timeout after Kyle Kuzma hit an easy layup to give Utah the largest lead for either team at 5. Utah’s lead ballooned out of the timeout to 14 after a series of turnovers and fast-break points.
But behind a red-hot Isaac Hamilton, UCLA surged back as the clock wound down. Hamilton cut the Utah lead to 2 points with 2:30 to play. But when UCLA needed to tie the game, Jakob Poeltl stuck his tree limb arm into the air, forcing Hamilton to miss a mid-range floater. Taylor followed up Poeltl’s effort with his three to put the game at a three-point margin.
Kyle Kuzma threw down an easy dunk with just seconds to play, extending the lead to five, rendering Aaron Holiday’s buzzer-beating three-pointer worthless.
Both teams got started early from behind the three-point line, with Dakarai Tucker and Jordan Loveridge each hitting a pair of triples in the first half. The Bruins matched those with four threes of their own.
Poeltl was limited early down with a tough matchup with Bruins’ seven-footer Thomas Welsh and a physical Tony Parker. Poeltl only accumulated four points and four rebounds in the first half, but finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The Utes will stay in Los Angeles for the weekend to face the USC Trojans on Sunday at 4:00. Pregame coverage will begin at 2:00 on ESPN700 with Brian Swinney and Josh Grant.
Brandon Taylor Postgame:
Andy Hill Postgame:
Highlights:
