UCLA Basketball: Bruins NCAA Tournament hopes fading after Utah loss
The UCLA Bruins lost to the Utah Utes on Thursday night in a crucial Pac-12 bubble battle. Where do both team’s tournament chances stand with only two weeks remaining?
UCLA had a great opportunity to add to their tournament resume and move closer to a NCAA Tournament bid. Unfortunately for the Bruins, standout performances from Utah’s Justin Bibbins and David Collette have left them in a dangerous position.
Utah defeated UCLA by a score of 84-78 with smart, disciplined play and hot three-point shooting. Parker Van Dyke had a breakout game for the Utes and hit multiple back-breaking threes down the stretch. He scored 18 points which is significantly more than his 4.0 ppg average. Van Dyke’s basketball IQ also stood out as he made numerous winning plays throughout the game.
The Utes built a double-digit lead mid way through the second half, but UCLA guard Aaron Holiday kept the Bruins in the game with an impressive offensive performance. Holiday hit long-range shots, finished at the rim, and had a crucial tip in off an offensive rebound to bring them within striking distance.
UCLA’s late comeback was also fueled from a three-point barrage from Welsh, Goloman, and Wilkes, but Utah answered each shot with a basket of their own. A critical turnover by Goloman with less than 20 seconds left ultimately sealed the deal.
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Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands are overflowing with upside, but the experience of Utah’s starters won this game. David Collette is as polished a low post scorer as you can find in college basketball. The grizzled veteran makes interior scoring look incredibly easy as he shot 9-9 from the field. Most of these shots were from one on-one-post ups which makes his efficiency even more remarkable.
However, the most impactful player was Justin Bibbins, Utah’s redshirt senior lead guard. Bibbins has made major contributions since transferring from Long Beach State and his poise, decision-making, and perimeter shooting made the difference. He tallied 17 points and 10 assists and was responsible for creating so many great offensive opportunities.
UCLA fans should not hit the panic button just yet. The Bruins were in the projected field prior to the game ( and not even in the First Four) based on BracketMatrix and losing on the road to a fellow bubble team will not drop them too far.
Utah was much lower in the projected bracket since only four out of the 114 brackets had the Utes in the field. That means that they were not even in the Next Four Out section. This win will help, but Utah has even more work to do.
UCLA closes out the regular season with two difficult road contests. First, they travel to Colorado which is known for its home court advantage due to high elevation. UCLA finishes with a road game against a talented USC squad that is also playing for their tournament lives. Utah will square off against USC and Colorado as well, but will play at home for their final two games. Both teams need to add more wins and have to make some noise in the Pac-12 tournament to earn a trip to the dance.