UCLA
13-4, 4-1
Utah
10-6, 2-3
Pac-12 Leader UCLA Downs Utah, 83-64
January 11, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ Aaron Holiday scored 20 points and Kris Wilkes added 19 to lead UCLA past Utah, 83-64, in a Pac-12 game in Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night.
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The Bruins (13-4, 4-1) shot 52 from the field after having opened an early 19-7 lead against the Runnin' Utes (10-6, 2-3). UCLA finished the game having made 12 of 23 attempts from three-point range.
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Holiday registered his eight game of the year with at least 20 points, making 7 of 10 shots from the field. Holiday was a perfect 4-for-4 from the three-point arc and added six assists.
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"I thought that we played really good basketball tonight," UCLA head coach Steve Alford said. "We had good effort as we played great to start the game, a great start to end the half, a great start to the second half and then to end the game. Those are things you have to do to win. Can you start both halves and end both halves? I thought that those four four-minute segments were huge."
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Wilkes had 19 points, connecting on 7 of 11 shots. He made 3 of 5 attempts from three-point range.
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Prince Ali finished with 13 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Jaylen Hands (12 points) rounded out the Bruins' list of double-digit scorers.
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UCLA made five three-pointers in the first 4:30 of the game, securing an early 19-7 cushion. The Runnin' Utes responded with seven consecutive points, ultimately slicing UCLA's lead to 28-25 with 6:36 to play before halftime.
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UCLA entered the locker room at the break with a 41-33 cushion. Holiday had scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the first half.
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The Bruins opened the second half using a 9-2 run to push their advantage to 15 points โ at 50-35 โ before an ensuing 12-3 scoring run helped UCLA lead, 69-51, with 8:19 remaining.
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David Collette led the Runnin' Utes with 15 points, making 7 of 11 shots from the field.
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Holiday, who was named to the midseason watch list for the John R. Wooden Award earlier on Thursday, has averaged 19.4 points per game in the Bruins' 17 contests. He scored at least 20 points for the fourth time in UCLA's last five games on Thursday evening.
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The Bruins will host Colorado (10-7, 2-3) on Saturday, Jan. 13. Game time in Pauley Pavilion is 7:30 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network that night.
