UCLA
7-3
Belmont
8-1
UCLA Falls to Belmont 74-72
December 15, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Kris Wilkes scored a team-leading 20 points as the UCLA men's basketball team dropped a 74-72 decision to Belmont in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Saturday.
Jaylen Hands finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and a team-leading seven assists for UCLA (7-3). Prince Ali and Cody Riley each tallied 10 points. Moses Brown finished Saturday's game with nine rebounds and three blocks.
UCLA made just 12 of 28 shots from the free-throw line, going 9 for 24 at the line in the second half.
"Big congratulations to Coach Byrd and their team," said Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "We knew that they were very well-coached and a good team going in to this. This was a scary game for us."
Kevin McClain made 8 of 11 shots for Belmont (8-1), totaling a team-high 20 points and finished with six rebounds and six assists. His layup with just under three seconds to play gave the visitors a 73-72 lead.
Dylan Windler registered his fourth double-double of the season, logging 12 points and 15 rebounds. Grayson Murphy added 12 points and seven assists.
UCLA led through the majority of the game, but Belmont stayed within three points in the game's final minutes. Belmont took its first lead of the game – at 67-66 – with 2:44 remaining.
UCLA tied the game at 67-67, before Belmont pushed ahead 69-67 with 1:59 to go.
Trailing 71-69, UCLA received a 3-pointer from Hands with 33 seconds to play. That 3-pointer put UCLA ahead, 72-71.
Belmont had possession of the ball in the final 30 seconds and with the game clock ticking into single-digits, McClain sprung free on a backdoor cut and hit a layup with 2.3 seconds to play. UCLA was unable to advance the ball up the court for the game's final shot.
UCLA led Belmont at halftime 43-30. In the first half, UCLA pushed ahead, 29-17, with 8:24 to play before halftime. Belmont charged back with four consecutive 3-pointers, pulling even with UCLA. Belmont converted eight shots from long range in the game's first 20 minutes.
Wilkes finished with 19 of his game-high 20 points in the first half, hitting eight of his first nine shot attempts.
UCLA will hit the road next week, facing Cincinnati on Wednesday night and Ohio State on Saturday afternoon. Wednesday's game at Cincinnati will be nationally televised (ESPN2), slated to begin at 6 p.m. PT (9 p.m. ET).
Saturday's game in Chicago between UCLA and Ohio State, as part of the CBS Sports Classic, will be nationally televised by CBS. Game time on Saturday is 12 p.m. PT (2 p.m. CT).
