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Needing a big shot to tie it with one second left, Utah called for a "Home run."
Many parts of it worked. Kyle Kuzma's 94-foot inbounds was precise. Lorenzo Bonam quickly threw up a shot that went in.
It would've been the play Utah was looking for to upset No. 4 UCLA, as good a team as Utah has hosted at the Huntsman Center in years. But Bonam was standing inside the 3-point line — and Utah needed three points, not two.
"We only had one second," Bonam said, shaking his head. "It was impossible for me to get to the 3-point line."
With that finish, Utah lost 83-82 to the powerhouse Bruins, in what was in many ways one of the team's best performances of the season.
But despite outshooting, out-rebounding and out-passing the Bruins, the flaws of Utah's game added up to defeat — giving up second-chance points chief among them.
UCLA managed 10 offensive rebounds, and scored off nine of those opportunities for 23 points. That was enough to help erase a 9-point Utah lead in the second half, and leave the Utes (12-5, 3-2 Pac-12) empty in what was their best home court opportunity yet for a signature win.
"I'm pretty pissed that we lost," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "We went toe-to-toe."
Saturday had the feel of a heavyweight bout as a sellout crowd of 15,027 at the Huntsman Center ebbed and flowed during nine ties and 12 lead changes.
The drama increased down the wire: Sedrick Barefield scored four of his 13 points in the last three minutes on a layup and a 3-pointer, answering a falling-down 3 from UCLA senior Bryce Alford. Aaron Holiday's 3 with 1:52 then gave UCLA an 81-80 lead before things got sloppy.
Devon Daniels missed a layup, and while Kuzma wanted a foul called on UCLA on the rebound attempt, there was none. UCLA let the clock run down on its ensuing possession before Alford threw up a 3-pointer, and Daniels corralled the miss.
Krystkowiak wanted his team to push it up the floor. But instead, they got it over the halfcourt line and called timeout with 12 seconds remaining, still trailing by a point.
"They were actually out of position, and if Sedrick had been thinking the way I was thinking, we would've pushed it," Krystkowiak said. "I would've liked to have probed a little bit."
Instead, Utah had to draw up three inbounds plays from the sideline since UCLA had only three team fouls up to that point. The Bruins intentionally fouled on three plays in a row to burn the clock down, until there was 5.1 seconds remaining. The Utes inbounded the ball from the end line underneath their own basket and Bonam got it to Kuzma in the corner, leading to a rushed 3-pointer that bounced out.
UCLA's Thomas Welsh got the rebound, made a pair of free throws — the Bruins were 8 for 13 from the line to Utah's 3 for 6 — and put his team up 83-80 before Bonam's last shot.
Krystkowiak said Utah had gone over end-of-game situations countless times in practice, but running them in real time with a top-5 upset on the line was impossible to simulate. He also lamented UCLA's final two 3-pointers, which he attributed to breakdowns in the scheme.
"I didn't know where those little things were going to come, and maybe the little things are things that allow you to win, and maybe the little things are things that are costly," he said. "Unfortunately there were too many little things going down the stretch — specifically defensively — that cost us a game."
With a different result, more of the focus might've rested on Utah's offensive execution, which outpaced what many consider the best scoring team in the country for much of the night.
Five Utes scored in double figures, led by Bonam with 19 as he relentlessly attacked the rim and made the fast-paced Bruins look slow-footed on defense. After a quiet first half in the post, Kuzma and David Collette also came alive, finishing with 26 combined points and 17 combined rebounds against the 28 points and 18 rebounds of Welsh and star freshman T.J. Leaf.
Utah finished with better shooting numbers, 54.5 percent to UCLA's 48.5 percent. Even the assist-to-turnover ratio — a problem this season — was in Utah's favor at 18 to 9.
The Utes also had plenty of moments with poise: They climbed out of an 8-point hole in the first half to cut the deficit to only two at halftime, and out of halftime went on an 11-0 run.
But freshman Lonzo Ball, a highly regarded NBA prospect, helped lead UCLA back: He had 10 of his 17 points in the second half, and added eight assists and six rebounds. He had the assist on Holiday's 3-pointer to take the lead.
The Utes were picked eighth in the league, but proved they could hang with one of the nation's best teams for 40 minutes at home.
They just couldn't beat them.
"I think we should've won," Barefield said. "We just gotta learn from the mistakes we made."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Storylines
R Utes miss a 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left, then hit a late 2-pointer when trailing by three points.
• UCLA outscores Utah 23-9 on second-chance opportunities.
• Five players for Utah score in double figures, led by Lorenzo Bonam with 19.