Utes Lock Up 3 Seed In Conference Tournament With Win Over UCLA

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Utes locked up the 3 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Pac-12 conference tournament with a pivotal 92-81 victory over UCLA.

The win gave Utah a final regular season record of 17-13 overall with a 11-7 mark in conference play.

The Utes, guided by a strong effort shooting the ball in the first half, quickly built what was a 27-point lead in the opening first half.

Utah becomes the ONLY school to have finished the regular season in the Top-4 of the Pac-12 Conference in the last 5 years. #GoUtes🏀🔴 | #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/cUX4L6Jg5H

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) March 10, 2019

UCLA battled back to cut the lead to just eight with 6:44 remaining but the Utes, led by Sedrick Barefield, kept the pressure up to win the crucial game over the Bruins.

Playing on his senior night at the Huntsman Center, Barefield was stellar, scoring 29 points on 50 percent shooting with five 3-pointers made.

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Fellow senior Parker Van Dyke turned in 12 points with four triples made while Timmy Allen netted 17 points to go along with a 14-point contribution by Donnie Tillman.

UTES WIN!!!!😁

Final Score, Utah 92, UCLA 81#GoUtes🏀🔴 | #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/SRT9Z19KRK

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) March 10, 2019

It was one of the finest shooting performances in Ute program history as the team drained 17 3-point attempts in the contest, tying the all-time record for triples made in a game. The Utes converted on 38 attempts, good for 44.7 percent in the game.

Kris Wilkes had 20 points to lead the Bruins.

Next Up

With the win, Utah will get to skip the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament, which will begin on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Utes will begin their tournament run in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Thursday. Their game will be broadcast on ESPN at 9:30 p.m.