LEXINGTON, Ky. — Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr. scored 14 points apiece to lead a balanced attack as No. 7 UCLA cruised past No. 10 Utah State 72-47 on Thursday night in a Midwest Region contest.
Clark led a sharp-shooting display by the Bruins (23-10), who were 10-for-24 from 3-point range and advanced to face No. 2 Tennessee in the second round on Saturday.
Mason Falslev led the Aggies (26-8) with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Deyton Albury added 12 points and seven boards for Utah State, which couldn’t find a way to overcome ice-cold shooting from the field.
“I just didn’t want to lose this,” Falslev said. “I was trying to crash every board, doing everything I could do to help us. I’ve got to get in better shape, be able to make shots when I’m tired. So that’s kind of how the game went.”
The Aggies made just 18-of-60 shots and finished 4-for-31 from 3-point range.
“Really proud of the guys. Defensive effort was awesome,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “Not much to pick at — 22 assists on 26 baskets. Their spirit and their mind to be a great defensive team tonight just took Utah State out of their comfort zone. And uncomfortable teams shoot a low percentage. Our last time out (in Big Ten tournament), we let Wisconsin get comfortable. We paid the price.”
It started badly for Utah State in the first half, missing 15 of their first 17 3-point attempts. The Aggies then missed their first four attempts in the second half before Isaac Johnson knocked one down nearly five minutes into the second half.
“They’re an elite defensive team, but I thought the first half they made shots,” Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “So much this time of year is about shot-making, right? And when you don’t make shots, it affects your defense. One thing about UCLA, if they don’t make shots, they’re going to keep guarding.
“They’re very, very tough, and if their guards play like that, they’ll make a deep run. I just told that to Mick in the hallway.”
Falslev was the only consistent scorer for the Aggies in the first 20 minutes, scoring 13 of Utah State’s 27 points.
The game was close in the opening six minutes before UCLA went on a 7-0 spurt to take the lead for good at 17-10.
A Falslev layup with 4:26 left in the first half cut UCLA’s lead to two at 27-25. But Clark ignited a 12-0 run with a 3-pointer and 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara finished it with a pair of dunks as the Bruins built a 39-25 advantage.
As UCLA grew its lead to 23 in the second half, even their mistakes turned into wide-open 3-point field goals. A pass intended for Mara under the basket skipped through and found Clark on the far baseline unguarded.
The Clark triple was part of a 14-0 run that put the Bruins ahead 61-36 and ensured its place in Saturday’s second round against Tennessee.
“It was huge,” Clark said. “We know they’re a team that if you just let come back in the game, they will. They’re (good) in offense, so just doing everything we could to try to get them out of rhythm and not let them run their offense was the key.”
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
