SALT LAKE CITY — After watching a 17-point lead dissipate late in the second half, the Runnin' Utes held on to clinch a 74-69 upset over No. 25 UCLA (14-4, 3-2) Saturday afternoon at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Here come the takeaways from the first win over a ranked team for Utah (14-4, 3-3) this season.

Home cookin'

The Huntsman Center crowd came out in full force as the Utes built a double-digit lead late in the first half, claiming a 36-26 advantage at the break. The team fed off the energetic crowd and built on that lead in the second half, going ahead by as many as 17 when Jordan Loveridge knocked down a 3-pointer to give Utah a 53-36 lead with 12:47 left in the game.

Later in the half — after the Bruins rode a 16-4 run to cut it to a 60-56 score with six minutes remaining — the boisterous crowd once again got behind its team, igniting it toward a 6-0 rally to push the lead back to double digits with 4:46 to go.

UCLA made all 12,267 people nervous once again after making it a 71-69 score when Jordan Adams sunk a 19-footer with just 23 seconds left. Coming into the game, Utah was 0-4 in one-possession games in the final minute. As the Bruins snipped the Utes' lead down to two, it looked as though they were on the brink of another devastating close loss. But they managed to fire up the crowd one last time by converting clutch free throws and making a defensive stand as the final seconds ticked away.

Related:

Utes hold off late Bruin run to upset No. 25 UCLA

Close games have not been friendly to Utah in Pac-12 play this season. This time, though, the Utes wrote a new ending to a familiar script.

"This building was pretty special," said Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak. "That helped us. The crowd, I thought, was terrific. The enthusiasm in the building, overall, was great."

"We knew (UCLA) was going to make a run," Loveridge said. "They got shooters, they got guys that will get to the basket. We just stayed in it through any adversity and come out with the win. It shows we can win close games."

Team effort

Four Utes finished in double figures with two others scoring eight points apiece. Loveridge led the way with 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while Delon Wright did his usual stat-sheet stuffing with 12 points, eight boards, six assists, three steals and two blocks.

Brandon Taylor got himself out of his recent funk with a 12-point, four-rebound and four-assist outing, and freshman Kenneth Ogbe also added 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting in his best performance as a Ute — including two clutch free throws in the final minute.

"It's hard to put freshmen on the floor in times like this," Krystkowiak said. "(Ogbe) has been bringing it in practice consistently with a smile on his face. The one thing I've really noticed is he's much improved defensively and is athletic and long. It's a great example of a kid that stays with it, is presented with an opportunity, and beyond hitting some jump shots and making some really positive plays, that's big time to stand at the free-throw line at that moment and come through."

When Utah gets so many contributions from so many players, it becomes a tough team to beat. Many of these contributors are either freshmen or sophomores so they will become more consistent as the season goes on.

"That's what a team is all about," Taylor said. "It's not about one guy or two guys. You need every single person to come in and fulfill those tasks. Even the people on the bench, we need them cheering on."

Tough road ahead

The Utes will hope to ride this momentum to a place where they haven't had success in some time — on the road. Their next three games take place at Arizona State, at No. 1 Arizona and at No. 21 Colorado.

"Let's face it — if we're going to be successful and start reaching some of the goals that we want to reach, we've got to get better on the road," Krystkowiak said. "Pressure, environment, all of that changes as we head into Arizona State and Arizona next week."

"Going into a new environment, you just got to find your stroke," Loveridge said. "It's not nervousness or that we don't like going on the road. If we get out and run and get some easy baskets, it will help us a lot."

Utah obviously won't have the electric Huntsman Center crowd behind it, but will still need to find contributions from players not named Loveridge or Wright, who have had little help scoring the basketball away from Salt Lake City.

The first of those three road games is at Arizona State (13-5, 2-3) Thursday night at 7 p.m. MT. Tyson Maddy has covered the University of Utah football and men's basketball teams as a contributing writer for KSL.com Sports since 2011. Follow his Utes coverage on twitter @Tyson_Maddy

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