UCLA men's basketball head coach Mick Cronin and guard Lazar Stefanovic, a Utah transfer, insisted they haven't spent much time thinking about a 46-point loss to the Utes more than five weeks ago in Salt Lake City.

Any talk of the second-worst loss in program history being a turning point for the since-surging Bruins makes for a nice story in the media and nothing more, they have said in recent weeks.

Now, that nice story — and slim postseason hope — have taken a hit.

Utah center Branden Carlson's put-back with 0.2 seconds left dealt UCLA a 70-69 loss and stopped a six-game winning streak Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA (14-12, 9-6 Pac-12) was unable to hold onto a four-point lead with more than 3 1/2 minutes to play and preserve a go-ahead mid-range jump shot from point guard Dylan Andrews with 6.6 seconds left.

Utah (16-10, 7-8 Pac-12), which lost six of nine after the first meeting with the Bruins, got a fortunate bounce on Deivon Smith's layup attempt that scraped the top of the backboard and Carlson was there to clean up the miss and score.

Bruins forward Berke Buyuktuncel's in-bound heave down the court never made it to Adem Bona and the Utes escaped with the shocker.

Stefanovic had 19 points and eight rebounds to pace UCLA, which shot just 39.7% from the field — including 5 of 21 on 3-pointers.

Smith led the Utes with 17 points and 10 assists, while Carlson finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. Teammates Cole Bajema and Gabe Madsen chipped in 11 points apiece for Utah, which shot 50% (13 of 26) in the second half.

UCLA will now turn its attention to crosstown rival USC, which visits Pauley Pavilion on Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest.

The Bruins had to play most of the contest without leading scorer and freshman guard Sebastian Mack, who was ejected at the 9:53 mark of the first half for throwing an elbow that connected with the throat of Carlson.

From that point, the physicality and intensity picked up.

Both teams shot below 37% from the field in the half and neither side led by more than seven points. They combined to make 20 of 24 free throws before halftime.

The Bruins took a 36-34 lead into the locker room after Will McClendon's second-chance jump shot with 12 seconds left.

A Buyuktuncel 3-pointer pushed UCLA's lead to 62-58 with 5:20 to play.

Utah chipped away and tied the game 64-64 on Keba Keita's layup with 2:44 left. McClendon answered back with a 3-pointer on the next possession.

Smith and Keita countered with back-to-back layups to set the stage for Andrews' jumper and the finish.

Despite struggling with his shot early, Stefanovic was able to get in a rhythm by doing his best Mack impression. He got to the free-throw line early and finished 8 of 9.

It was a much-needed pick-me-up for the Bruins, who also had Adem Bona in all-too-familiar foul trouble.

Without Bona, though, UCLA was limited to being a jump shooting team in the second half. Bona finished with just seven points.

Stefanovic also did his best to make up for Bona's presence on the glass, with six on the defensive end. He also collected two steals.

With an injured foot, however, slowing down Smith was a game-long issue.

At the moment, it looked like Andrews had played the hero for UCLA in the closing seconds:

The Utes shot 9 of 28 beyond the arc and Smith's dribble penetration gave the Bruins issues.

With Bona in foul trouble, Utah outscored UCLA 26-24 in the paint.

In the second half, the Bruins were unable to match the Utes shot for shot.