LOS ANGELES, Calif. – It was nearly a Hollywood ending for the South Dakota men's basketball team but fell 85-82 Tuesday night to UCLA inside Pauley Pavilion.
 
Trailing by 24 points with 5:01 remaining in the game, South Dakota tallied 14-straight points to pull within 10 points with just under two minutes remaining. The run included dunks from Tyler Peterson and Dan Jech and concluded with a layup from Nick Fuller to bring the score to 78-68 with 1:55 showing on the clock.
 
Aaron Holiday hit a pair of free throws for UCLA to increase the lead back to 12 points but was quickly erased by back-to-back 3-point baskets from Brandon Armstrong. Holiday sank three more shots from the charity stripe; with the last one coming with 42 seconds on the clock to give UCLA an 83-74 lead.
 
On the following USD possession, Armstrong was fouled on a 3-point attempt and calmly went to the free throw line making all three shots, pulling USD within five points. Tyler Peterson then had a steal on the inbounds pass and scored on a layup as the comeback was looking more and more probable with 24 seconds remaining in the game and the Coyotes trailing by four at 83-79.
 
Needing to foul, the Coyotes sent Jaylen Hands to the free throw line where he hit 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead to five points with eight seconds remaining. South Dakota, out of timeouts, quickly pushed the ball up the floor where Armstrong hit his third trey of the game with three seconds remaining.
 
South Dakota sent Hands to the charity stripe again, where he replicated his last trip making 1-of-2, giving UCLA a three-point advantage with 1.5 seconds on the clock. However, South Dakota was unable to get a shot off leading to the final score of 85-82.
 
"I am proud of how we responded," head coach Craig Smith said. "We kept fighting and we scored on 14 of our last 18 possessions. To think we have a chance to tie the game with 1.5 seconds remaining says a lot about the toughness, both physically and mentally, and the willingness to compete until the final buzzer goes off."
 
The loss snaps a four-game win streak for South Dakota as it falls to 11-4. UCLA snapped a two-game skid to improve to 8-3.
 
"These are the kind of experiences you can't replicate," Smith added. "You have to go through these kind of things to really find out what your character is and what kind of team you have. These experiences are going to help us in Summit League play and the Summit League Tournament."
 
South Dakota made 29-of-70 shots for 41.4 percent from the field. Matt Mooney tallied a game-high 23 points while Armstrong added 15 points and Peterson tallied 12 points.
 
Thomas Welsh led the Bruins with 19 points and 11 rebounds as four others tallied double-digits. UCLA shot 45.5 percent from the field on 30-of-66 shot attempts.
 
South Dakota carried a lead as large as seven points in the first half. Matt Mooney scored on a layup with 9:36 remaining in the half to give USD a 17-12 lead. After forcing a Bruin turnover, Mooney again scored on a layup to give South Dakota the seven-point advantage at 19-12.
 
UCLA chipped that lead down to a single point when Alex Olesinski hit a jumper with 4:42 remaining in the half and a 21-20 score. The Coyotes built their lead back to six points on a Mooney trey, but UCLA entered halftime down three points as Hands hit a buzzer-beating 3-point basket for the 36-33 halftime score.
 
Coming out of the break, UCLA embarked on a 13-3 run to take the lead and open a 46-39 advantage with just over 17 minutes remaining in the game. The Coyotes tied the game at 46-all after a 3-point basket from Hagedorn and a pair of two-point shots from Peterson.
 
After Mooney sank a long-range basket with 14:38 remaining in the game, a scoreless drought hit the Coyotes as UCLA built its lead to the 24-point margin.
 
South Dakota out-rebounded the taller Bruins 45-37 and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds. After Hagedorn's team-high eight rebounds, Mooney tallied seven and Fuller had six.
 
The Coyotes close out the first half of their season Thursday, hosting Northland College at 7:30 p.m. The contest is a doubleheader following the women's game against North Dakota.