Dec. 9, 2006

Box Score

PHOTO GALLERY

Orem, Utah - Utah Valley State (5-4) and Utah State (8-1) battled from start to finish as the Aggies edged the Wolverines, 69-65, in front of 4,002 fans at the McKay Center.

"The better team won tonight," Utah Valley head coach Dick Hunsaker said. "They were tougher and we were simply not good enough to beat an outstanding effort by the Aggies."

There were 12 ties and 11 lead changes in the game that was a battle until the final horn. Richard Troyer led Utah Valley with 16 points and four rebounds. Troyer also hit 4-of-6 three pointers. David Heck added 15 for the Wolverines. Utah State got 20 points from Durrall Peterson and 18 from Jaycee Carroll.

"What a great effort by Richard Troyer," Hunsaker said. "He had a wonderful game and gave a terrific effort and competed hard and defended well."

The game started as a back-and-forth battle and remained close throughout the first half. There were eight lead changes and nine ties in the first half alone. Utah Valley's largest lead was four while Utah State only managed a large lead of one point in the first half.

UV got the early lead, going ahead 6-2 with a Peter Brown layup with 17:32 remaining in the half. The Aggies responded with five consecutive points to take their first lead at 7-6.

The teams alternated one-point leads over the next four minutes until Chris Bailey made one-of-two foul shots tie the game at 11 with 11:52 remaining. Joe Walker hit two foul shots with seven seconds remaining to give the Wolverines a 27-26.

Neither team shot well in the first half with Utah Valley State hitting 11-of-27 (40 percent) while USU only hit on 10-of-23 (43 percent).

Early in the second half with the game tied at 30, the Aggies went on a 10-3 run to build a game-high, seven-point lead at 40-33.

The Wolverines fought back, going on a 13-6 run to tie the game. Bailey had a steal and a driving layup to knot the game at 56 with 5:16 remaining in the game.

Utah State got the lead back with a Stephen DuCharme tip-in 30 seconds later. Brown answered for the Wolverines moments later getting a tip-in of his own.

The drama intensified down the stretch as the Aggies had a one-point lead and the ball with just one minute remaining. With the shot clock winding down, Peterson hit a highly contested three-pointer to give Utah State a four-point advantage. Heck hit a long two-pointer but Peterson made his foul shots down the stretch to seal the victory for the Aggies.

Both teams shot better in the second half, with Utah Valley hitting 57 percent of its shots and Utah State shooting at a 68 percent clip.

"This type of a game was exactly what we expected," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "They are a very experienced and a very well coached team. This series needs to continue. We hope by playing a home and home that other schools will follow."

Utah Valley State has the week off for finals before the Wolverines head out on the road to take on Montana State next Saturday. Tip time is at 7 p.m. and can be heard on 1400 KSTAR.