Jan. 10, 2007

Box Score  |  GALLERY

Logan, UT- The Utah Valley State men's basketball team dropped a tough 81-70 in-state road game to Utah State on Wednesday in front of a crowd of 8,584 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

The loss drops the Wolverines to 10-6 and ends their four-game win-streak. Utah State upped its record to 11-5 and extended its non-conference home win streak to 44 games, the second longest in the nation only to Duke.

"I thought the Aggies met the challenge and frankly, I thought we met the challenge too and competed hard," Utah Valley State coach Dick Hunsaker said. "I thought we came out and competed hard and I thought we played physical and battled. They were just too much for us."

The Wolverines finished with three players in double figures, led by Ryan Toolson's 16 points. Matt Peterson and Jordan Brady each had 14 points. Brady also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

As a team Utah Valley shot 46 percent from the field. Both teams grabbed 28 rebounds for the game.

The Aggie players that gave the Wolverines fits were Jaycee Carroll and Durrall Peterson. Peterson had a career high 26 points on eight of 14 shooting from the field while Carroll had 21 on seven of 13 shooting.

"Peterson and Carroll got away from us," Hunsaker said. "I wish we could have done a better job on them. We just couldn't contain them."

The Wolverines led the entire first half and for the first three minutes of the second. USU took its first lead at 41-40 at the 16:53 mark of the second half.

"This was exactly what I thought it would be," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "We knew Utah Valley State was going to come in and play well, and they did. They are physical and they have a lot of senior players. Utah Valley knocked us around a lot, but we responded in the second half and made some shots."

The Wolverines played a solid first half and led for the first 20 minutes of the game. Utah Valley led 14-7 six minutes in thanks to six straight points by Joe Walker off the bench. A 3-pointer by Carroll later cut the UV lead to 16-15 with 11:45 left in the half.

Later in the half a free throw by Brady and two jumpers by Toolson with 3:49 left until halftime gave the Wolverines its largest lead at 32-24. Utah State closed out the half on a 9-3 run to cut the Wolverine lead to 35-33 at halftime.

Utah Valley shot 52 percent from the field in the first half while the Aggies shot 46.

The Wolverines scored the first five points of the second half to lead 40-33 one minute in. But Utah State then scored seven straight points to tie the game at 40 following two free throws by Chaz Spicer. USU then took its first lead of the game when Stephen DuCharme hit one free throw at the 16:53 mark.

UV retook the lead at 43-41 following a 3-pointer by Peterson. But DuCharme gave Utah State the lead for good at 46-45 two minutes later. The Aggies then extended their lead to 53-48.

The Wolverines got no closer than one point over the final 10 minutes. Utah State's biggest lead of the game was the 81-70 final score.

"I thought our players played their hearts out for 40 minutes," Hunsaker said. "I don't know of any better atmosphere in the west, and it was a privilege to play here. I was very pleased that our players, who work very hard, battled and competed in such a wonderful atmosphere."

The Wolverines return to the court on Monday for a home game against fellow Division I Independent Longwood. Tip off is at 7 p.m.