OREM, Utah—Marcel Davis scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Utah Valley University men's basketball team in a 68-54 loss to in-state rival Southern Utah Saturday night at the UCCU Center.
 
The loss drops the Wolverines to 2-6 on the season while Southern Utah improves to 2-5.
 
"It is frustrating but its not disheartening," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope. "We played poorly but Marcel Davis had a big time night and Andrew Bastien played well tonight. I couldn't be more excited about the future of our program but this was a very poor performance. We have to right the ship and we have to play better and we will."
 
Utah Valley got off to a good start, taking an early 7-2 lead. The Wolverines led by as many as eight points on two occasions in the first half before SUU cut the UVU lead to four points, 26-22, at the half.  SUU took just its second lead of the game, 46-45, with 7:38 to play. The Thunderbirds then finished the game with a 19-4 run, which included 13 made free throws through the final five minutes to secure the win.
 
Davis scored his career-high 28 points on an impressive 11-of-15 clip from the field, including a 4-of-6 mark from beyond the arc. The senior guard also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.
 
Andrew Bastien pulled down a game-high nine rebounds while recording a career-high seven blocks. The seven blocks ties him with Ben Aird (2012) for the second-most blocks ever recorded in a single game in UVU history.
 
The Wolverines shot 36.5 percent from the field compared to SUU's 36.4 percent clip. Utah Valley also out-rebounded the T-Birds 40-38.
 
James McGee led Southern Utah with 24 points, while Casey Oliverson was also in double figures with 13.
 
Utah Valley continues play at home on Wednesday, Dec. 9 against in-state foe Weber State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on UVU TV.