SEATTLE, Wash—Seattle University used a strong defensive effort to hold Utah Valley to a season-low 27.3 percent shooting performance from the field to defeat the Wolverines 53-33 Saturday night at Key Arena.
 
Utah Valley (8-14, 3-5) opened the game with an 8-2 advantage over the first six minutes of the play. Seattle U (11-11, 4-4) answered with back-to-back three-point field goals to tie the game at 8-8. The two teams played evenly for the next six minutes before the Redhawks used an 11-5 run to take a 26-19 lead into the break.
 
After trading buckets to open the second half, Seattle U used a 9-2 run midway through the period to extend the lead to 14 points, 44-30, with 6:24 to play. The Redhawks held Utah Valley to just one made field goal over the final six minutes of the game to secure the victory.
 
"Seattle competed with a lot of energy," said Utah Valley head coach Dick Hunsaker. "They did a great job of keeping us off the boards, out of transition and keeping us from scoring. I give them all the credit for our inability to score and credit to coach (Cameron) Dollar's defensive game plan."
 
Mitch Bruneel and Donte Williams led Utah Valley with 10 points apiece. Bruneel hit 5-of-9 shots from the field and tallied four rebounds. Williams knocked down 3-of-9 shots on the night and hit 4-of-6 shots from the charity stripe. Marcel Davis recorded six points with six rebounds in the setback.
 
Emerson Murray led Seattle U with a game-high 14 points. Isiah Umipig helped with 12 points and Shore Adenekan added 10.
 
Utah Valley connected on 12-of-44 shots (27.3 percent) on the night, including a 0-of-17 mark from beyond the arc. Seattle U shot 40.8 percent from the field.
 
The Wolverines return home to play St. Katherine's on Monday night. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.