OREM, Utah—Conner Toolson scored a career-high 29 points and Kenneth Ogbe added 12 to lead Utah Valley to a 75-71 win over UTSA on Saturday night at the UCCU Center.
 
Utah Valley improves to 5-2 overall on the season and ups its home mark to a perfect 3-0 this season. UTSA falls to 2-6 overall with the loss.
 
"I'm so proud of our guys," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope. "This is a hard game. For us to kind of regain our emotional posture enough to win this game, against a team that lost to Fresno State by three and lost to Oregon State by eight, and has been competitive in every game except for one. I'm just really, really proud of our guys. We knew that this was going to be a tough game and I think we were appropriately nervous about it. It's always weird to be on the road for three or four games then come home. I'm proud of the way our games came together and pulled this one out."
 
Utah Valley led by as many as eight points in the first half, taking a 26-18 advantage at the 10:26 mark. The Wolverines held on to a lead through the first 15 minutes of the half until UTSA went on an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 32-30, with 3:25 remaining in the half. The Roadrunners used a 12-3 run over the final five minutes of the half to take a 36-32 lead into the break.
 
Toolson scored 14 points over a three and a half minutes span to open the second half to lead UVU on a 15-5 run, giving the Wolverines a 49-41 lead with 15:56 to play. UTSA battled back with a 10-2 run capped off by a Gino Littles three-pointer to tie the game, 51-51. The two teams played to a 58-58 before UVU outscored UTSA 17-13 over the final 4:35 and knocked down some clutch free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
 
Toolson scored his career-high 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-7 clip from long range. The sophomore guard also went 2-for-4 at the free throw line.
 
Ogbe knocked down 3-of-4 shots from the floor, went a perfect 3-for-3 from long range, and hit 3-of-4 free throws for his 12 points. Hayden Schenck was also in double figures with 10 points, connecting on 3-of-4 shots from the field and 4-of-4 shots at the charity stripe.
 
Joonas Tahvanainen scored a season-high nine points to go along with six rebounds, while Zach Nelson tallied eight points and four rebounds. Isaac Neilson pulled down 11 rebounds in 19 minutes of play. Brandon Randolph was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds and eight assists.  
 
Nick Billingsley led UTSA with 21 points, while Nick Allen was also in double figures with 17.
 
Next up for the Wolverines will be a Tuesday matchup against in-state foe Utah in Salt Lake City. Tip-off at the Huntsman Center is slated for 6 p.m. (MST).