PROVO, Utah—The Utah Valley Wolverines lost a hard-fought 75-65 game on the road against in-state rival BYU Friday night in the Marriot Center.
The Wolverines raced out to an 11-4 lead at the 14:36 mark before BYU used an 8-0 run to regain the lead. The two teams battle back and forth and Utah Valley took a 26-25 lead into the half by winning the rebounding battle 28-24, including 10-3 on the offensive glass. The Wolverines held the Cougars without a field goal for the final 5:02 of the first half.
"We're so disappointed right now," said Utah Valley head coach
Mark Pope. "Our guys played really hard and we had an emphasis on rebounding the last couple days and they were really locked into the game plan but our guys were so anxious and we needed to execute better."
Baylee Steele led the charge with nine rebounds and
Jake Toolson had five points to pace the Wolverines in the opening half. Yoeli Childs had 10 points and 10 rebounds for BYU in the first half.
The Cougars took an early lead in the second half with a 7-0 run to take a 32-28 lead. Another 10-2 run by BYU at 11:55 extended their lead to 46-37 but the Wolverines responded with a 12-5 run to tie the game up at 49-49 apiece. After the teams went back and forth an 8-0 serge by BYU gave the Cougars the lead for good and they held on for the win.
"For a group of guys that haven't played together, I'm really proud of them, "said Pope. "At the end of the day, we need to find a way to finish the game. We need to finish better around the rim and we are going to grow."
Utah Valley finished 25 of 75 from the field, including 6 of 23 from three. The Wolverines held the edge in offensive rebounds 16-9 but were outrebounded 47-46.
Jake Toolson led the Wolverines in scoring with 14 points and
Ben Nakwaasah added 10 points.
Baylee Steele grabbed a school-record 19 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds. TJ Haws paced the Cougars with 23 points and Yoeli Childs finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
The Wolverines continue on the road as they take on Saint Mary's on Sunday in Moraga, Calif. The game will be broadcasted on THEW.TV and on ESPN 960AM.
