OREM—
Brandon Averette scored 17 points to lead four other Wolverines in double figures to help lift the Utah Valley University men's basketball team to a 101-70 win over Ottawa (AZ) on Tuesday night at the UCCU Center.
Utah Valley scored the first seven points of the game to holding the Spirit scoreless to take an early 7-0 lead through the first two minutes of play. Ottawa battled back to take its first lead of the game, 18-17, with 9:24 remaining in the first half. The two teams played to a 33-33 tie with five minutes remaining in the half after playing through three ties and four lead changes. UVU then edged the Spirit 11-7 the rest of the way to take a 44-40 lead into the break.
Ottawa tied things up 44-44 with four quick unanswered points just 40 seconds into the second half. UVU then went on a 21-4 run over the next six minutes to take a 63-48 lead with 12:24 minutes to go. The Wolverines then continued to extend their lead, going up by as many as many as 33 points as the team secured the 101-70 win.
Averette scored his 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including a 1-of-2 mark from long range. He also went a perfect 2-for-2 at the charity stripe and tallied a pair of blocks in the win.
Casdon Jardine scored 15 points on 6-of-14 shots from the field, including a pair of threes. The junior forward also pulled down eight rebounds.
Jamison Overton and
Trey Woodbury also reached double figures with 14 points apiece.
Brandon Morley recorded a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double on the night. He also had two steals and a block.
Emmanuel Olojakpoke tallied eight points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting. The senior forward also recorded an impressive four blocks on the night.
Isaiah White and
TJ Washington each had eight points, while
Cavit Ege Havsa had seven.
As a team, Utah Valley shot an impressive 53 percent from the field (37-of-70). The Wolverines out-rebounded Ottawa 51-25 and outscored the Spirit 56-28 in the paint.
Utah Valley now heads back out on the road as the team travels to Alabama to take on UAB on Friday night in Birmingham. The Wolverines will then travel to Lexington to take on Kentucky on Monday, Nov. 18. UVU's next home game will be a Nov. 21 matchup with Lamar.
