QUEENS, N.Y. – Turnovers proved costly as Utah Valley dropped a hard-fought game at St. John's, 96-78, on Saturday afternnon at Carnasecca Arena. With the loss, the Wolverines drop to 5-6 on the year and the Red Storm improve to 9-7 on the season.
 
"We played pretty sound for the first 12-16 minutes of the game and St. John's went on a run creating turnovers and knocking down some big shots, and we weren't able to make it a game after that," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen. "We battled in the second half and trimmed their lead down but they extended it and pulled away."
 
"This decision to try and find a tough game this week is informed from my own personal experience," said Madsen. "My first year in the NBA, playing for the Lakers, we didn't lose a playoff game and we had a two-week stretch waiting for the NBA championship while Philadelphia was playing every other night. They came into L.A. two days after winning the Eastern Conference Finals, and we hadn't played in two weeks, and they came in and they beat us. I wanted to make sure that we don't have something like that happen to our team."
 
Fardaws Aimaq go the scoring going as the Wolverines got out to an early 6-4 lead over the first four minutes of the game. St. John's responded with an 8-0 to retake the lead, 12-6, with 13:58 to go in the opening half. UVU countered back with an 8-2 spurt to tie the game back up at 14 apiece with just under 12 minutes to go in the half. Both teams would go back and forth over the next seven minutes as a free throw by Evan Cole gave the Wolverines a 28-27 lead with 5:06 left in the first half. The Red Storm would seize control of the game, outscoring the Wolverines 18-8 over the final five minutes of the half, taking a 45-34 lead into the break.
 
Jamison Overton scored UVU's first six points of the second half, cutting the deficit to 47-40 with 18:23 to go in the game. That was as close as the Wolverines would get in the second half as St. John's got hot from outside, hitting three shots from deep as part of a 19-9 run to extend its lead to 66-49 with 13:15 left in the contest. UVU had a few highlight reel dunks in the second half but it wasn't enough as the Red Storm maintained its lead to take the 96-78 win at home.
 
"We got as much preparation as we could for the game, and we were able to beat the press, but we got sped up once we got in the half court," said Madsen. "You're not going to win many games with 22 turnovers and we have to improve in that category. We need to be stronger with the ball and we can't allow a team to create that many steals against us."
 
The Wolverines had an excellent day shooting the ball, finishing the game shooting 60.0 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. UVU also won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Red Storm 34-30, but 22 Wolverine turnovers led to a 25-4 deficit in points off of turnovers.
 
Trey Woodbury led all scorers with 23 points on 10 of 14 from the field and 3 of 5 from deep. Woodbury added five rebounds and a team-high four assists. Overton scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and Cole added 17 points and five boards. Aimaq finished with his ninth double-double of the season, chipping in 10 points to go along with 13 rebounds.
 
Utah Valley returns home to continue WAC play, hosting WAC newcomer Tarleton State in the UCCU Center. The series is set for Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30 with tip set for 6:00 pm MT for both games. Both games will be broadcasted on the WAC Digital Network and ESPN960 AM. The Wolverines then have an off week before hosting another newcomer to the WAC, instate rival Dixie State.

"Tarleton State does a phenomenal job of pressuring the ball and is very similar to the style that St. John's has," said Madsen. "This experience will help us in our preparation building toward next weekend."