LOGAN—Aziz Bandaogo scored 17 points with six rebounds and Cam Alford added 13 points to lead Utah Valley in a 75-58 road loss to Utah State in the team's season opener at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah. 
 
Utah Valley now travels back to Orem to host Western Oregon on Wednesday night in its home opener. 
 
"We got down in the game but battled back," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen. "We really fought in the second half and got their lead down to four points and then we ran out of gas the last four or five minutes of the game. We need to shoot the ball better from three. We've got to be much better from three."
 
The two teams opened the game playing to a 7-7 tie through the first four minutes. Down 13-11, Bandaogo made a layup and was fouled and knocked down the free throw. Cam Alford then hit a layup to give the Wolverines their first lead of the game, 14-13, with 11:20 to play in the first half. Utah State then scored 10 of the next 15 points to take a 23-19 lead at the 9:25 mark. 
 
Down 30-23 with 4:10 remaining in the half, a Bandaogo dunk followed up by a pair of Alford free throws to cut the USU lead back to just four points, 30-26, with 2:50 to go in the half. Utah State then used an 11-2 run over the final 2:50 to take a 41-28 lead into the half. 
 
Utah State opened the second half with a bucket to extend its lead to 15 points, 43-28, with 19 minutes to play. UVU's Tim Ceaser then knocked down a three and Justin Harmon knocked down a pair of free throws to spark a 13-5 UVU run to cut the Aggie lead down to seven points, 48-41, with 13 minutes to go. 
 
The Aggies went back up by nine points, 53-43, with 11:39 remaining, but Alford scored four straight points while Bandaogo threw down a dunk to lead the Wolverines on an 8-2 run to cut Utah State's lead to just four points, 55-51, with 9:43 to play. Utah State then outscored UVU 20-7 the rest of the way to put the game away and secure the 75-58 win.
 
Bandaogo led the Wolverines with a team-high 17 points on a 7 of 9 clip from the field, including a perfect 2 of 2 mark from long range. The sophomore center also pulled down six rebounds with a pair of blocks in 31 minutes of play.
 
Alford was also in double figures with 13 points on 3 of 7 shooting. He was 7 of 8 from the free throw line. Alford also pulled down three rebounds and had one assist.
 
Harmon nearly had a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Harmon also had two steals. Trey Woodbury had eight points with three assists. 
 
Utah State had three players in double figures led by Sean Bairstow's 19 points. 
 
As a team, Utah Valley shot 32.8 percent from the field (20-61), including a 15.8 percent (3-19) from long range. USU shot 45.3 percent (29-64) from the field and 42.1 percent (8-19) from three. 
 
Utah Valley will host Western Oregon in its home opener on Wednesday at the UCCU Center. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.