OREM—Tahj Small scored a season-high 19 points and Tim Fuller recorded a 10-point, 11-rebound, six-assist near triple double to lead Utah Valley to an 80-64 win over Sam Houston in the team's Western Athletic Conference opener on Thursday night at the UCCU Center.
 
Utah Valley improves to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in WAC play, extending its win streak to seven games. The Wolverines improve to a perfect 6-0 at home and extend their home win streak to nine games.  

"I was really proud of our guys and the way they battled tonight," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen. "We played well tonight. I give a lot of credit to Sam Houston. Their pressure is immense, and they wreak havoc out there. Our guys played hard, and we were happy to come away with the win."
 
Sam Houston (10-3, 0-1) took a 7-4 lead over the first four minutes of the game, but a pair of Aziz Bandaogo buckets and back-to-back Small threes sparked a 10-0 UVU run to give the Wolverines a 14-7 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half. The Bearkats cut the UVU lead back to just two points, 22-20, but the Wolverines countered with an 11-2 run over the next six minutes to give UVU a 33-22 advantage with 1:44 remaining. The Wolverines then outscored Sam Houston 5-3 over the final two minutes to take a 38-25 lead into halftime.
 
Utah Valley came out of the break and outscored the Bearkats 11-5 over the first four minutes of the second half to extend its lead to 19 points, 49-30, with 16 minutes to play. Justin Harmon hit a driving layup with 14:44 to go to give UVU a 22-point 54-32 lead. Sam Houston then used an 8-2 run to cut the UVU lead back to 16 points, 56-40, with 11:50 remaining. UVU struck right back with an 11-4 run to extend the lead to 23 points—its biggest lead of the game,67-44, with 7:19 to go. The two teams played evenly over the next 3:22 as UVU held on to its 23-point advantage, 75-52, with four minutes to play. 
 
Small led four other Wolverines in double figures, scoring his 19 points on an 8-of-14 clip from the field, including a 3-of-8 mark from long range.  He also had three rebounds with two blocks. 
 
Le'Tre Darthard scored 15 points on a 5-of-14 clip, including four 3-point field goals. Harmon had 13 points with six assists and three rebounds. Trey Woodbury scored 10 points with six rebounds and four assists. Fuller recorded his double-double with 10 points to go with a career-best 11 rebounds and a career-high six assists.
 
Bandaogo just missed a double-double with eight points, 10 rebounds, and a game-high four blocks. 
 
Utah Valley dished out 24 assists on its 30 made baskets. The Wolverines shot 50.8 percent (30-59) from the field with a 34.4 percent (11-32) mark from long range. UVU held Sam Houston to a 32.8 percent (22-67) mark from the floor, including a 30.4 percent (7-23) clip from three. 
 
The Wolverines outrebounded Sam Houston 43-36 and outscored the Bearkats 30-22 in the paint.
 
Utah Valley continues WAC play at home against in-state foe Utah Tech on Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center. Tip-off for the Old Hammer Rivalry game is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and ESPN 960 AM radio.