OREM—Trey Woodbury scored a game-high 20 points with six rebounds and five assists to lead Utah Valley to a 71-60 win over in-state foe Utah Tech on Saturday afternoon in the Old Hammer Rivalry at the UCCU Center. 
 
Utah Valley extends its win streak to eight games and wraps up the month of December with a perfect 8-0 record. The Wolverines improve to 11-4 overall and 2-0 in WAC play. UVU snaps Utah Tech's six-game win streak as the Trailblazers fall to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in league play. 
 
Utah Valley took a 14-point lead in the first half and held on to a 44-33 lead at the half. Utah Tech got as close as one point, 60-59, with four minutes to play in the second half but a Le'Tre Darthard three-pointer sparked an 11-1 run the rest of the way to secure the 71-60 win.
 
"That was a dog fight," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen. "The box score says 71 to 60 but that game was much closer than that. Utah Tech has a phenomenal program. We fouled too much in the first half. Utah Tech's aggression and the way they play forced us into the fouls and we have to do better. Utah Tech did a great job of executing its game plan. We did a better job in the second half of defending but down the stretch our guys made a lot of big plays."
 
Woodbury scored his game-high 20 points on an 8-of-12 clip from the field, including a 4-of-5 mark from long range. He pulled down six rebounds with five assists and three steals. 
 
Darthard scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, including a pair of threes. He pulled down six rebounds with two steals and an assist. Justin Harmon was also in double figures with 10 points with four steals. 
 
Aziz Bandaogo led the Wolverines with seven rebounds to go along with five points and three assists. 
 
Utah Valley took a 15-9 lead over the first six minutes, but four unanswered Utah Tech points cut the Wolverine lead to just two points, 15-13, with 13:31 remaining in the half. A Justin Harmon three-pointer sparked a 10-1 run bookended by a Woodbury three to give the Wolverines an 11-point, 25-14, lead with 11 minutes on the clock. The Trailblazers cut the UVU back to five points, 25-20, with nine minutes to play, but eight straight UVU points started an 11-1 run to push the lead to 15 points, 36-22, with 5:40 remaining in the half. Utah Tech outscored UVU 11-5 over the next five minutes, but a Woodbury three at the buzzer gave UVU a 44-33 lead at the half. 
 
The Trailblazers scored eight of the first 10 points in the second half to cut the UVU lead to five points, 46-41, with 14:47 on the clock. UVU responded right back with seven of the next 10 points over the next 1:17 to get the lead to nine points, 53-44, with 13:30 to go. Utah Tech then used a 10-3 run over the next six minutes to get within two points, 56-54, with 7:24 remaining in the game. The Trailblazers cut it to one point, 60-59, with 3:55 to play, but a Darthard three got the UVU lead back to four points, 63-59, with 3:29 remaining. The Wolverines outscored the Trailblazers 8-1 over the final three minutes to secure the 71-60 win. 
 
Utah Valley shot a 46.4 percent (26-56) clip from the field and a 34.8 percent (8-23) mark from beyond the arc. UVU held Utah Tech to 35.8 percent (19-53) from the floor and 21.4 percent (3-14) from three.
 
The Wolverines had 17 assists on their 26 made field goals and forced Utah Tech into 20 turnovers on the day.
 
Utah Valley now heads out on the road to continue WAC play at UT Arlington on Thursday, Jan. 5 and at UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, Jan. 7. UVU's next home game is set for Jan. 14 against Seattle U.