LAS VEGAS—Justin Harmon scored a season-high 23 points and Trey Woodbury added 21 to lead Utah Valley to a 72-58 win over No. 7 Tarleton in the quarterfinals of the Hercules Tires Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday night at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. 

"Everyone in our conference understands how talented and how tough Tarleton is and how well they are coached they are," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen. "I was proud of our guys for going out there and getting a win against a really good team."

Utah Valley wins its fourth straight game and improves to 25-7 overall. The 25 wins ties the 2018-19 UVU team for the most wins ever recorded in a single season.
 
The Wolverines advance to Friday night's semifinal game against in-state foe No. 3 Southern Utah. It will be the fifth time over the past six WAC Tournaments that the Wolverines have made an appearance in the semifinals.
 
The two teams played through five lead changes before Utah Valley used an 8-2 run culminating in a Blaze Nield and-one to give Utah Valley a 13-8 lead with 11:15 to play in the first half. The Wolverines held onto the five-point lead, 19-14, with 6:37 to go and then used a 6-1 run to extend the lead to double digits, 25-15, with just under five minutes remaining. Tarleton outscored UVU 12-9 over the final five minutes to cut UVU's lead to seven points, 34-27, at the half.
 
Tarleton outscored UVU 13-7 through the first six minutes of the second half to cut the UVU lead to just one point, 41-40, with 14:21 to play. UVU then countered with an 11-3 run to extend its lead to nine points, 52-43, with 8:38 to go. UVU then went on an 11-3 run ending in back-to-back Aziz Bandaogo dunks to give the Wolverines a 15-point, 63-48, advantage with four minutes to play. The lead would prove to be enough as the Wolverines secured a 72-58 win.
 
Harmon scored his 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the field, including a 2 of 4 mark from long range. He also had three steals with two rebounds and an assist. Harmon was just one point shy of his career high 24 points set against BYU in 2021.
 
Woodbury scored his 21 points 6 of 9 shots from the floor and a 4 of 6 clip from long range. He was also 5 for 6 from the free throw line. He also pulled down seven rebounds with four assists and a steal. 
 
Bandaogo was in double figures with 12 points to go along with seven rebounds and three blocks. Le'Tre Darthard scored 11 points with four rebounds. Nield came off the bench to score five points with two rebounds.
 
Utah Valley, which leads the nation in blocks, recorded 10 swats on the night.  UVU outrebounded Tarleton 37-26 and outscored Tarleton 32-22 in the paint. 
 
The Wolverines shot a 54.2 percent (26-48) from the field with a 46.7 percent (7-15) clip from beyond the arc. Utah Valley held Tarleton to 35.7 percent (20-56) from the floor with a 22.2 percent (2-9) clip from three-point range. 
 
Utah Valley (25-7) advances to Friday night's semifinal game against in-state foe No. 3 Southern Utah. Tip-off for Friday night's game is set for 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.