OREM—Isaac Davis scored a game-high 22 points and Dominick Nelson added 16 to lead Utah Valley to an 84-63 season-opening win over Western Colorado on Monday night at the UCCU Center.
The victory extended Utah Valley's regular-season home winning streak to 28 consecutive games at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines went a perfect 15-0 at home during the 2025-26 regular season and have not dropped a regular-season game on their home floor since the 2024-25 campaign.
"Good first win for us. Good to be back on the court with our fans," said Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips. "I thought the first half we did a much better job than the second half. We just got to do a better job of guarding, defending."
Utah Valley raced out to a 10-3 lead through the opening 2:44 of the game, capped by a Davis three-pointer. Western Colorado responded by scoring five of the next seven points to cut the UVU advantage to four, 12-8, with 16:27 remaining in the half.
Leading 14-10 at the 15:23 mark, Davis threw down back-to-back dunks to spark a 15-5 Utah Valley run that pushed the Wolverines' lead to 14 points, 29-15, with 9:33 on the clock. The two teams traded baskets over the next six minutes, with UVU maintaining a 42-28 advantage at the 3:17 mark. Utah Valley outscored the Mountaineers 8-6 over the final minutes of the period to take a 50-34 lead into the break.
Isaac Hawkins opened the second half with a dunk to ignite an 8-2 Utah Valley run, extending the Wolverines' lead to 22 points, 58-36, with 18:11 remaining. UVU maintained a comfortable advantage over the next several minutes, holding a 64-44 lead with 14:03 to play.
The Wolverines pushed their advantage to a game-high 23 points, 72-49, on a Sherman Weatherspoon IV three-pointer with 10:21 remaining. Western Colorado then put together a 12-1 run over the next 6:33 to trim the deficit to 12 points, 73-61, with 3:48 on the clock. Utah Valley responded by closing the game on an 11-2 run to secure the 21-point victory.
"We've put an emphasis on turning teams over, and we've been really good at that," Phillips said. "I think we turned them over 28 times, which is fantastic. You win a lot of games that way because you can get out and run and get easy baskets in transition."
Davis led all scorers with 22 points on an efficient 9-of-12 shooting performance, including a perfect 1-of-1 mark from three-point range. He also connected on 3-of-4 free throws while adding four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 26 minutes of action.
Nelson finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and a 4-of-8 effort at the free throw line. He also contributed five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Braden Housley, Isaac Hawkins, Tyler Weaver and Sherman Weatherspoon IV each added eight points. Weaver and Weatherspoon each connected on a pair of three-pointers, while freshman Deng Deng came off the bench to contribute five points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.
Utah Valley shot 49.2 percent (32-of-65) from the field, including a 40.0 percent (6-of-15) mark from beyond the arc. The Wolverines held Western Colorado to just 31.7 percent (19-of-60) shooting from the floor and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from three-point range. The Mountaineers shot just 20.7 percent (6-of-29) from the field in the second half.
The Wolverines forced 28 turnovers and recorded 23 steals, turning those miscues into 25 points. UVU also dished out 25 assists on its 32 made field goals and held a commanding 30-9 advantage in fast-break points.
Utah Valley dominated the interior, outscoring Western Colorado 52-24 in the paint, while the two teams finished even on the glass with 40 rebounds apiece.
Phillips was pleased with the opportunity to get his entire roster valuable game experience in the season opener.
"I think what I'm happiest about is we got everybody in the game, and they all got a little taste," Phillips said. "I think it's really hard early in the year, as everybody finds their place and finds their role. As we get going on, it's invaluable, especially down the stretch as guys are banged up and guys are a little tired or something happens to a guy, you have other guys that can step in and play."
Utah Valley now heads north to Ogden to take on in-state rival Weber State on Saturday night at the Dee Events Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on ESPN The Fan (103.9 FM/98.3 FM/960 AM).
