Utah Valley Basketball Defeats In-State Rival Weber State Wildcats
Dec 5, 2023, 8:29 PM | Updated: Dec 6, 2023, 1:10 pm
OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley Wolverines men’s basketball team defeated the Weber State Wildcats, 70-54, to improve to 6-3 on the season.
The Wolverines shot over 50% from the field and three while holding the Wildcats to 35% from the floor and 30% from deep.
FINAL
WOLVERINE WIN✅#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/xHGG5wexMo
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) December 6, 2023
First Half
Weber State struck first in the UCCU Center and would go on to hold a lead for the majority of the first half.
Caleb Stone-Carrawell nailed a three to start the game and give UVU a one-point lead.
#25 Caleb Stone-Carrawell with 3 from the left wing!#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/Buy8Ugb05x
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) December 6, 2023
The Wildcats got everyone involved early on. Alex Tew threw down a dunk off of a drop step in the opening minutes.
Alex Tew throws it down! #WeAreWeber pic.twitter.com/2sYdsuKyw0
— Weber State MBB 🏀 (@WeberStateMBB) December 6, 2023
Steven Verplancken scored 8 straight from the outside to put Weber State up by six.
The Wolverines responded with a few jump shots of their own to close the gap.
The Wildcats were able to fend off multiple runs from UVU to stay in the lead.
DJ from DEEP! #WeAreWeber pic.twitter.com/a6ygwYvF32
— Weber State MBB 🏀 (@WeberStateMBB) December 6, 2023
But Weber State could only hold the Wolverines off for so long.
With five minutes left before halftime, Tanner Toolson made a layup to put Utah Valley up by one.
Stone-Carrawell continued to show off his scoring prowess with a transition dunk.
#25 Caleb Stone-Carrawell dunking for UVU!#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/lfuQAWUOOY
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) December 6, 2023
The Wolverines shot a staggering 57% from downtown in the first half.
Efficient scoring and tough defense led to a 6-point lead for UVU going into the break.
HALFTIME#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/qfL8WB2De3
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) December 6, 2023
Second Half
The Wildcats had some work to do if they hoped to pull out a road win.
They got right to work with two quick buckets to make it a one-score game.
Utah Valley stepped on the gas with their lead in jeopardy. K’mani Doughty and Jaden McClanahan found the bottom of the net on back-to-back possessions to put UVU back up by 7.
#21 Nate Tshimanga flips it up for 2!#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/Cgd7DZKa3q
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) December 6, 2023
The Wildcats would fight back once again and close the lead to two with three makes in the paint from Dillon Jones.
Utah Valley responded with a 14-2 run to take the first double-digit lead of the contest.
#5 Tanner Toolson from DEEP!#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/iX4XRpzDYU
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) December 6, 2023
The rest of the game was all UVU. Weber State was only able to put up 9 points in the final 12 minutes of regulation.
Stone-Carrawell led the Wolverines in scoring with 19. Jones put up 13 for Weber State.
Utah Valley beat Weber State by 16, 70-54.
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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.
