Utah Valley Suffers Close Loss To Arizona
Dec 6, 2018, 8:45 PM | Updated: Dec 7, 2018, 1:07 am
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Utah Valley Wolverines were looking to make a statement against the Arizona Wildcats but couldn’t overcome the second half hot shooting from Arizona and lost 80-69.
Utah Valley had a strong performance in the first half and had the game looking like an upset early but Arizona’s second half shooting of 60 percent was the difference.
The Wolverines were led by Jake Toolson with 20 points and 8 rebounds, Conner Toolson added 13 points and T.J. Washington chipped in 11 points.
Brandon Randolph led Arizona with 16 points, Brandon Williams and Justin Coleman added 15 points apiece.
All Momentum To UVU In First Half
The first minute of the game, the Wolverines jumped out to a 7-2 lead on two easy buckets and free throws. Arizona responded with a layup and a triple of their own to tie the game at seven.
After trailing 18-11, the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 20-18 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
With four minutes left in the half, Utah Valley held a 35-25 lead due to hitting five of their next six field goals while the Wildcats struggled, shooting just 2-of-11 from the field through that span.
Conner Toolson hit a big three-pointer with 49 seconds left in the half to give Utah Valley their largest lead of the game, 41-29 and that would be the halftime score.
The Wolverines shot 50 percent from the field while the Wildcats hit just 38 percent of their shots.
Arizona Hot Second Half Shooting
That momentum ended at the very beginning of the second half as Arizona went on an 11-0 run to pull within one point.
Utah Valley weathered the storm and stayed even with the Wildcats until there was six minutes left in the game when the Wolverines didn’t make another field goal for three and a half minutes.
During that drought, Arizona made six of their next seven field goal attempts and was up by 12 points.
Arizona outscored Utah Valley 51-28 in the second half. They shot 60 percent from the field on 17-of-28 shooting and 57 percent from downtown, making eight of their 14 three-point attempts.
Final in AZ tonight
UVU 69 – 80 UA— UVU Athletics (@GoUVU) December 7, 2018
Next Up
The Wolverines dropped to 6-4 on the season and will face Northern Arizona on Saturday at 6 p.m. on the KSL TV app.
