Utah Valley Knocks Off Weber State 75-63
Dec 15, 2018, 9:56 PM | Updated: 10:11 pm
UVU's Jake Toolson goes up for a dunk against Weber State at the Dee Event Center in Ogden, Utah on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Utah Valley Athletics)
(Utah Valley Athletics)
OGDEN, Utah – The Utah Valley Wolverines were able to pull out a 75-63 win over the Weber State Wildcats at the Dee Event Center by their hot shooting and dominate play in the paint.
Jake Toolson led the Wolverines with 19 points and 12 rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. Baylee Steele nearly had a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds while hitting 7 of his 9 shot attempts.
Utah Valley had three players score nine points that includes Ben Nakwaasah, Conner Toolson and Isaiah White. The Wolverines outscored Weber State in the paint, 46-28 which led to 47 percent shooting from the field.
Brekkott Chapman had 20 points to lead Weber State to go with 13 rebounds and 3 blocks on 8-of-11 field goal shooting. Cody John chipped in 15 points and Jerrick Harding added 10 points as the only three players for the Wildcats to score in double figures.
It was a tough night hitting shots for WSU as they finished with just 36 percent from the field.
UVU Dominates Paint In First Half
Utah Valley had a hot start to the game as they jumped out to a 17-4 run making seven of their last eight field goals leading 28-12 with 6:53 left in the first half. Weber State shot one of their last seven during that stretch.
Conner Toolson started with 7 of those 24 points and seven players scored.
Over the next two minutes the Wolverines went on 6-0 run to bolster the big run to 26-6 and a 33-18 lead.
The Wolverines outscored the Wildcats 12-5 to end the first half with a 41-23 lead. Baylee Steele had 8 points and 5 rebounds to lead Utah Valley. They finished the half shooting 18-of-33 from the field for 54 percent. They outscored Weber State in points in the paint, 26-10.
Weber State had only three players score in the first half, led by Brekkott Chapman with 11 points and 7 rebounds, Cody John had 8 points and Jerrick Harding added 4 points.
The Wildcats shot 10-of-32 from the field for just 31 percent. Chapman’s 5-of-6 shooting was the only player for Weber State to shoot 50 percent or better in the opening half.
Weber State Keeps Game Close
Both teams came out of the locker room cold with UVU hitting just one of their first eight field goal attempts. Already eight and a half minutes into the second half, the Wildcats outscored Utah Valley 12-8 but UVU still held a 49-35 lead.
With 7:41 left in the game, Utah Valley missed three of their last four field goals while the Wildcats started heating up, making three of their last four shots. The Wolverines still held a 60-46 lead with 7:41 left in the game.
Weber State went on a 9-2 run to cut the Wolverines’ lead to 62-51. Jake Toolson hit two free throws to stretch the lead back to 13.
After exchanging buckets for the next six minutes, Weber State pulled within 11 points, 71-60 with 1:24 left in the game.
Utah Valley stopped any comeback attempt to win the game, 75-63.
WOLVERINE WIN pic.twitter.com/QTSUb9RrG7
— UVU Athletics (@GoUVU) December 16, 2018
Up Next
Utah Valley improved to 8-4 on the season and have won their last two games. They will face Idaho State on Wednesday at the UCCU Center in Orem at 7 p.m. The game can be streamed on the KSL TV app.
Weber State dropped to 5-5 on the year and have lost their last three games. They will finish their non-conference schedule on Saturday when they host Delaware State at 2 p.m. The game can be streamed on Pluto TV.
