Utah Valley Dominates Abilene Christian At Home

OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley Wolverines faced off against the Abilene Christian Wildcats at home in the UCCU Center on Wednesday.

The Wolverines are coming off their first conference loss of the year to Seattle U on Saturday. The Wildcats entered the match on a 3-game losing streak, including a tough 2-point loss to Southern Utah.

Prior to the loss to the Redhawks, Utah Valley was on an 11-game winning streak. Before the recent skid, Abilene Christian had won seven of the last ten.

First Half

Both teams were going back-and-forth early in the UCCU Center. Utah Valley opened up a 6-point lead that was quickly brought back down after some quick baskets by the Wildcats.

Trey Woodbury opened up with five quick points for the Wolverines.

Tahj Small hit an impressive stepback jumpshot to break an 11-11 tie.

#11 Tahj Small with 3 points for UVU!!#GoUVU #UVU #ProtectTheDen #NCAA #WAC #D1 #basketball #threepoints #ballislife #gogreen pic.twitter.com/RhXCmRqBgk

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 19, 2023

Tim Ceasar got a 2-hand dunk before the Wolverines gave up a dunk just seconds later on the other end.

#2 Tim Ceaser with the first dunk of the night!!#GoUVU #UVU #ProtectTheDen #NCAA #WAC #D1 #basketball #dunk #ballislife #gogreen pic.twitter.com/n2F4iLrNzm

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 19, 2023

After trading fastbreak dunks, Justin Harmon finished a smooth finger-roll layup at the rim.

Due to a scoring drought from Abilene Christian, Utah Valley opened up their firs double-digit lead of the game.

Aziz Bandaogo continued to be hot after his near triple-double performance against Seattle U. He had 9 rebounds in the first half and a powerful reverse alley-oop slam.

Birthday boy #55 Aziz Bandaogo with another dunk for the Wolverines!!#GoUVU #UVU #ProtectTheDen #NCAA #WAC #D1 #basketball #dunk #birthdayboy #letsgo #gogreen pic.twitter.com/Ib6lrp7Zea

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 19, 2023

The struggles continued for the Wildcats, only scoring 2-points in ten minutes of game time. The Wolverines scored 17 points in that same stretch.

Abilene Christian was able to score a few more times before the half. But, a large lead still remained.

The score was 36-22 at halftime.

HALFTIME@kudosnacks #GoUVU #UVU #ProtectTheDen #NCAA #WAC #D1 #halftime #basketball #letsgo #gametime #gogreen pic.twitter.com/qzHiztcppl

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 19, 2023

Second Half

Heading into the second half, the Wildcats had shot an abysmal 24% from the field. Despite the large lead, the Wolverines had yet to make a 3-pointer in four attempts.

Aziz Bandaogo scored the first four points for Utah Valley coming out of the break.

Starting off the second half strong with another dunk from #55 Aziz Bandaogo!!#GoUVU #UVU #ProtectTheDen #NCAA #WAC #D1 #dunk #basketball #letsgo #gogreen #ballislife pic.twitter.com/lUulCfTZ4f

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 19, 2023

Tim Ceasar and the Wolverines continued to shoot efficiently from all over the floor.

#2 Tim Ceaser with 3 points for UVU!!#GoUVU #UVU #ProtectTheDen #NCAA #WAC #D1 #basketball #threepoints #letsgo #ballislife #gogreen pic.twitter.com/e9LrwRdsIJ

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 19, 2023

The Wolverines finally broke their three-point drought in the second half.

#1 Le’Tre Darthard with another 3 for UVU!! Keep it up, guys!!#GoUVU #UVU #ProtectTheDen #NCAA #WAC #D1 #threepoints #basketball #gametime pic.twitter.com/nQikp5Y6GC

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 19, 2023

The Wolverines played excellent defense all game. On the other end, they capitalized off of ACU’s shooting struggles.

Utah Valley opened up a 20-point lead and then never looked in the rearview mirror. The Wolverines went up by 30 with 7 minutes left in the game, 72-42.

The final score was 84-54.

FINAL#GoUVU #UVU #ProtectTheDen #NCAA #WAC #D1 #winners #finalscore #basketball #letsgo #adidas #gogreen #ballislife #athletics pic.twitter.com/PH2mpcmk5Q

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 19, 2023

Chandler Holt is a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter at @ChandlerHoltKSL.

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