Late Surge Lifts UVU To Semifinals After Win Over UMKC
Mar 14, 2019, 10:07 PM
Courtesy of UVU
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – After trailing most of the game, the Utah Valley Wolverines made the most of the last three minutes of the game to pull out a 71-64 win over UMKC in the quarterfinal round of the WAC Tournament.
Conner Toolson had 21 points to lead the Wolverines. Richard Harward was critical in the final moments as he finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
Xavier Bishop scored 17 points for the Roos, with Jamel Allen chipping in 12 points and Jordan Giles posted 11 points.
UVU shot 45 percent from the field and shot 26 free-throws. UMKC made 41 percent of their shots and shot just 11 free-throws.
Sluggish First Half
Kansas City had the lead momentarily in the first half but the Wolverines had their hot shooting carry them to a seven point lead with 7 minutes left in the first half. They made 7 of 9 field goals during the span that stretched their lead.
UMKC went on a 7-0 run, while UVU went scoreless for over two minutes and their lead was cut to two with two minutes left in the half.
That run inflated to 11-0 and Utah Valley’s drought was the last 4:53 of the half and the Roos took a 37-35 lead at halftime.
Conner Toolson had 9 points in the opening half to lead the Wolverines, while Xavier Bishop dropped 10 points for UMKC.
Utah Valley’s Late Surge
With 10 minutes left in the game, Utah Valley started to trim a nine point lead with UMKC going through a scoring drought that lasted over three minutes.
The Wolverines tied the game with 6 minutes left.
Both teams ended scoreless droughts that last over two minutes each, but UMKC had a one point lead with two minutes left.
The Wolverines went on a 6-0 run to take the lead back with a 65-62 advantage with less than two minutes remaining.
1 down 2 to go #GoUVU #WACvegas #WAChoops pic.twitter.com/qRND3mtGS4
— UVU Athletics (@GoUVU) March 15, 2019
Up Next
Utah Valley will advance to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament. They will face the winner of No. 3 Grand Canyon and No. 6 Seattle on Friday at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
The Wolverines beat Seattle twice during the regular season, but split their games against Grand Canyon.
