Utah Valley Men’s Basketball fell short in a close matchup versus PAC12 opponent Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday, dropping to 6-4 on the year.
Not only were the Wolverines the betting underdogs in the matchup, but they would also have to take down the Beavers without junior transfer Drake Allen who suffered an ankle sprain after landing on a ball during a shootaround.
Utah Valley started the half early with foul trouble. Trevin Dorius picked up two fouls in the first 90 seconds of the game which prompted an early rotation from head coach Todd Phillips.
UVU went to Nate Tshimanga who struggled to hold onto the ball early and allowed Oregon State to take an early 9-1 rebound advantage.
Despite missing Dorius, the Wolverines would go on a strong run.
A 9-0 run over three minutes, with all nine points coming from Tanner Toolson, six from beyond the arc and a converted and-one.
During that run, the Wolverines defense forced three turnovers and an airball, setting the tone early in Corvallis.
Halfway through the first half, Oregon State’s big man KC Ibekwe picked up back-to-back fouls which resulted in his second and third fouls for the half, which prompted Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle to take him out.
At this point, Oregon State still held a 11-2 rebound advantage over Utah Valley, but the Wolverines led 25-14 thanks to 4-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Wolverines electric start kept its spark with Toolson continuing his great game, scoring 14 points on 5/5 shooting up to this point in the contest.
However, even with a 33-23 lead with four minutes to go, Utah Valley was still outrebounded 15-3.
Oregon State would go on a quick 6-0 run, after a flagrant foul from K’mani Doughty resulted in a Beaver free throw and 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.
Utah Valley’s offense would go stagnant, scoring just four points in the final four minutes of play, allowing Oregon State to crawl within two points at the end of the half.
After 20 minutes of play, Utah Valley held a 36-34 lead.
Oregon State outrebounded UVU 18-7, but Utah Valley led in assists, turnovers, and steals which allowed them to have a slim lead heading into the second half.
Utah Valley shot 12/24from the field, and 5/10 from deep.
A glaring first half statistic was the 24 fouls between the two teams, 13 of them from Utah Valley, and the 24 free throws as a result.
The second half started rough for the Wolverines, allowing Oregon State to take a 48-44 lead with 12 minutes to go.
Utah Valley was struggling to get anything going offensively, as every possession was coming down to the shot clock or a turnover.
The Wolverines would come out of the timeout with a new spark though, going on an 8-2 run, regaining a two-point lead with ten minutes to play.
But instantly, the Beavers would go on an 8-2 run of their own, capped by Tyler Bilodeau hitting back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to give the Beavers a 58-54 lead.
It was a great start to the second half for Doughty, who had two incredible plays at the rim including a converted and-one and started a breakaway for Stone-Carrawell to slam it home.
With 5:25 in the game, Bilodeau picked up his fourth foul, which meant him, and Ibekwe were playing with four fouls at the same time.
Heading into the final media timeout, Utah Valley and Oregon State were tied at 66.
Utah Valley would have to piece together an intense effort to try and upset the Beavers.
The Wolverines trailed by 2, after a good defensive possession Stone-Carrawell drove the ball down the floor and got a shot at the rim that looked to be blocked after hitting the backboard.
No goaltend was called and UVU was forced to foul to give Oregon State one-and-one at the free throw line.
“I thought it was a goaltend and a foul. They were calling ticky-tack all night long. We have to play thorough that and make plays at the end and the ball has to go in the hole,” Phillips said.
After sinking both free throws, Utah Valley was able to kick a shot out to the open man and Doughty nailed a three-point shot to trim the lead to one with 6.7 seconds to go.
The Wolverines fouled on the inbound which resulted in another one-and-one opportunity for the Beavers who rattled the first free throw in and sank the second.
6.7 seconds and down three.
Utah Valley drew up a play that was called a “ghost screen” by Phillips, but Utah Valley was not able to get a good look and fell to the Beavers 74-71.
Stone-Carrawell finished with 19 points, two steals and a rebound.
Toolson added on 17 points, shooting 6-11 from the field while grabbing four rebounds.
Utah Valley however was dominated on the glass, suffering a 34-18 rebound discrepancy, which just is too much if you want to compete with a PAC12 team.
Utah Valley will have another shot at the PAC12 as they take on Utah, Saturday Dec. 16 in Salt Lake.
The Utes are coming off a win over No. 14 BYU, who was also ranked No. 1 in the NET rankings.
The game tips off at 2 p.m. MST.
