The Wolverines traveled to Grand Forks, North Dakota for its first road test of the season to take on the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota.
Utah Valley entered the game winning its first two games of the season while averaging 90 points per game.
This game felt a little bit different.
The Wolverines shot 45% from the field and 22% beyond the arc, resulting in a 77-71 loss, as North Dakota handed Utah Valley its first loss of the season.
Despite an overall struggle shooting the ball, four players for the Wolverines reached double figures. Ethan Potter led all scorers with 20 points at a remarkable 90% rate. Trevan Leonhardt added 12 points marking a career high and Dominick Nelson continues to impress, finishing with 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Tanner Toolson scored 10 points shooting a season-low 25% from the field.
The story of the night was North Dakotas Treysen Eaglestaff who contributed to 31 of The Fighting Hawks 77 points.
In the first half, both teams traded shots back and forth as neither team took more than a six-point lead.
Nelson got it started for the Wolverines after Toolson got a steal that ended up in Nelson’s hands who made a brilliant finish at the hoop.
Potter and Nelson scored the next 11 points for the Wolverines but the Fighting Hawks dominated inside scoring their first 13 of 15 points in the paint.
North Dakota was able to take a six-point lead after a 7-0 run late in the first half but Nelson helped the Wolverines retake the lead 34-33 before heading into halftime.
It was much of the same story in the second half, Utah Valley was able to force some turnovers and get out into transition quickly as they do best, leading to easy fastbreak scores.
At the 11-minute mark, it was a tie game at 47 a piece and the point where Eaglestaff took over, scoring the next 11 out of 15 points for the Fighting Hawks giving them its largest lead of the night at 10.
The Wolverines were able to cut it to just four points in the remaining seconds of the game but their efforts weren’t enough as they fell to North Dakota 77-71, suffering its first loss of the season falling to 2-1.
The Fighting Hawks improve to 2-1 with an impressive victory.
Utah Valley remains on the road for its second of seven road games as they get set to take on Murray State on Friday, Nov. 22 at 6:00 p.m. MT.
This game streams live on ESPN+ and can be listened to on 960 AM/103.9 FM in Utah County.
