Five Wolverines hit double figures in blowout win
Brad Curnow | Sports Writer | @jojocornrow
Photos courtesy of Jordan Hall
OREM, Utah – With events pushing the Utah Valley University men’s basketball team into the PE Gym Friday night, the Wolverines never missed a beat taking down the Antelope Valley Pioneers in blow out fashion by a final score of 104-60.
Jaden Jackson led all scorers on the night with a career-high 21 points. Five Wolverines finished in double figures, including Cory Cardwell who also finished with a career-high 14 points.
“Coach just told me to be aggressive and look to get my shot up, so that’s what I did,” Cardwell said. “It felt good out there today.”
After playing neck and neck for the first five minutes, the Wolverines pulled away after the first media timeout with 15:18 to play in the first half. UVU hit four consecutive 3-pointers on a 12-2 run pushing the score to 24-13. UVU never looked back.
Jaden Jackson led the first-half charge with 17 points, including 3-of-4 from distance. The Wolverines shot 52.6 percent from the field in the first half, compared to 31 percent by the Pioneers. Behind Jackson’s hot hand, UVU took a 59-29 lead into the half.
With the big halftime lead, the UVU second unit saw the majority of the minutes to finish the game. With the starters on the bench, the reserves stepped in and picked up the scoring by shooting a blistering 62.1 percent from the field, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
“The guys shot the ball really well, played with really good pace, really, really shared the ball,” UVU head coach Mark Pope said. “We were really frustrated at Denver, because we were really putting our head down and attacking, which is what we wanted, but we were attacking on the first side early in the shot clock before we moved the defense.”
UAV was held to 38.2 percent shooting overall on the night, compared to 56.7 from the field for UVU.
The Wolverines travel to Logan to take on the Utah State Aggies at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Tuesday, November 24, at 7 p.m. MT.
