Jackson drops 25 in preseason contest
Brad Curnow | Sports Writer | @jojocornrow
OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley University men’s basketball outpaced the Western State Mountaineers at the UCCU Center by a final score of 97-52. Wolverine guard Jaden Jackson led all scorers with 25 points in the exhibition game.
The Wolverines rode Jackson’s hot hand and strong play in the paint by center Andrew Bastien, who finished with seven points, 10 rebounds, and nine blocks.
“Our guys are doing a good job, I’m really proud of them,” UVU head coach Mark Pope said. “They made a lot of progress. Obviously we have a lot of work to do, but they’ve made a lot of progress and I’m proud of them.”
After jumping out to an early 27-11 lead with 11:21 to play in the first half, UVU went on a 12-5 run in the next 3:43 to extend the lead to 39-16. The Wolverines never looked back and led by as many as 46 points before the game ended.
UVU outplayed Western State by dominating the scoring in the paint with a 40-14 advantage. The Wolverines were able to get out on the break and push tempo leading to 19 fast break points.
“We’re run and gun out there,” Jackson said. “We play with a lot of pace and a lot of possessions.”
Pope will make his regular season coaching debut with UVU against BYU Friday night. Before taking the position at UVU, Pope was an assistant to head coach Dave Rose at BYU.
“Coach Rose has won 1,000 games and I’ve won 0,” Pope said about the matchup Friday. “I’m really excited to go. Hopefully this game is going to develop into something that is really fun for this valley.”
UVU will make the short trip to Brigham Young University for their season opener at the Marriott Center against the Cougars Friday night at 7 pm.
