Utah Valley University’s men’s basketball team won their third-straight contest, defeating the California Baptist University Lancers 71-55. The Wolverines are first in the Western Athletic Conference standings and are 10-1 at the UCCU Center this season.
Senior Trey Woodbury had 16 points to lead all scorers and Blaze Nield scored a season-high 14 points en route to the win. Despite three-point shooting woes, the Wolverines managed to turn 13 CBU turnovers into 21 points, fueling the offense. UVU had 29 points off of the bench in addition to 16 second-chance points.
The Wolverines wasted no time in the first half, as they took advantage of multiple early turnovers by CBU to claim a firm 17-6 lead. The Lancers chipped away and managed to cut their deficit to just four points, however, back-to-back jumpers by Woodbury pushed the lead back to double digits. The Wolverines rode that momentum into a 34-23 halftime lead.
The second half was all UVU as they maintained a double-digit lead for the most part of the rest of the game. With 4:19 remaining, Aziz Bandaogo hit a jumper in the paint pushing the Wolverine lead to 21, the largest of the night. Utah Valley would go on to win 71-55, cruising to victory.
After a dominant showing against CBU, the #1 ranked Wolverines look to avenge their loss earlier this year against in-state rival Southern Utah University (16-8), who sits right behind UVU in the conference standings at #2. That matchup takes place on Saturday, Feb. 11. The game tips off at 6 p.m. MT and can be streamed on ESPN+.
