Caleb Stone-Carrawell led Utah Valley with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, but a cold night from the field for the Wolverines and foul trouble in the front court proved to be insurmountable as the Utah Tech Trailblazers protected their home court for a 65-53 win on Saturday night at the Burns Arena in St. George.

Trevin Dorius was limited to just 18 minutes on the night after picking up two quick fouls in both the first and second half. Utah Tech was able to capitalize, securing a 39-27 advantage on the glass.

Drake Allen and Tanner Toolson were the only other Wolverines to reach double figures, with 14 and 10 apiece.

The Wolverines shot just 34.6% from the field, including a 3-of-18 mark from three-point range. The Trailblazers turned up the offensive pressure at the right time, shooting 52.2% from the floor in the second half to pull away.

Both teams struggled from the field in the first half, with Utah Valley shooting at a 30% clip and just 1-of-7 from three. The Trailblazers weren’t much better at 36.4% with a 2-of-10 mark from deep.

After Tanner Christensen made a fadeaway jumper to give the Trailblazers a 41-39 lead early in the second half, Utah Valley responded with a 6-0 spurt, punctuated by a Stone-Carrawell triple to give the Wolverines their largest lead of the game at 45-41.

Utah Tech responded with a 12-0 run of their own over the next 3:16 of action to take the lead for good.

The Wolverines were able to cut the lead back down to three at 53-50 with 4:31 to go, but that was the closest it would get the remainder of the way. The Wolverines made just one field goal — a Toolson three with 53 seconds remaining — as the Trailblazers closed the night on a 12-3 run.

Utah Valley returns home to the UCCU Center on Tuesday to take on in-state foe Weber State. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on the radio by ESPN 960/92.1 FM.

UVU women’s basketball can’t finish rally, comes up short vs. Utah Tech

Utah Valley University got within striking distance late, but Utah Tech University thwarted any hopes of a comeback in a 73-59 contest in the Old Hammer Rivalry on Saturday in the UCCU Center.

The Wolverines (3-4, 0-2) trailed by 14 after three and closed to within five in the fourth, but the Trailblazers (5-2, 1-0) recovered from a slow start to make 14 shots from beyond the arc over the final three quarters en route to the conference win.

Kylee Mabry had a career-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals while Kaylee Byon finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists for UVU. Maddie Warren led all scorers with 19 points and also pulled down eight rebounds as she and her sister, Macie, combined for 17 fourth-quarter points for Utah Tech. Macie Warren finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, scoring nine of her 12 in the final quarter of play.

Jenna Dick spurred an early run in the fourth for Utah Valley. She buried her first three on the opening possession of the fourth and, after a jumper from Byon, hit another triple to put eight quick points on the board two minutes into the fourth to make it 50-44. Mabry later cut it to five, 56-51, with two free throws.

The Wolverines trailed by seven, 62-55, when Macie Warren hit a big 3-pointer to push the lead back to 10 with 2:29 remaining. Byon made a corner three with 1:27 left but that was answered with another Warren three from the top of the circle to make it 68-58 with under one minute to go.

Nelson finished with seven rebounds and a career-high three blocks for UVU while Breaunna Gillen scored 13 points and dished out eight assists for UTU. Utah Valley finished 21-for-50 (42%) from the field and both teams turned the ball over 13 times. The Wolverines got 44 of their 59 points from the bench.

Utah Valley will now head to Pocatello for a non-conference at Idaho State next Wednesday before returning to the UCCU Center to host Utah State on Saturday, Dec. 9. The Wolverine wont resume WAC play until January.

Bockman reaches quarterfinals at Cliff Keen wrestling tournament

No. 18 Evan Bockman advanced to the quarterfinals of the 41st Cliff Keen Invitational on Friday. The Wolverines worked through a tough first round that saw seven of their ten participants face ranked wrestlers before finishing 28th in the team score out of 35 teams.

Bockman cruised in the round of 32 with a tech fall win over Binghamton’s Cayden Bevis. It wasn’t so easy in the round of 16, where a third-period escape put him over the top of Nick Stemmet (Stanford) for a 4-3 decision. In the evening session, he lost in the quarterfinals to No. 5 Trent Hilday from NC State and took a sudden victory loss in the consolation rounds to Wyoming’s Joey Novak to finish the day 2-2.

Utah Valley will compete on Dec. 17 at Reno Tournaments of Champions before going to No. 8 Iowa State on Jan. 12 and No. 14 Northern Iowa. The Wolverines host Wyoming in the home opener on Jan. 20 at 6:00 p.m. MT.

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