Tanner Toolson’s putback with 0.8 seconds remaining secured a thrilling 77-75 road victory for Utah Valley over Murray State on Friday night at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

The win marked just the fourth non-conference home loss for Murray State at the CFSB Center in the last seven seasons. The Racers boasted a 30-3 (.909) record in non-conference games at home entering Friday night’s game against UVU. With the victory, the Wolverines improved to 3-1 on the season, while the Racers dropped to 3-2.

“Our guys showed incredible resilience tonight,” said Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips. “We faced adversity, made a big run, and when they answered, we responded right back. I couldn’t be prouder of the effort, especially Tanner Toolson stepping up with a huge offensive rebound to win the game. That’s what we’ve been preaching–everyone making an impact. Our physicality on the glass was outstanding, and Carter Welling’s performance in his first game back was a big lift. It was a great team win, and we’ll use this momentum to keep growing as we continue this tough road swing.”

Tied at 71-71 with 1:27 remaining, Ethan Potter threw down a dunk to give Utah Valley a 73-71 lead. After a defensive stop, Dominick Nelson extended the lead to 75-71 by sinking two free throws with 44 seconds on the clock. Murray State’s Kylen Milton hit a corner three while being fouled, converting the free throw to tie the game at 75-75 with 28 seconds to go.

With the game on the line, Nelson drove to the basket but missed his shot. Toolson crashed the boards, grabbing the rebound and putting it back up to give UVU the lead with less than a second remaining. Murray State’s final shot attempt missed, sealing the Wolverines’ victory.

UVU got key performances from Carter Welling, who had a career-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three-point range. Added a career-high nine rebounds, finishing just shy of a double-double.

Dominick Nelson scored 15 points, went 5-of-7 at the line, and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.

Ethan Potter (10 points) and Hayden Welling (11 points) were also in double figures while Tanner Toolson finished with nine points, including the game-winner, and pulled down four rebounds.

Utah Valley shot 49.2% (30-of-61) from the field and dominated the glass, outrebounding Murray State 40-27. The Wolverines scored 46 points in the paint and tallied 21 bench points compared to just two for the Racers.

Utah Valley continues its seven-game road stretch at the Samford Thanksgiving Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama. The Wolverines will face West Georgia on Nov. 26, followed by matchups against Samford on Nov. 27 and North Dakota State on Nov. 28. All games will be streamed live on ESPN+ and broadcast on the Wolverine Sports Network (103.9 FM/960 AM/98.3 FM/101.5 HD2 FM).

UVU volleyball loses to GCU in WAC tournament

Grand Canyon defeated Utah Valley, 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17) in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

UVU (20-10) was led by 15 kills from Sami Blackett, with Avery Shewell adding 12 and Alyvia Jaffa finishing with ten. GCU (20-10) was led by Tatum Parrott, who finished with 22 kills.

Lani Matavao finished the match with a match-high 18 digs, as she was all over the court helping keep balls in play for the Wolverines. Evalyn Chism finished the match with 38 assists and Bella Wooden had nine blocks, which tied her with Madison Dennison for the most single-season total blocks in school history.

The Wolverines season comes to an end with their first 20-win season since 2018. The season was highlighted by wins over Weber State and Utah State, and a sweep in Georgia over the ACC’s Boston College.

Wolverine women’s hoops gets back on winning track

Utah Valley University moved to 5-1 on the season, rolling to an 89-56 win over Bethesda University on Saturday in Lockhart Arena in Orem behind a pair of double-doubles from two newcomers.

All 11 Wolverines who saw the floor scored, with freshman Kennedy Carlyle finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds and JC transfer Gracie Sorenson adding 14 points and 14 rebounds as both players shattered their previous career highs. Danja Stafford Collins added 11 points and seven rebounds while Tahlia White finished with 10 points and six assists.

“I thought once we built a big lead we got a bit complacent, so some good lessons learned this weekend,” head coach Dan Nielson said. “Obviously it’s still nice to win and massive credit not just to Kennedy and Gracie, but several others who haven’t played as much — Cambree, Saige, and Aspen all had really good energy today.”

Bethesda, who had just seven players in uniform for the game, had two players foul out and another get injured during the run of play and were forced to play the final 9:07 with just four players. Alex Buckley led all scorers with 25 points for the Lion Angels, making 7-for-19 from three.

Utah Valley finished with 17 steals and forced 31 turnovers. The Wolverines had a decisive edge on points in the paint, outscoring Bethesda 46-12 down low. Kylee Mabry finished with nine points and three steals while White led the way with four of the team’s 17 steals. Tessa Chaney added eight points, Barcello had six, Gibb had four, and Criddle, Blackham, and Caldwell each scored two.

Next week, the Wolverines will head to the University of San Diego’s Thanksgiving Classic. UVU will play two neutral site games over two days, against Alabama A&M on Friday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. MT and Omaha on Saturday at 3 p.m. MT.

UVU wrestling goes 2-1 in North Carolina

Utah Valley had a dominant start in Raleigh, N.C., with a 54-0 win over Presbyterian before beating Duke 38-6 at Seaforth High School. They fell in the nightcap to No. 6 NC State 23-18 on Saturday night. No. 25 Haiden Drury finished 3-0 on the day, including an upset victory over NC State’s No. 5 Kai Orine.

“What a fight tonight! I am so dang proud of our men. We knew we had an uphill battle, but all ten guys fought. We still have a lot to give and a ways to go, but this team is believing that they belong amongst the best. Haiden Drury is a dog and got a top five win tonight,” said UVU head coach Adam Hall. “We have a lot of momentum going into the Cliff Keen Las Vegas tournament in a couple of weeks. I appreciate Kameron Dearing and Jared Sumsion making the trip out and supporting us. Go Wolverines!”

The Wolverines dominated the Blue Hose this morning, with all ten wins coming via bonus points. Tanner Frothinger, Ryker Fullmer, Mark Takara, Kael Bennie, and Jack Forbes all recorded pins in the dual, with Bridger Ricks and Kase Mauger recording technical falls in a fury of UVU victories to get the day started right.

The success continued in the second dual of the day by taking down Duke, 38-6. The first three bouts went in the Wolverine’s way, with Ricks picking up his second bonus point win of the day with a major decision, and Mauger pinned Duke’s Raymond Adams to take a 10-0 lead before Drury added a major decision at 141. The string of bonus point victories continued with Fullmer’s tech fall victory.

UVU made a couple of lineup changes from their first dual of the morning and inserted No. 5 Terrell Barraclough back into his 165-pound spot, and Redshirt Freshman Trevor Frank came in at 174. Barraclough and Frank picked up wins to extend the lead out 26-3. 197-pounder Bennie earned his second pin of the day while going to three wins on the day.

The Wolverines finished the day in Reynolds, and Adam Hall and Timmy McCall returned to NC State. No. 13 Vincent Robinson earned the night’s first victory with a decision to put the Wolfpack up 3-0.

The bouts turned in UVU’s favor, starting with six points from 133 after NC State’s four-time NCAA qualifier, Jacob Camacho, lost by injury default to Mauger to set up one of the top matches of the night with Drury taking down two-time All-American Orrine by decision 5-0. The win moves UVU’s 141-pounder to 10-1 this season with his first over a ranked foe. The victory put the Wolverines in front 9-3.

NC State responded with back-to-back major decisions to go in front 11-9 before Barraclough battled to a major decision over No. 21 Derek Fields, and Kael Bennie earned a victory at 197 over Chase Horne. The Wolfpack found a way to win the remaining matches and won the dual in team points despite a valiant effort by the Wolverines.

The Wolverines will attend the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Dec. 6-7. This two-day event is one of the premier collegiate wrestling tournaments in the country.