Dominick Nelson scored 16 points, and Osiris Grady added 12, but Utah Valley saw its 10-game win streak come to an end with a 75-57 road loss to Grand Canyon on Saturday night at the Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix.

Utah Valley (15-7, 7-1) drops into a tie with Grand Canyon (17-5, 7-1) for first place in the WAC standings. The two teams split the regular-season series, with each defending its home court.

“I thought Grand Canyon played great tonight,” said Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips. “They fed off the crowd, had a lot of energy, and we never really got into the flow of the game. Offensively, we struggled. We only had nine assists, which is not good for us.”

UVU trailed by just two, 17-15, with 9:49 remaining in the first half before GCU used a 14-2 run over the next seven minutes to push its lead to 31-17. The Wolverines were only able to get as close as 12 points with 13:25 remaining in the second half but couldn’t cut the deficit to single digits the rest of the way as the Lopes secured the win.

“The big thing we talked about with the guys is that they won the paint battle,” Phillips said. “They beat us in the paint, and that was a big one for us. I also thought they got to more 50-50 balls. When you struggle offensively, it kind of compounds itself. Your defense isn’t as good, and it snowballs.”

Nelson led UVU with 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting and a 6-of-7 mark at the free-throw line. He also recorded three rebounds, three assists, and a block in 35 minutes. Grady finished with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting, adding four rebounds and an assist.

Carter Welling contributed seven points, four rebounds, and two blocks, while Noah Taitz came off the bench to score six points, knocking down both of his three-point attempts.

Utah Valley shot a season-low 32.8% (21-of-64) from the field, including just 22.2% (4-of-18) from three. Grand Canyon finished at 47.6% (30-of-63) overall and 23.5% (4-of-17) from beyond the arc. The Lopes outscored the Wolverines 46-32 in the paint and held a 42-33 rebounding advantage.

Despite trailing by double digits for much of the game, Phillips felt UVU had an opportunity to make a push late.

“We were down 12, and I thought we could make a little spurt there with about 13 minutes left,” Phillips said. “Then we just had a couple of breakdowns, turned the ball over, gave them an easy basket, and away it goes.”

Utah Valley returns to Orem for a two-game homestand, beginning with UT Arlington (11-11, 4-4) on Thursday at 6 p.m. MT at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines will then host Tarleton State (10-13, 5-3) on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“The big thing is when we beat them (GCU) at our place, they went home, learned, and got way better,” Phillips said. “We’ve got to do the same thing. We’ve got a team coming in that’s won four straight and is playing really hot. In this league, every night’s a battle, so we’ve got to be ready to go.”

Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Wolverine Sports Network on ESPN The Fan (103.9 FM/98.3 FM/960 AM).

UVU wrestling edges North Dakota State

Utah Valley wrestling defeated North Dakota State on Saturday night, 24-19, inside the Sheels Center in Fargo, N.D.

UVU (6-7, 2-4) won four consecutive matches by major decisions led by No. 4 Terrell Barraclough before Mark Takara, Caleb Uhlenhopp, and Kael Bennie added major decisions. NDSU (3-8, 2-4) picked up all three of their four wins with ranked wrestlers.

“A back-and-forth battle tonight against a gritty NDSU team ended our way,” said head coach Adam Hall. “We caught a lot of momentum in the second half, thanks to Terrell Barraclough getting us rolling. We are excited to finally be back home next week and eager to put on a show for our fans. Go Wolverines!”

Bridger Ricks fought Tristan Daugherty through a scoreless first before choosing bottom to start the second and going up 1-0 after an escape. Later in the period, the lead was extended to 4-0 with a takedown. Each competitor scored a point in the final frame, with NDSU picking one up via a penalty point and UVU earning the riding time point.

No. 19 Haiden Drury completed a 2-0 weekend with a technical fall. He pulled away during a ten-point third period that featured three takedowns and a riding time point. With the win tonight, Drury moved into the Top 10 in dual victories. It’s his 26th career dual victory.

Barraclough won his third straight match with bonus points going back to his tech fall last week over Cooper Voorhees. Tonight, Barraclough recorded five takedowns, with three in the first period, to take a commanding lead early. The four team points narrowed the Bison lead to one, at 13-12.

The next three wins all came from the Wolverines and included bonus points. 174-pounder Takara led 3-1 early before three takedowns in the second period pushed his lead to12-3. NDSU’s Devin Wasley could only score on escapes through two and couldn’t come back. Uhlenhopp went up 3-0 before adding penalty points after stalling against NDSU’s Andrew McMonagle. In the final period, he put it away with six points to push a decision into a 10-0 major decision and bonus points for UVU.

Bennie has won five of his last six matches, with his only loss since Cliff Keen came to No. 10 Joey Novak of Wyoming. On Saturday, he led from start to finish, with a takedown in the first period before a reversal extended his lead to 5-0. In the final two minutes, the redshirt freshman earned bonus points after NDSU’s Tayshaun Glover was called for stalling before one final takedown and riding time moved the final score to 10-1.

Utah Valley has three duals left on the regular season slate starting on Thursday, Feb. 6, against No. 21 West Virginia at Layton High School. They will return to Lockhart Arena on Friday, Feb. 7, for Air Force and (RV) Northern Colorado on Friday, Feb. 14.