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UVU men’s basketball gets to the boards to beat Utah Tech

By Jared Lloyd - | Jan 18, 2025
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UVU junior Dominick Nelson goes up for a shot during the WAC game against Utah Tech at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
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UVU sophomore Tanner Toolson goes up for a shot during the WAC game against Utah Tech at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
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UVU senior Noah Taitz shoots a 3-pointer during the WAC game against Utah Tech at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.

The UVU men’s basketball team knew Utah Tech was going to come to the UCCU Center in Orem hungry to get a big win, particularly after the Trailblazers suffered a disappointing 20-point loss at Seattle.

That was certainly the case early in the second half as Utah Tech had answered every Wolverine push and UVU only led 54-52.

But, just as Seattle did, the Wolverines started exploiting the Trailblazer Achilles heel.

Over the next four or five possessions, UVU didn’t make many of their first shots but relentlessly attacked the offensive glass to get second and third chances.

That was what the Wolverines needed to get some separation and Utah Tech ran out of answers as UVU pulled away to get the 96-80 win.

“I thought we scored the ball tonight and obviously I was really proud of them,” Wolverine head coach Todd Phillips said. “I’m going to say is our defense has got to be better. In the first half, we were awful at rebounding the ball and they beat us to everything. But I was really proud of how we responded in the second half.”

The key moment of the game came when the outcome was still very much in doubt.

The Wolverines got a layup by junior Kylen Green, then freshman Jackson Holcombe was fouled as he scored to push UVU’s lead to six.

He couldn’t get the ensuing free throw to drop, but the Wolverines got the offensive rebound and eventually got the ball to junior Ethan Potter for a monster dunk.

“That was huge,” UVU sophomore guard Tanner Toolson said. “That was a really pivotal point in the game. What separated us is we were able to get stops, we’re able to get second-chance opportunities, and those compiled. We’ve got to keep doing that every single game and continue to win the rebounding battle. We’ve been really good at that lately.”

Utah Tech never got closer than six points the rest of the way as UVU kept making the big plays on the boards as well as at both ends of the court.

The Wolverines ended up outrebounding the Trailblazers by 16 (35-19) including a 15-5 edge in offensive boards that turned into a 17-6 advantage in second-chance points.

“That was a big focal point for us, especially on the offensive rebounds,” Toolson said. “We’ve got a lot of size on this team, and Utah Tech doesn’t have a huge amount of size. We knew that was a place that we could dominate.”

Phillips said a lot of his team’s second-half success came down to effort and aggression when the ball went up.

“I think we were scoring pretty easy in the first half,” Phillips said. “I think our guys, like any guys, wanted to make it easy. We call it playing in a tuxedo where you score and we’ll score. We’ll get up and down. That’s just not how we operate.

“We challenged them at halftime and I said I’m just going to play the guys who get their knees burnt and jump on the ground. They really responded.”

UVU didn’t have a single player with more than five boards, but it was a team effort as 10 different Wolverines (of the 11 who played) had between two and five rebounds.

Another thing the made a big difference for the home team was how well it shared the basketball, finishing with 25 assists on 32 made field goals.

“That was big,” Phillips said. “I’m proud of the way we are playing.”

Toolson led the high-scoring offensive showcase with 18 points, while UVU also got double-figure scoring from junior Dominick Nelson (15 points), sophomore Trevan Leonhardt (14 points, all in the second half) and sophomore Carter Welling (13 points).

Former Lehi star Noa Gonsalves, now a senior, led Utah Tech with 18 points.

The victory pushed the Wolverine’s current win streak to eight games as UVU (13-6) remained undefeated in WAC play (5-0).

“We’ve been consistent in practice all year, trying to do all the little things and outplay people,” Toolson said. “I think that’s one of our biggest strengths. We’re physical and we want it every single game. Rebounding has been big, as has points in the paint. And lately shots have been falling, so we just got to keep this momentum rolling and keep winning.”

The Wolverines now head off for a challenging three-game road trip, starting at Cal-Baptist on Jan. 23. That contest is set to tipoff at 8 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPNU.