Utah Valley drops to 15-5 overall and 5-2 in WAC play, moving into a tie for first place with UT Arlington. Southern Utah improves to 7-13 overall and 3-4 in conference play. The Thunderbirds have won three straight, all at home.

The teams traded five lead changes in the opening four minutes before Southern Utah used a 9-4 run to take a 19-13 lead with 11:24 left in the first half. Utah Valley answered with a 7-2 spurt to pull within 21-20, but the Thunderbirds rebuilt a six-point cushion at 30-24 with 5:36 on the clock. A Leonhardt layup and a Hawkins alley-oop dunk helped spark a 10-5 UVU run to close the period, trimming the deficit to 35-34 at halftime.

Four more lead changes came early in the second half, with UVU briefly taking a 44-42 lead after back-to-back threes from Trevan Leonhardt and Noah Taitz. Southern Utah responded with a 13-3 run to build a 55-47 advantage with 10:26 remaining. A Braden Housley three cut the margin to 58-54 with just over eight minutes to go, but the Thunderbirds countered with a 17-7 push to extend the lead to 75-61 with 3:27 left. Holcombe scored nine straight points to bring the Wolverines within 75-70 at the 2:09 mark, but SUU closed with an 8-0 run to seal the win.

Holcombe finished 11-for-19 from the field and added four assists, three steals, and two blocks to his double-double line. Leonhardt added 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists, while Isaac Hawkins chipped in 10 points off the bench.

Utah Valley shot 37.1% (26-for-70) from the field and 23.1% (6-for-26) from three, while Southern Utah shot 50.9% (28-for-55) overall and 52.2% (12-for-23) from deep. The Thunderbirds won the rebounding battle 42-35, while UVU held a 40-30 edge in points in the paint.

Utah Valley continues its road swing on Saturday at California Baptist. Tipoff in Riverside is set for 6 p.m. MT on ESPN+, with radio coverage on ESPN The Fan.