Utah Valley Holds Off UMKC 75-67
Jan 24, 2019, 7:18 PM | Updated: 8:48 pm
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Utah Valley Wolverines pulled off a 75-67 win over UMKC.
Jake Toolson had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead UVU, Richard Harward added 16 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.
T.J. Washington scored 11 points to go with 6 assists.
The Wolverines had a good shooting performance from the field with 52 percent but only made 22 percent of their three-point attempts.
Only two UMKC players reached double figures in scoring, led by Xavier Bishop with 22 points and Brandon McKissic scored 14 points.
The first half was mostly a back-and-forth affair but the Wolverines trailed with seven minutes left in the opening half of play when they went on a 13-3 run to take a 29-26 lead with 5 minutes left.
Utah Valley had their biggest lead of the half when they held a 31-26 advantage with 4 minutes remaining in the first half.
That 13-3 run earlier was inflated to 18-2 and Utah Valley’s lead was up to 10 with one minute left in the first half.
After the first 20 minutes of play, the Wolverines had a 40-30 lead at the break. Jake Toolson had 10 points in the opening half while T.J. Washington chipped in 8 points.
UMKC pulled within two points early in the second half before the Wolverines packed their lead to 55-50 with 8 minutes left.
The Kangaroos outscored the Wolverines 37-35 in the second half and the Wolverines were able to hold off any comebacks by UMKC.
Utah Valley improved to 13-7 overall and 3-3 in the WAC. They will wrap up their two-game road trip on Saturday against Chicago State at 1 p.m. on the WAC Digital Network.
Chicago State is 3-16 overall and 0-4 in conference play. They have lost their last eight games.
The Wolverines dominated in both meetings last season with an 83-58 win at home and a 97-57 victory in Chicago.