Poor Shooting In First Half Dooms Utah Valley In WAC Tourney Loss To NMSU

Mar 12, 2021, 11:07 PM

Trey Woodbury - Utah Valley Wolverines...

Utah Valley guard Trey Woodbury (Courtesy of Utah Valley Athletics)

(Courtesy of Utah Valley Athletics)

KSL Sports

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah Valley did not get the best start to their WAC Tournament semifinal as they fell to New Mexico State 78-62 on Friday in Las Vegas.

Trey Woodbury led all scorers with 34 points as Utah Valley was eliminated by New Mexico State in the WAC Tournament. Woodbury shot 8-of-19 from the field, 3-for-11 from the three-point line and 15-of-16 at the free throw line. JJ Overton added 11 points for the Wolverines.

Former Ute Donnie Tillman had 23 points to lead the Aggies. Jabari Rice chipped in 13 points.

NO QUIT! Jumpers are falling!!#UVU #GoUVU #WAChoops pic.twitter.com/x4oyOjjoZG

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 13, 2021

Utah Valley had a bad start to the game as they missed their first nine shots including three triples. New Mexico State had a 12-2 lead at the first media timeout. When the under-eight media timeout came, Utah Valley was able to score two buckets and get to the foul line two more times. The Aggies were up 19-10 with 7:47 left in the first half.

Late in the first half, Utah Valley made a run as they pulled within four points, 26-22 with 1:21 left in the half. Trey Woodbury was up to 11 points for the Wolverines. New Mexico State banked in a shot in the lane at the buzzer to take a 32-23 lead at halftime. Utah Valley shot just 24 percent (7-29) from the field.

Midway through the second half, New Mexico State doubled up Utah Valley, 22-11 and was up by 20. JJ Overton scored five straight points as UVU made one last surge to try and get back into the game as they trailed NMSU 61-51 with 4:48 left.

Utah Valley pulled within nine points before JJ Overton was assessed a technical foul, which gave the Aggies two free throws, then they made two more at the foul line because of a blocking foul called which led to the technical foul. After the four-point swing, NMSU had a 66-53 lead with under four minutes remaining.

Utah Valley ended their season with an 11-11 overall record and 9-5 in Western Athletic Conference play.