Utah Valley Basketball Drops To UT Rio Grande Valley On Off Shooting Night
Jan 13, 2024, 7:41 PM | Updated: 7:53 pm
(Courtesy of Utah Valley Athletics)
EDINBURG, Texas – The Utah Valley Wolverines men’s basketball couldn’t fight from behind and fell to the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros on the road, 76-68.
UVU even outrebounded UTRGV and won the turnover battle but shooting struggles doomed the Wolverines in Texas.
Trevin Dorius led all scorers with 14 points. Three Vaqueros’ starters scored 14 as well.
Final in Texas#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/Ph6D0MiIYU
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 14, 2024
First Half
The Vaqueros got off to a quick start against the Wolverines.
It took just seven minutes for all five starters to get on the board and UTRGV led 14-6.
Grady cleans it up!#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/EBtLylwcQu
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 14, 2024
Utah Valley fought back behind a few buckets from Trevin Dorius.
An 11-6 run closed the Vaqueros lead to just three.
K’mani for 3⃣#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/SC72PcybWf
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 14, 2024
Once UVU brought it back within a few possessions, UTRGV did everything it could to stay out in front.
The Vaqueros held the Wolverines to just 31.4% shooting in the first half.
Utah Valley kept it close with some hustle defense of its own.
Drake Allen with the REJECTION😤#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/YULCE0KCOq
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 14, 2024
Dorius leads all scorers in the first half with 8.
The Wolverines trailed the Vaqueros by five at the break, 33-28.
Halftime in Texas!#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/9fmPkJTNGm
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 14, 2024
Second Half
UTRGV opened the half with an 11-5 run to open its first double-digit lead of the game.
Utah Valley responded with an 11-3 run to close the lead back down to three.
Trevan Leonhardt for THREEE!#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/wyQ5Q2Exqu
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 14, 2024
Just like in the first half, the Vaqueros held strong and didn’t allow Utah Valley to take a lead.
The Wolverines kept fighting but couldn’t close the lead to any less than three.
A Dorius DUNK!!!#GoUVU | #ValleyForged pic.twitter.com/veYbErqJla
— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) January 14, 2024
With four minutes left, UVU trailed by four, 65-61.
The Vaqueros played strong defense down the stretch and outscored UVU by four to secure the win.
Utah Valley fell to 8-9 with the 8-point loss to UTRGV, 76-68.
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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.