UVU Wins 20th Straight Game At Home With Victory Over Sam Houston State

OREM, Utah – The Utah Valley Wolverines won their 20^th straight home game at UCCU Center with a 85-79 win over Sam Houston State.

Road To No. 20

The Bearkats raced out to a 9-5 lead in the first five minutes before being quickly caught by UVU. The two teams played back and forth basketball for most of the first half. UVU was able to extend its lead to six at 28-22 but ultimately took a five point, 36-31 lead into the halftime break.

Half.

UVU 36 – 31 SHSU

📊Stat Leaders

PTS: 8 | White
REB: 5 | Nakwaasah
AST: 3 | MacDougall
STL: 2 | White#GoUVU #WACmbb #ProtectTheDen https://t.co/SXCJeTJVQH pic.twitter.com/yoo6u7SrQN

— UVU Athletics (@GoUVU) December 22, 2018

Sam Houston was able to overcome the halftime deficit early in the second half, taking the lead at 38-37. The two teams again played back and forth basketball with UVU’s Jake Toolson responding from each Sam Houston basket with a 3-pointer of his own until the Wolverines built a four-point lead at 51-47.

UVU remained in front the rest of the way for most of the second half, until the Bearkats caught up at 74-all with less than four minutes remaining.

The Wolverines scored six straight points to take an 80-74 lead and held Sam Houston without a basket until just 35 seconds remained on the clock.

A poor, long inbounds pass by UVU was intercepted and led to a 3-pointer by Marcus Harris to cut the home team’s lead to just one at 80-79.

Sam Houston would fail to make another basket down the stretch as they lengthened the game by sending UVU to the foul line over and over again. The Wolverines made their free throws to ultimate take the six-point decision.

By The Numbers

Jake Toolson led the game in scoring with 20 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting performance from the field. He also drained two 3-pointers.

Connor Toolson was also a strong performer as he finished with 18 points with five rebounds. He also made history as he surpassed the 1,000 point mark, becoming just the eight player in program history to do so.

With this basket, senior guard Conner Toolson became just the eighth Wolverine in UVU men’s basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.#GoUVU pic.twitter.com/eEdPTSIrSP

— UVU Athletics (@GoUVU) December 22, 2018

“It feels great, it’s a great accomplishment,” said Toolson on reaching the mark after the game. “I didn’t know I was that close, so it’s cool to hear that.”

It wasn’t just down the stretch that the Wolverines made their free throws, but all game as they led the Bearkats 40-13 in free throw attempts. UVU converted on 80 percent of those opportunites.

Next Up

UVU will conclude its non-conference schedule against Fresno State on December 29 at 5 p.m. in Fresno.