(Orem, Utah - Jan. 18, 2025) - The Trailblazers were unable to keep a two-point halftime lead on Saturday afternoon in the "Old Hammer Rivalry" falling 96-80 to the Wolverines at the UCCU Center.
Utah Tech (6-13, 2-2 WAC) was led in scoring by senior guard
Noa Gonsalves with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field while adding two steals, one assist and one rebound.
Beon Riley and
Hakim Byrd also each tallied double figure contests finishing with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Byrd led the Trailblazers with a team-leading five assists while Riley added four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Utah Valley (13-6, 5-0 WAC), who won its eighth straight game, were led in scoring by Tanner Toolson with 18 points while three other starters also tallied double figures.
How It Happened
The opening of the first half saw the teams trade the lead in the early going with the Trailblazers jumping ahead 19-18 after a pair of free throws by
Samuel Ariyibi.
With Utah Valley going back in front, 32-28 with just over six minutes left in the opening half, a three-pointer by
Justin Bieker, a pair of free throws by Riley and a fastbreak layup by
Madiba Owona keyed a quick 7-2 run for UT to take a 35-34 advantage.
A layup for the Wolverines put UVU ahead 40-39, but a three-point play by
Tennessee Rainwater in the final seconds of the first half gave the Trailblazers a 42-40 lead at the break.
The second half got underway with UVU going on a 12-2 run to go ahead 52-44, but two fields goals from Riley and a layup from Gonsalves kept UT only down a pair.
The Wolverines ripped off a 18-9 run over the next five minutes to build back up an 11-point lead (70-59).
After the Trailblazers were able to cut it down to eight on three occasions, the final one being on a layup by Riley with 5:43 left to play, UVU answered with an emphatic dunk by Carter Welling as they led by double digits the rest of the contest.
Numbers to Know
- The Trailblazers fall to 3-6 against Utah Valley in program history and 1-5 on the road in Orem.
- Gonsalves moved up three spots in the career top 10 scoring list as he now sits seventh all-time with 1,054 points.
- Byrd notched his team-leading sixth contest this season with five or more assists.
- Utah Tech shot a season-high 58.6 percent (34-58) from the field.
- The Trailblazers connected on 31.3 percent (5-16) from three-point range and 87.5 percent (7-8) from the free throw line. The eight free throw attempts tied a season low with Montana on Nov. 25.
- UT led the contest in steals (11-7) as the 11 steals were the second-most in a game this season.
- UVU's 96 points were the most scored by a Trailblazer opponent this season and the Wolverines shot 55.6 percent (32-58) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-19) from beyond the arc and 77.4 percent (24-31) from the free throw line. The 24 made free throws were a season high for an opponent while the 31 attempts tied a season high with Wyoming on Nov. 16.
What's Next
The Trailblazers return home next Saturday to host Grand Canyon (12-5, 2-1 WAC) at 7 p.m. at Burns Arena.
