Utah Valley Wolverines vs Utah Utes Match Player Stats On Dec 15, 2020

Timmy Allen scored a season-high 19 points and collected six rebounds to lead Utah to a 75-67 nonconference victory over Utah Valley on Tuesday night.

Branden Carlson scored 14 points while Rylan Jones and Alfonso Plummer added 12 apiece to help the Utes get their third victory of the season. Utah (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) held the Wolverines without a point over the final 3:21 of the second half to survive a late rally.

Evan Cole led Utah Valley with 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting and 10 rebounds. Trey Woodbury added 10 points and eight assists. The Wolverines (2-4) shot 51 percent from the field, but ultimately could not overcome a 15-point second-half deficit.

Utah Valley struggled with turnovers early in the first half. The Wolverines made up for it with efficient shooting. They hit nine of their first 16 field goal attempts and had seven assists on those nine baskets.

It helped Utah Valley jump in front of the Utes quickly. The Wolverines built up a 22-17 lead behind back-to-back baskets from Cole and Colby Leifson.

Utah came to life late in the first half behind strong play from Carlson. He scored back-to-back baskets and hit a pair of free throws to fuel a 13-2 run that put the Utes up 30-24.

Once Utah got in front, the Utes gradually pulled away. Allen capped an 11-2 run with a pair of dunks to extend Utah's lead to 52-37 early in the second half.

Utah Valley hung around and kept things close deep into the half. The Wolverines made 10 of 11 shots over a nine-minute stretch to make it a one-possession game. Cole chipped in five of those baskets himself and Woodbury's layup cut Utah's advantage to 68-67 with 3:21 remaining.

Jones came to the rescue for the Utes. He hit a pair of free throws and then stole the ball to set up a layup from Carlson to extend Utah's lead to 72-67 with 1:35 left.

--Field Level Media