Wolverines drop third straight after faltering late


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OREM — Utah Valley is still searching for its first win over an NCAA opponent since coach Mark Pope was hired at the end of March.

The Wolverines, employing a lineup of mostly inexperienced players at the Division I level due to injuries and transfers yet to become eligible, dropped their third straight contest, 76-72, to Montana State Tuesday night to fall to 2-5 on the season.

Konner Frey led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, but Utah Valley committed 18 turnovers, including 11 in the second half.

"We just were turning the ball over down the stretch in the last two minutes and we're just getting a little frantic, we kind of get out of character," Pope said. "I think guys start thinking about the game differently, which is what we don't do."

Frey's 3-pointer got the hosts within three with just less than three minutes left, and Hayden Schneck's 3-point play tied the game at 72-72 with 1:53 to go. The Wolverines forced two misses on the Wildcats' next possession but also allowed two offensive rebounds before a tip-in gave the visitors a 74-72 advantage.

"When we're not rebounding the ball defensively that takes us out of that transition game that we like to do that worked really well for us the whole game," Frey said.

Montana State held Utah Valley without a basket the rest of the way and made two of its four free-throw attempts to seal the victory.

"Guys are trying to kind of take it upon themselves to be the guy that makes the play down the stretch and that always leads to bad results," Pope said. "We don't have a guy on this team that we can just give the ball to and go get a bucket. We need to iron that out. Our team is so young in terms of minutes played."

Pope pointed to the immaturity of his team as a whole because of its limited experience and said that it's on him to fix the mistakes they're making, which were also evident when the Wolverines squandered a seven-point first half lead against UC Davis at home over the weekend to eventually lose 82-70.

"I think we're making progress," he added. "We have just a massive rebounding problem. If we could rebound the basketball, we'd be 2-0 this week."

Utah Valley relies on its transition game to pick up a number of layups and good looks, but has struggled to maintain its pace later on in games.

"This is an unbelievable opportunity for us to grow," Pope said. "The one thing that the guys are doing that I'm really proud of — when you play as hard as they're playing right now then you grow. We need to shepherd them a little bit better, but we'll get there. We're going to have some hard times, obviously."

On the positive side, the Wolverines did hold Montana State leading scorer Marcus Colbert, who came in averaging 18.3 points per game, to nine points on 3 of 11 shooting.

"We are breaking every rule of the game of basketball known to mankind," Pope said of his team's defense. "We are throwing the most ridiculous, absurd defensive packages on the floor that you've ever heard of because it's just grabbing at straws right now. And it's a fun experiment. The stuff that my staff is coming up with to try to guard guys — I've never heard of it before."

The Wolverines have wins over NAIA teams Great Falls and Antelope Valley, and will seek their first against an NCAA school when Southern Utah comes to the UCCU Center Saturday.

"I've got all guys that have never played before," Pope said of the added excitement of in-state contests. "This game, every game is like Christmas. It's a chance for them to go play a Division I basketball game."


Kyle Spencer is a freelance journalist residing in Orem. You can find him on Twitter @kyledspencer or reach him by email at kspence04@gmail.com.

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