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OREM — Welcome back, Akolda Manyang.
In his first action since sustaining an ankle injury against Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 6, Manyang scored a game-high 22 points, pulled down nine rebounds and had six blocks to help UVU dominate Chicago State 83-58 on Saturday night in the UCCU Center.
UVU improves to a program-best 14-5 overall and 3-0 in Western Athletic Conference play. The Wolverines had a 31.3-point average margin of victory in their first three conference games.
"Proud of our guys," UVU head coach Mark Pope said. "We were really blessed with this three-game homestand to start conference … so that's a huge advantage for us, and my guys took care of business in a very, very professional way."
Manyang got started early, hitting a leaning hook shot to give UVU a 2-0 lead. He followed it up with a spin move and dunk on Chicago State defender Patrick Szpir.
"He's obviously huge," Conner Toolson said about Manyang. "He's tough for Chicago State because they didn't have a guy over 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6. And I think, just because he had to miss the last couple of games, that he wanted to come in and make a big impact."
However, Chicago State (2-18, 0-3) wasn't going away easily in the first half. Fred Simms Jr. hit two free throws with 8:58 left to cut the UVU lead to 19-18. Chicago State took its first lead of the game, 20-19, on its next possession.
Jake Toolson, who finished with 14 points, hit a 3-pointer to put UVU back in front, 22-20, and Chicago State never led again.
The Wolverines took a 38-37 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Whatever Pope said to them worked. The Wolverines outscored Chicago State 22-11 in the first nine minutes of the half.
Kenneth Ogbe had the play of the night as he dunked over Cameron Bowles with 12:45 left to play that gave UVU a 58-38 lead. Ogbe finished with seven points on the night.
Conner Toolson finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the 3-point line. His cousin Jake Toolson was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Fred Sims Jr. led Chicago State with 15 points while Glen Burns also finished in double digits with 12.
The Wolverines also had 24 assists on 29 made baskets.
🎥: Here's Kenneth Ogbe's emphatic dunk for @UVUmbb in the second half tonight vs. Chicago State@kylesportsbiaspic.twitter.com/WNZUVkiJwr
— Brandon Judd (@brandonljudd) January 14, 2018
Next up for UVU is a Southwest trip. The Wolverines take on University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Thursday night before they play defending WAC champion New Mexico State in Las Cruces on Saturday night.
"We gotta get really healthy," Pope said. "This is the hardest travel trip. It's two great teams. These two teams are really, really good, and it's going to be a great opportunity for us to see how much we've grown, and how much more we can grow."
Kyle McDonald is sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias
