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OREM — Before making it to Saturday's rivalry game with Southern Utah, Western Athletic Conference-leading Utah Valley first had to take care of business in their first game in a week.
Returning to play for the first time since eking out a 76-69 win over Utah Tech, the Wolverines did just that.
Trey Woodbury totaled 16 points and four assists, and Blaze Nield added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists off the bench to help Utah Valley stay atop the Western Athletic Conference with a 71-55 win Wednesday night over California Baptist at the UCCU Center.
Aziz Bandaogo had 10 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Wolverines (19-6, 10-2 WAC).
"I was really proud of our guys and the way we took care of the ball tonight," Utah Valley coach Mark Madsen said. "The ball was moving pretty well and it's fun for our guys when the ball is moving like that. California Baptist is a tough team and they've beaten us in the past. They've had players go off on us before. We've been preaching all week that we need to be ready to go. Our focus level was high, and we did a good job of taking care of the ball. Five turnovers for us is a great milestone in terms of where we want to go."
Bloundeau Tchoukuiegno and Hunter Goodrick each scored 12 points for the Lancers (13-12, 5-7 WAC), and Utah transfer Riley Battin added 11 points and nine rebounds for California Baptist.
UVU opened the game shooting 57% from the field and forced seven turnovers in 10 minutes to take a commanding 17-6 lead midway through the first half.
Woodbury scored 9 points, and the Wolverines shot 44% in the first half to take a 34-23 halftime lead. UVU scored 16 points off nine turnovers before the break, and never trailed to stay atop the WAC standings.
"We've got a group of guys who can get out and guard," Nield said. "Sometimes we get excited and wanted to pressure and pressure; sometimes we get into foul trouble because of it. But tonight we were able to execute, get out on the break, and get some dunks and get rolling."
Utah Valley stretched the lead as high as 20 points with 8:10 remaining before salting away a 16-point win, out-scoring the Lancers 29-20 off the bench, scoring 21 points off 13 turnovers and assisting on 17 of 28 made baskets.
The Wolverines will host in-state rival Southern Utah in a battle of two of the top teams in the WAC. Tipoff is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. MST.
