Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah Valley defeated Southern Utah 100-59, moving closer to a WAC title.
- The Wolverines remain undefeated at home, with a 12-0 record at the UCCU Center.
- Utah Valley needs one more win or a Grand Canyon loss to clinch a title share.
OREM — On Utah Valley's senior night, where the team didn't honor any players, as the two seniors have additional eligibility, the Wolverines cruised to a 100-59 win over in-state rival Southern Utah.
Utah Valley moves within a win of clinching a share of the regular season WAC title. The 41-point win is the largest of the season for Utah Valley against a Division-I opponent.
Utah Valley's magic number to clinch the WAC outright is two wins, needing a combination of two wins from Utah Valley or losses by Grand Canyon. Utah Valley is just one win or Grand Canyon loss from clinching at least a share of the regular season title.
If Utah Valley ties for first with Grand Canyon, it is possible that Grand Canyon will get the first seed as the conference goes off a seeding system for tiebreakers, though Utah Valley currently leads in the seeding system as it has flipped every week.
But as Utah Valley controls its own destiny, winning against Southern Utah was the first step. With the win, Utah Valley finishes 12-0 at the UCCU Center, which is the first time in program history that they have gone undefeated at home.
"Being able to stay undefeated at home was a big goal of ours," junior guard Dominick Nelson said. "We wanted it and we have been playing good all season."
Nelson finished with 17 points as he inches closer to a likely WAC Player of the Year award.
"I was really proud of the guys of how well we came out and defended early and not let them get out and run in transition and play championship basketball," Wolverines head coach Todd Phillips said. "It feels great right now and the guys got to celebrate, but we have two huge ones next week in Texas."
While hitting just three buckets, Utah Valley had an 11-2 lead to open up the game, with 5 points coming from the free-throw line early. Utah Valley made it a point to attack the basket with Southern Utah's small lineup that featured no players above 6-foot-8.
Southern Utah's first bucket came at the 14:30 mark on an elbow jumper from Jeffery Langston Jr, who hit back-to-back buckets to trim its deficit.
But Utah Valley continued to dominate the paint with a vicious posterizing dunk from Cory Wells which sent the crowd into a frenzy. The dunk sparked a 14-2 run for Utah Valley, who had a 25-8 lead with 10 minutes to go in the first half.
Cory Wells just put that man on a poster 🚀💥#GoUVU | #ValleyForged | #SCTop10pic.twitter.com/JkUXY5iuqD
— UVU Men's Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 1, 2025
The Wolverines dominated the paint Saturday, scoring 24 points in the first half and 32 in the second half to give Utah Valley the win.
The second half was similar to the first, with Utah Valley steadily growing its lead. Cade Brazier checked in for Southern Utah and immediately provided a bench spark, scoring 8 straight points for the Thunderbirds.
It was a big half for Toolson, though, who scored 14 of his 17 total points in the second half, shooting 6-of-9 from the field.
The Wolverines will close out the regular season in Texas, starting at Abilene Christian on March 6 before a final regular season game at Tarleton State on March 8. Utah Valley's first game in the WAC Tournament will be on March 12.
