Utah Valley pulls away from UT Rio Grande Valley for 4th straight win

OREM — Utah Valley forward Trevin Dorius said playoff basketball has come early in the Western Athletic Conference.

"Everyone is within one or two games of each other right now," he said. "We have to turn it on now."

And ever since the Wolverines seemingly hit rock bottom two weeks ago in their loss to Tarleton State, they certainly look the part of a team hitting their stride.

Led by Dorius' 15-point, 14-rebound double-double, Utah Valley (13-14, 8-8 WAC) used another second-half eruption to put away the pesky UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros 70-59 Thursday night in front of a nearly filled lower bowl of 2,601 fans at the UCCU Center.

In doing so, the Wolverines not only handed UTRGV (6-20, 2-13 WAC) their ninth straight loss, keeping the Vaqueros winless in February, but they also snatched their fourth consecutive win, propelling them into fifth place in the WAC. They're just one game behind fourth-place UT Arlington, and a half-game ahead of Stephen F. Austin, who lost 69-49 at Seattle U Thursday.

The Lumberjacks visit Orem Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. MST for Utah Valley's annual Homecoming game.

Daylen Williams led UTRGV with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double of his own.

Wolverines head coach Todd Phillips said once his team stopped settling for certain shots, the game changed.

"We made some adjustments and we came out and hit them instead of them hitting us," Phillips said. "I was really proud of our guys and the effort they had tonight."

That second-half effort has been the difference, especially in the last two home games for Utah Valley. The Wolverines scored 39 second-half points after putting up 44 in their rout of Abilene Christian on Feb. 10.

It's a stark contrast from their loss to Tarleton State on Feb. 8, where the Wolverines gave up a 15-point halftime lead in that 72-61 loss. Phillips said trust has allowed his team to finally put it together after their four-game losing streak a month ago.

"We've grown from that losing streak a lot," he said. "We've just depended on guys being in the right spot to make the right plays."

Dorius, a Utah State transfer, and Ethan Potter have been just two of those players making all the right moves for the Wolverines recently. Potter scored 16 points and had seven rebounds, briefly threatening to set a new career-high in points, just a week and a half removed from doing so in back-to-back games.

It was the 7-foot-tall Dorius, aptly named "The Wasatch Front," who had the biggest impact on the night, though. The graduate forward snagged six of his 14 rebounds in the first nine minutes of the game.

Dorius said the recent turnaround, however, isn't possible without his teammate Potter.

"You can see when guards drive at us, they're constantly thinking about how to get over us," Dorius said. "Because of what he does with me during the game, he's going to help us go far."

Potter and Dorius certainly did help the Wolverines go far, combining for 20 points in the first half, but the Vaqueros came out even better, surging ahead to a 32-31 halftime edge, thanks to a great shooting display to the tune of 54%.

"Their percentage in the first half was way too high for us," Phillips said. "Credit them, UTRGV ended up hitting some shots."

Dorius said the Vaqueros were showing more energy than the Wolverines were, and that led to a heated halftime conversation.

"We had a real heart-to-heart and got a little angry at each other," he said.

That anger spilled over onto the floor as Utah Valley took control five minutes into the second half with an 8-0 run, giving them a 45-40 lead. The lead continued to mushroom after that, growing to as large as 18 with under three minutes to play.

And just like in their game against Abilene Christian, the Wolverines held UTRGV to just 1-of-14 shooting in a nearly seven-minute stretch. They also gathered 14 assists on their 16 made field goals in the second half.

Dorius said the recent second-half power surges are just glimpses of what the Wolverines want to be heading into the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas in two weeks — though there are still battles left to be won before then.

"You can't expect to beat every team by 20 or 30 points," he said. "We expect every game is going to be tough."

But Phillips said his team has come a long way since their loss to Tarleton State.

"We're getting there; we haven't had a great game yet," he said. "Our guys are confident, though; that's big this time of the year."

Dorius is one of the players gaining that confidence. He earmarked the loss to the Texans as a turning point in the season; the next day in practice, the team came together and made their intentions known that they wanted another WAC championship.

"We come out here to win, and we play for each other as brothers now," Dorius said.

And he was not afraid to send that message to the rest of the WAC as he finished his press conference.

"We're going to be there in Vegas, and we're going to show you all what we're capable of."

Related topics