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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — One of the goals that Utah Valley men's basketball coach Mark Pope set for himself and his team this year was to win in places that the Wolverines haven't won since Pope became the head coach in 2015.
On Thursday night against Cal State Bakersfield, Conner Toolson and Kenneth Ogbe made sure Pope would get his first win in the Icardo Center.
Toolson and Ogbe combined to hit nine 3-pointers and UVU used a 17-2 run to start the second half to beat the Roadrunners, 70-47.
With the win, the Wolverines improved to 20-8 overall and 9-3 for second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
In a game that seemed eerily similar to the WAC opener back on Jan. 6 in the UCCU Center, both teams came out with a physical mindset and struggled to hit shots.
Brent Wrapp gave Bakersfield a 9-4 lead on a layup with 14:19 to play, but UVU's Akolda Manyang, who finished with 11 points, came right back with a layup of his own.
Brandon Randolph hit one of his two 3-pointers on the night that gave UVU a 12-9 lead. Conner Toolson followed that up with a jumper and then Ogbe and Toolson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give UVU a 20-13 lead with 6:53 to play in the first half.
The UVU lead got to as big as 10 when Conner Toolson hit another 3-pointer with 5:23 to play.
However, Bakersfield finished the first half on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to four going into the halftime locker room.
In the Jan. 6 matchup, UVU led by one point going into the halftime locker room. Then, the Wolverines proceeded to outscore the Roadrunners by 32, en route to the 33-point win in the WAC opener for both teams.
It was almost the exact same situation on Thursday night. Toolson and Ogbe each hit 3-pointers, Isaac Neilson had a couple of free throws and a layup and Randolph had a layup of his own. Before Bakersfield knew what hit them, UVU was up by 14 with 16:27 to play. The Wolverines never looked back.
Bakersfield cut the deficit to 16 on an Aly Moataz dunk with 5:05 to play.
But Ogbe and Toolson hit back-to-back 3-pointers once again to push the lead to 22 with 4:19 to play.
Akolda Manyang had four blocks on the night and set the UVU single-season record for blocks with 58. Manyang passed former Wolverine Ben Aird, who set the record in the 2012-13 season with 56.
On the night, UVU shot 52 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point land.
Next up for UVU is a Saturday night contest at Grand Canyon. UVU has a 2-game lead over the 'Lopes for second place in the WAC Standings.
With a win, UVU will assure themselves of no-less than the No. 3-seed at the WAC Tournament March 8-10 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN3. Kyle McDonald is sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias
