SAN DIEGO — After winning the Cancun Challenge Tournament, defeating Samford and South Dakota State, Utah Valley traveled to San Diego to take on a hot, San Diego State team.
While losers of their previous two Mountain West matchups — Fresno State and Boise State respectively — the Wolverines looked to make something happen at Viejas Arena.
Despite overcoming multiple 10+ point deficits, the Wolverines fell short in their efforts to the Aztecs 77-66.
It was a winnable game for Utah Valley, but a team total of 18 turnovers proved to be the difference maker as it allowed the Aztecs to fend off the Wolverines attack.
Jackson Holcombe led Utah Valley in scoring with 15 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing five assists in the effort.
Down a starter in Braden Housley who was out due to an undisclosed injury, fifth-year senior Noah Taitz took over in the starting lineup and finished with three points and two rebounds.
"We enabled the guys to just hang in there. I was very proud of our guys and our grit was there," head coach Todd Phillilps said. "I think they are an unbelievable offensive team and we actually guarded them pretty well."
The Wolverines held a 8-7 lead early, but the lack of size in the post allowed the Aztecs to punish Utah Valley.
It also opened up the floor for BJ Davis who scored eight straight points for the Aztecs to give San Diego State a 19-10 lead prompting a timeout by Phillips.
The well-used timeout allowed the Wolverines to pull within six thanks to a second 3-pointer of the game from Tyler Hendricks.
Hendricks finished with 15 points, all coming from beyond the arc, and grabbed four rebounds in the game.
Utah Valley lost its momentum swing, as San Diego State went on a 8-0 run that was capped off with free throws from a questionable flagrant foul on Isaac Davis.
However, the Wolverines kept in the fight with the 2023 Mountain West Champions. A 17-4 run that was supported by Hendricks' third and fourth 3-pointers of the game and sealed with a Trevan Leonhardt triple to move the lead to 33-32 in favor of San Diego State heading into half time.
Utah Valley opened the second half not giving themselves any favors. Just two makes on four attempts from the free throw line, a misplayed fastbreak, and three turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half allowed San Diego State to separate with a 41-34 lead.
The Wolverines also failed to corral a defensive rebound on a missed free throw attempt to further elevate their adversity.
San Diego State continued to grow its lead by hitting four straight field goals and holding the Wolverines to just two buckets over a six minute span.
But similar to the Wolverines in the first half, Utah Valley blossomed a 6-0 spurt that was part of a 10-2 run over three minutes to bring the San Diego State lead to four with eight minutes to play.
San Diego State put together an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 65-55 lead as the Wolverines had one last chance to put something together to take down the Aztecs.
Well, they made things a lot easier. Hayden Welling scored four points in 20 seconds then Leonhardt stole the ball and scored 13 seconds later to make it a three point game.
Despite trading blows, the Wolverines ran out of time and fell short.
