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Orem • After a 10-point loss to open Western Athletic Conference play at Grand Canyon, Utah Valley looked forward to its league home opener Thursday against perennial bottom feeder Chicago State. However, for the Wolverines' things didn't go quite as planned.
Chicago State stunned UVU, 70-61.
Before its upset win, Chicago State had gone nearly two years without a conference victory. The last win? A 65-44 victory over Utah Valley in Chicago. The Cougars gave the Wolverines a run for their money in Orem last year, but a last-second shot by former point guard Marcel Davis lifted Utah Valley. Davis was nowhere to be found on this night.
The shooting to start the game matched the snowy weather outside, as the teams opened up a combined 0 for 14. That icy shooting ultimately doomed Utah Valley (8-9, 0-2).
"We came out really tentative, really tight, we didn't shoot the ball well. We're 4 for 27 from the 3-point line. We got ourselves uncharacteristically slow in the wrong places and fast in the wrong places," said Utah Valley coach Mark Pope.
The Wolverines overcame their shaky start and closed the half with a 14-7 run that trimmed the deficit to five at the break.
However, the Cougars opened the second half with a flurry of 3-pointers and opened up a 13-point lead. Guard Clemmy Owens capped a 21-2 run with a three. He shot 4 of 5 from beyond the arc for the night.
UVU guard Jordan Poydras checked in for the first time with 14:04 to play and sparked the Wolverines. After back-to-back Utah Valley stops, forward Isaac Neilson helped UVU cut the deficit to six with a dunk and then a finger roll. Poydras then pulled the Wolverines to within three after being fouled on a 3-point attempt and converting all three free throws, but that was as close as the Wolverines got.
"My guys are really twisted up right now, pretty vulnerable right now," said Pope. "We have to kind of find a way to come together as a team and show some toughness and kind of rediscover ourselves. We don't have a ton of room for error right now, just as fragile as my team is."
The Wolverines don't have much time to get things right with UMKC coming to town Saturday. The Kangaroos may be looking to bury a vulnerable team in the conference standings. The last time these two teams met, UMKC overcame a 13-point Utah Valley lead and eliminated the Wolverines from the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas.