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Harmon scores 19 as Utah Valley beats BYU for second straight year

The Wolverines are now 5-4 on the season, while the Cougars moved to 5-5.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Valley Wolverines head coach Mark Madsen shouts directions to his team in a game last season between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Utah Valley Wolverines. For a second straight year, the Wolverines beat the Cougars on Wednesday night.

Provo • Justin Harmon had 19 points in Utah Valley’s 75-60 victory over BYU on Wednesday night.

Harmon was 7 of 12 shooting, including 1 for 3 from distance, and went 4 for 8 from the line for the Wolverines (5-4). Aziz Bandaogo scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. Blaze Nield was 2 of 4 shooting, including 2 for 3 from distance, and went 4 for 4 from the line to finish with 10 points.

“BYU is a great team and they are extremely tough at home,” Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen said. “Our guys played well and shot the ball well. We played with great passion. We have great respect for the BYU program. I can’t say enough about the players in this program. Every player that went on the court tonight contributed.”

The Cougars (5-5) were led by Fousseyni Traore, who recorded 18 points and seven rebounds. Rudi Williams added 15 points and two steals for BYU. In addition, Gideon George had 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

“We are working really hard to find ourselves right now,” said BYU head coach Mark Pope. “There’s a lot of things that we are not doing great right now. We know we are not playing very well right now. The guys are super committed to trying to get better and that is our job. So that is what I look forward to doing.”

Bandaogo scored 10 points in the first half and Utah Valley went into halftime trailing 38-34. Utah Valley outscored BYU by 19 points in the second half. Harmon led the way with 10 second-half points.

This was UVU’s second straight win over the Cougars. The Wolverines won a 72-65 contest last season at the UCCU Center.