Thursday, December 29
Orem, Utah
7:00 PM
10-3,0-1WAC
64
at
80
Utah Valley
10-4,1-0WAC
1
2
F
Sam Houston
25
39
64
Utah Valley
38
42
80
Photo by: Lawrence Thomas
Kats fall flat at Utah Valley
12/29/2022 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OREM, Utah — Not much seemed to go right for Sam Houston in an 80-66 loss to Utah Valley at the UCCU Center in the WAC opener on Thursday.
The Bearkats (10-3, 0-1 WAC) could not find the bottom of the net on open shots and shot a pedestrian 33 percent from the floor. The Wolverines (10-4, 1-0) couldn't miss and shot a blistering 51 percent and knocked down 11 3-pointers.
Qua Grant scored 16 points and had seven rebounds, and Jaden Ray finished with 13 points. Donte Powers chipped in 10 points while Cameron Huefner added nine.
The Bearkats struggled on offense in the first half as the Wolverines jumped out to an early lead. Sam Houston finally started to put things together when Powers knocked down a 3 and Kian Scroggins scored in the paint to cut the lead to 19-17 midway through the period.
The shots quit falling after that.
Utah Valley went on a 12-2 run to go up 31-20 at the 3:27 mark as the Kats went just 1 for 8 during that stretch. Jaden Ray finally ended the scoring drought, but the Wolverines were able to take a 38-25 lead at the break as Sam Houston shot just 26 percent from the field.
Utah Valley got off to hot start to begin the second half to break open the game and led by as many as 27 at 75-48 with just under five minutes to go in the game.
The Kats stay on the road to face New Mexico State on Saturday in Las Cruces at 5 p.m. CST.
The Bearkats (10-3, 0-1 WAC) could not find the bottom of the net on open shots and shot a pedestrian 33 percent from the floor. The Wolverines (10-4, 1-0) couldn't miss and shot a blistering 51 percent and knocked down 11 3-pointers.
Qua Grant scored 16 points and had seven rebounds, and Jaden Ray finished with 13 points. Donte Powers chipped in 10 points while Cameron Huefner added nine.
The Bearkats struggled on offense in the first half as the Wolverines jumped out to an early lead. Sam Houston finally started to put things together when Powers knocked down a 3 and Kian Scroggins scored in the paint to cut the lead to 19-17 midway through the period.
The shots quit falling after that.
Utah Valley went on a 12-2 run to go up 31-20 at the 3:27 mark as the Kats went just 1 for 8 during that stretch. Jaden Ray finally ended the scoring drought, but the Wolverines were able to take a 38-25 lead at the break as Sam Houston shot just 26 percent from the field.
Utah Valley got off to hot start to begin the second half to break open the game and led by as many as 27 at 75-48 with just under five minutes to go in the game.
The Kats stay on the road to face New Mexico State on Saturday in Las Cruces at 5 p.m. CST.
Team Stats
SHSU
UVU
FG%
.328
.508
3FG%
.304
.344
FT%
.765
.600
RB
36
43
TO
12
16
STL
8
4
Game Leaders
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
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