Seattle University used tough defense to hold Utah Valley, one of the highest scoring teams in the Western Athletic Conference, 15 points under its scoring average for the season as the Redhawks defeated the Wolverines, 73-62, Thursday night in a WAC men’s collegiate basketball game at the UCCU Center.
After Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.) made the first basket of the game, Utah Valley put together a 12-4 scoring run, led by five points from Konner Frey, to take a 12-6 lead five minutes into the game. The Redhawks held the Wolverines without a field goal for nearly six full minutes, going on a 15-1 scoring run, led by seven points from Brendan Westendorf (Auburn, Wash.), to pull ahead 21-13 halfway through the first half.
Jaden Jackson hit a three-pointer with six minutes remaining in the first half to close the Utah Valley deficit to seven, but the Redhawks responded with seven unanswered points over the next four minutes, punctuated by a dunk from Chibuogwu, to take their biggest lead of the first half at 34-20. Utah Valley scored six straight points to close out the half, but Seattle U still held a 34-26 lead at halftime.
Westendorf opened the second half with a three-pointer, but Utah Valley responded with eight unanswered points, featuring three-pointers by Marcel Davis and Ivory Young, to pull to within three at 37-34. Seattle U came right back with an 8-1 scoring run, including five points by Jack Crook (Manchester, England), to extend its lead back to 10 at 45-35.
Utah Valley (9-12, 3-3 WAC) went on a 9-2 scoring run over a three-minute span to pull to within five at 51-46 with 11:12 remaining in the second half. After Andrew Bastien made a free throw with 6:37 left in regulation to cut the Seattle U lead to six, the Redhawks put the game away with an 11-1 scoring run over a two-and-a-half minute span.
Westendorf shot 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line as he tied his season high with 20 points, plus he collected six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Crook earned 14 points and five rebounds, Chibuogwu contributed 11 points, and Aaron Menzies (Manchester, England) added eight points, six rebounds, and two blocked shots to the winning effort.
When asked about Seattle U’s plan in the final five minutes after four Redhawks had fouled out, Westendorf said on the radio postgame show, “Everyone’s interchangeable, so we are comfortable playing wherever we need to on the floor. It was a physical game, but I am really glad we got the win.”
For the third consecutive game, Seattle U made at least 50 percent of its field goal attempts, going 26-for-52. The Redhawks scored 20 points off 16 Utah Valley turnovers and allowed the Wolverines to score only 11 points off 15 Seattle U turnovers.
Davis led the Wolverines with 16 points and five assists, plus he pulled down six rebounds, while Frey finished with 14 points and eight rebounds before he fouled out and Jackson contributed 12 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three steals. As a team, Utah Valley shot just 30.9 percent (17-of-55) from the field, including 8-of-26 from behind the three-point line, and 74.1 percent (20-of-27) from the free throw line.
Seattle University (9-11, 3-3 WAC) closes out the first half of the conference schedule with a game at WAC-leading Grand Canyon Saturday, Jan. 30, starting at 7 p.m. local time (6 p.m. Pacific time). Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the game live on 770 AM KTTH starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff.