UVU men’s basketball sweeps midwest road trip with win at Chicago State

Chicago – For the first time since joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2013, Utah Valley University swept a a road weekend in men’s basketball. The Wolverines hit 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal an 82-76 victory over Chicago State on Saturday afternoon to earn the weekend sweep. UVU defeated UMKC on Friday night where they went 10-of-10 down the stretch to close that win out.

“What a great week this was for our team,” said Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope to wolverinegreen.com. “There was a lot going on in this game. We were in a very quiet gym with an early start time. It’s been a long road trip with a lot of planes, trains and automobiles. All that stuff added up to make this a different feel for us, which we knew it would. I’m so proud of how our guys battled through all that stuff and came away with the win.”

With the win, UVU improves to 9-11 overall and 3-2 in WAC play. They are currently fourth in the WAC.

Trailing 35-33 to start the second half after a slow start to the game, UVU used a 28-10 run to take a 61-45 lead with 11:21 left to play in the game.  UVU was able to hold off a late 29-13 run for Chicago State that tied the game up at 74 by hitting free throws down the stretch. Jaden Jackson and Konner Frey were key in that category as they went a combined 8-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch. Jackson scored a game-high 22 points, including 17 in the second half. Four other Wolverines scored in double figures as well. Frey had 15, Ivory Young with 14, Hayden Schenck with 11, and Marcel Davis with 10. Davis and Frey also recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds each.

The two teams combined for 25 3-pointers made in the game with UVU making 15 of those. UVU also finished the game a perfect 17-of-17 from the free throw line. They are now 87-of-97 from the charity stripe in their last four games for a 90 percent clip.

UVU now has two big home games coming up. They host Seattle University on Thurs. and then CSU-Bakersfield on Saturday. Both games are at the UCCU Center with tipoff at 7 p.m. MST.