Box score

OREM, UT—Utah Valley dominated several key aspects of Saturday night's Great West Conference men's basketball game with visiting NJIT and the result was a decisive 81-58 victory for the Wolverines, who won their sixth straight game.
 
NJIT, which lost the first leg of its weekend trip, 80-63 at North Dakota on Thursday is now 2-2 in the Great West and 9-11 overall, including a 1-10 mark away from home, with eight consecutive road losses.
 
Last year, NJIT finished second in the Great West with a 9-3 conference record that included 4-2 in road games. With one less team in the GWC this season, the Highlanders will have to win their final three away conference games to even approach last year's away mark.
                                                                                                                 i
Utah Valley, which won the conference regular season title in 2010-11 at 11-1, now stands at 13-10 overall and 3-0 in the GWC in opening defense of the title.
 
Neither team shot a high percentage from the floor overall, as victorious Utah Valley shot just over 40 percent (41.4) on 24-for-58 and NJIT was under 40 percent (37.5) on 24-for-64. However, UVU hit 11 of its 24 attempts from 3-point distance (45.8 percent), while the Highlanders, normally a dangerous team from distance, were a dismal 4-for-20.
 
NJIT also struggled at the foul line, where it was outscored, 22-6, while shooting just 6-for-14, compared to 22-for-31 for UVU. The 7-point difference on threes and the 16-point difference at the line combined for the exact total of Utah Valley's 23-point margin of victory.
 
As important an area of dominance as any for the Wolverines was on the backboards, where they more than doubled the Highlanders, 55-27. Leading the rebounding onslaught for UVU was senior Geddes Robinson, who pulled down 18 rebounds, tying the Utah Valley school record, first done by Jon Bell against Florida Gulf Coast on March 5, 2004. Robinson, in his second year with Utah Valley, previously had two 17-rebound games.
 
The relentless 6-foot-5 Robinson, who came in as the 12th-leading rebounder in the nation and tops in the Great West (10.6 rpg), got 11 of his career-high rebound total in the second half on Saturday, leading the Wolverines to a 30-14 advantage in the half.
 
Robinson was the only double-figure rebounder in the game. However, two of the other four Wolverine starters grabbed seven rebounds apiece and the remaining two collected six each.
 
Four UVU starters, including Robinson (12 points), reached double-figure scoring. Senior guard Isiah Williams, the 2010-11 Great West Player of the Year, led everyone with 26 points. Sophomore point guard Holton Hunsaker, who played all 40 minutes (Williams played 39), added 19 points, followed by Robinson's 12 and 11 for senior forward Keith Thompson.
 
NJIT, which has gotten consistent scoring lately from its top two offensive threats, senior forward Isaiah Wilkerson and junior guard Chris Flores, again got good numbers from those two against Utah Valley. Wilkerson led the Highlanders with 19 points, followed by 17 from Flores, but the other eight Highlanders who played, combined for 22 points.
 
The rebounding story was similar, as Flores led the team with eight rebounds, followed by seven from Wilkerson. Lamar Kearse collected five rebounds, but the remaining seven Highlanders managed just six individual rebounds combined.
 
Flores, who had never blocked more than one shot in a game before, blocked three on Saturday at Utah Valley and he also made two steals, as the Highlanders had good numbers in those categories, with eight blocks and nine steals as a team. Utah Valley finished with three blocks and three steals. NJIT's ball security total looked good, as well, with just seven turnovers on the night. Utah Valley made 13 turnovers, nearly twice the Highlander total. But, remarkably, the points off turnovers favored the Wolverines, 15-9.
 
Poor shooting put the Highlanders in an early hole, as they were just 2-for-10 from the field at the first media timeout, which saw them trail 12-6 at the 13:28 mark of the first half.
 
With neither team hitting the mark—NJIT was 4-for-20 and UVU was 5-for-19—the Wolverines led at the 7:12 media timeout, 19-11.
 
Things picked up, however, as the Highlanders shot 7-for-10 the rest of the half. But the Wolverines shot 7-for-11 from floor the rest of the half, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range to extend their lead at the break, 38-25.
 
NJIT scored five points on its first two possessions of the second half to trim the deficit to eight, 38-30, with 19:17 left, but Utah Valley spurted again, 10-3, in the next 3:48, capped by a Hunsaker three that made the score 48-33 with 15:29 on the clock.
 
A few minutes later, the Highlanders had a chance to flip the momentum, but they barely cashed in. Flores had just completed a conventional 3-point play to pull NJIT back within 12, at 52-40, with 13:57 left. Ten seconds later, two Highlanders trapped Hunsaker along the sideline near midcourt.
 
Hunsaker swung his arms to escape the trap, making contact with PJ Miller's face, for a flagrant offensive foul. The penalty for such an infraction is two free throws and possession of the ball for the team whose player is fouled, meaning NJIT was positioned to pick up four to five points with the clocked stopped.
 
Instead of getting the four or five points and cutting the deficit to seven or eight points with nearly 14 minutes still to play, the Highlanders managed just one point. Miller made the first foul shot and missed the second. Then, given the ball back, NJIT turned it over on a steal by Hunsaker and the visitors still trailed by 11 points.
 
Immediately following the Hunsaker steal, UVU missed two quick layup tries, but the Wolverines rebounded both misses. Alfonzo Hubbard, fouled on the second rebound in the sequence, was awarded two free throws and made them both, pushing the lead back to 13.
 
Even with that, NJIT fought back on a pair of driving baskets by Flores and Wilkerson. Flores again took the ball to the rim and was fouled, converting another 3-point play and then Wilkerson's layup at the 11:18 mark cut the Utah Valley lead to 54-46.
 
However, after an empty possession for each team, the Wolverines answered with another flurry of offensive rebounds. Hunsaker missed a three, but Hubbard got the rebound and when he missed, Robinson got the rebound and was fouled. The senior made both foul shots, sending the lead back to 10, 56-46, with 10:45 left and Utah Valley's lead never went to single-digits again.
 
The Wolverine lead stood at 11 with 7:56 left when they delivered the killing blow, a 10-1 run in 3:15 that extended the UVU advantage to 20 with 4:41 left.
 
NJIT will travel home from Utah to Newark on Sunday and then prepare to host first-time opponent Colgate in a midweek non-conference game on Wednesday at 7 pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center. As difficult as things have been away from home for the Highlanders, they are 8-1 on Fleisher Family Court, with six consecutive home wins.