UVSC men's basketball flexes defensive muscle

OREM — The Utah Valley State men's basketball team began its holiday sabbatical on a positive note after flexing some serious defensive muscle in a 64-55 win Friday over visiting Southern Utah.

The Wolverines (7-5) harassed the Thunderbirds into shooting 2-for-14 from the field to begin the game and a paltry 27 percent for the entire first half; accordingly, UVSC enjoyed a 32-17 halftime lead.

When SUU narrowed its deficit to 52-47 with under six minutes left in the game, the Wolverines once again clamped down defensively, holding the T-Birds without a field goal for nearly four minutes during a stretch that proved decisive for Utah Valley.

UVSC particularly showed some defensive prowess in corralling Steve Barnes, Southern Utah's leading scorer. Barnes' shooting touch was red hot Friday, with marks of 6-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 on free-throw attempts. The Wolverines, though, successfully funneled the ball away from Barnes enough to hold him to 16 points on a night when he seemingly could have netted much more.

"I was pleased with the way we competed, particularly in the first half," Wolverine coach Dick Hunsaker said. "We withstood some of their rallies in the second half, and we tried to keep Barnes in check as much as we could — their offensive flow really rolls through him."

David Heck led UVSC with 20 points. The Wolverines won despite leading scorer Ryan Toolson going 0-for-7 from the field.

After eight days off, UVSC begins a stretch of three games in eight days Saturday when it hosts Albany at 7:05 p.m.

The week that was

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Normally, this section strictly limits its scope to events that occurred within the past seven days. But after the Dec. 21 edition of this notebook had already gone to press, something newsworthy happened that merits mention in this space.

Last Wednesday in an 84-78 home win over Montana State, sophomore center Robyn Fairbanks torched the Bobcats for a school-record and career-high 43 points while shooting 14-for-19 from the field and recording 14 rebounds.

For Fairbanks, it was the second consecutive game in which she set a school record and career high for single-game scoring. Her offensive explosion against Montana State vaulted Fairbanks and her 25.9 points per game to the second-best scoring average in the nation, up from third the week before.

On tap

MEN'S BASKETBALL: UVSC faces visiting Albany at 7:05 p.m. Saturday. After winning the America East Conference's automatic bid, the Great Danes went to the Big Dance, making Albany the third 2006 NCAA Tournament qualifier to visit the McKay Center this year (the first two were Montana State, which the Wolverines defeated 74-57 back on Nov. 13, and Utah State, to which UVSC lost 69-65 on Dec. 9).

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The Wolverines (10-3) are in Oregon for two road games, where they'll face Portland tonight at 8 p.m. and play Portland State at 3 p.m. Saturday.

WRESTLING: Idle.