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Show SPORTS B1 Men's basketball improves to 6-1 at home before WAC play begins Holton Hunsaker leads Wolverines to win in final non-conference game, passing Ronnie Price on UVU's all-time scoring leader list in the process By Kyle Spencer Sports Editor @kyledspencer Enduring a difficult road trip that saw them play five games away from Orem in the first three-plus weeks of the season, the Wolverines bounced back to win four of their last six prior to beginning conference play. The favorable results have moved Utah Valley to 6-7 overall and 6-1 at the UCCU Center. The Western Athletic Conference schedule starts with the Wolverines visiting the Bakersfield Roadrunners Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. MST. Notable non-conference wins over Weber State and, most recently, Tennessee Tech, had UVU sitting in fourth place in their new league, though that changed when the conference schedule officially kicked off Jan. 2. "I thought everybody played well and played hard," UVU head coach Dick Hunsaker told the media after the Wolverines' latest win. "Tennessee Tech's got a lot of athletes, a lot of depth and a lot of strength inside, and I thought we did a commendable job against that athleticism." Senior point guard Holton Hunsaker led the Wolverines in the 75-66 victory with 22 points and six assists and junior Mitch Bruneel chipped in 16 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Hayes Garrity also finished in double figures with 13 off the bench and senior Ben Aird had eight points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Hunsaker did most of his dam- age at the foul line, going 14-of-16 from the stripe and passed current Orlando Magic guard Ronnie Price to move into third for most points in UVU history. The floor general's 1,262-career point total — as of Jan. 3 — only trails Ryan Toolson (2,163) and Aird (1,282). Hunsaker's 362 assists are by far the most in school history. Toolson's 282 are second best. While UVU was playing to get back to .500 in its league opener against Bakersfield, the Roadrunners were trying to gain a winning record and solidify themselves among the WAC favorites. Following the contest, the Wolverines will host NCAA Division I rookie Grand Canyon (5-8). The conference hierarchy is nearly impossible to predict due to incomparable non-conference schedules, but early league wins would certainly solidify UVU as a contender to usurp New Mexico State atop the WAC. No conference opponent is better in scoring defense than Dick Hunsaker's team, which holds opponents to 67.2 points per game. Leading the charge offensively is Holton Hunsaker, who averages a team-best 12.5 points per game and 4.5 assists, with his 18.8 points per night over the Wolverines' last four outings. Garrity is UVU's secondleading scorer and top reserve with 12 points. The versatile guard's 42.9 percent mark from beyond the arc is only bested by senior Keawe Enos' 48.9 percent 3-point shooting. Aird continues to handle the majority of the Wolverines' rebounding at 6.5 boards per game with freshman Zach Nelson not trailing far behind at 5.9 rebounds. Enos, Bruneel, Aird and Nelson have supplemented the output of Hunsaker and Garrity, each of them contributing 8.5 or more points each game. By Garrett Coleman Assistant Sports Editor @legendgary62 UVU wrestling traveled to Evanston, Ill. Dec. 29-30 for the Midlands Championships. Many of the top wrestlers in the country faced off in this tournament to showcase their skills and earn respect for their schools. Heavyweight Adam Fager placed seventh, while 174-pound wrestler Monte Schmalhaus placed eighth. The Wolverines had three weeks to prepare from the end of the Cliff Keen Invitational, which also pitted the UVU against some great talent, for the challenges that awaited the team at the Midlands. The break proved to be a great preparation for the Wolverines. "It was a great challenge for our guys," head coach Greg Williams explained. "Midlands is a great tournament; there's a lot of talent there. Usually the top 12 seeds are ranked guys. "I feel like we wrestled well," Williams continued. "There were only about three matches I was displeased with. I think coming off a break like that and wresting the way we did was a huge accomplishment." Coming off a fourth place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational Dec. 9, Fager looked to add another tournament placing to his growing list of accomplishments. Fager entered the tournament as the No. 13 heavyweight in the nation and seeded eighth. The odds were on his side to place, and he went 2-1 on day 1, only needing one more victory to ensure the result. Joining Fager on day 2 were Schmalhaus and 197-pounder Derek Thomas with identical 3-1 marks and hopes of placing. Both wrestlers have been working hard to make a name for themselves. Schmalhaus had hid a bit of a cold streak to start the year, starting 0-4. Thomas, who has been trying to solidify a starting Monte Schmalhaus attempts to take down an opposing wrestler. By Kyle Spencer Sports Editor @kyledspencer 11111MWMINsw Hayes Garrity leaps over opposing players in a match-up at home. Wolverines wrestle on Adam Fager and Monte Schmalhaus placed in the annual Midlands Championships COLUMNIST Proposing a Utah NCAAB tournament spot, has filled in well for David Prieto, starting 7-9 before the tournament. Fager won his first match on day 2, which solidified his placement, against Northern Iowa's Blaize Cabell of Beebe, 6-2. However, Fager then dropped his next match in an overtime bout, 6-5 to Steve Dwyer, and took the seventh place due to the medical forfeit of Chris Lopez of Illinois. Fager is quickly becoming another great wrestler at UVU. His head coach had great things to say of his performance. "Adam solidified his position as one of the top 15 wrestlers in the country over the past two days," Williams said. "His two losses were to the top seed and to a former two-time All-American from Nebraska. He has a couple of areas to improve on before March, but if he's able to correct those than he will be in a great position to make a run at the platform in Oklahoma." Unfortunately for Thomas, WRESTLING B2 PHOTO COURTESY OF UVU ATHLETICS LAURA FOX/UVU REVIEW Nine-game losing streak snapped Coach Nixon and UVU shift their focus to league competition following their first wins since Nov. 11 By Jessica Whalen Sports Writer jlhwhalen@gmail.com The Utah Valley University women's basketball team snapped their nine-game losing streak with two consecutive wins against Idaho State and New Orleans. UVU (4-10) led the majority of the game against Idaho State Dec. 20, including a game-high 12-point advantage; yet, fell behind late in the game. With 1:36 left freshman Georgia Agnew went to the free-throw line and made the first shot, but missed the second. Because of a lane violation she got another chance and tied the game, 56-56. Then with 49 seconds left, Agnew again got to the line. She was able to give the Wolverines the lead, making 1-of-2. Freshman Rhaiah SpoonerKnight deflected the ensuing inbounds pass, diving to the floor to grab the loose ball. She got the ball to sophomore Katie Kuklok, who was fouled with 0.6 seconds remaining in the game. Kuklok sank both free throws, and Utah Valley was able to overcome the late deficit and get the win. This was the fifth time the Wolverines ended a game that was decided by three points or fewer, the win marking the first time the Wolverines came out on top. "We feel like we have progressed as a team over the last couple months and are hoping to collectively start playing the kind of basketball we know we are capable of," head coach Cathy Nixon said. Spooner-Knight scored 21 points —17 in the first half — and had seven rebounds. She was 7-of-9 from the field and made all of her free throws. Kuklok had 13 points, and Agnew had seven. Kuklok's 13 points allowed her to stay atop the WAC leaderboard in scoring; her average was 20.3 as of Jan. 3. Nationally, she is amongst the leaders in three categories: 3-point field goals per game (second at 3.67), free-throw percentage (seventh at 93.4), and 3-point percentage (11th at 50.6). "It wasn't one that came easy, and I'm so proud of the girls for the way they battled and earned the win today," Nixon said. "We are hoping to build on our momentum going into the New Orleans game and carry that over into the conference games next week." The Wolverines and the Privateers met last year in The Big Easy for the first-ever meeting between the two. New Orleans won that game, 55-51. "We played New Orleans last year at their place and learned that we need to play well to beat them," Nixon said. "We will need to play smart defensively to contain their penetration and limit their second chances on the glass." UVU broke its record for the largest margin of victory versus a DI opponent this time around, beating the Privateers, 89-40. BASKETBALL B2 PHOTO COURTESY OF UVU ATHLETICS Rhaiah Spooner-Knight Every year the three dominant football teams in the state go head-tohead, enabling an easy response when determining the premier team in Utah. Deciding which Beehive State school owns the best college basketball team is much more complex, since only two or three of the teams are, essentially, open to scheduling meetings with one another every year. There is lot that goes into putting together a 28-30 game schedule but with only one professional basketball team to attract the attention of the hardwood aficionados after the football season ends, an early-season tournament between the six DI basketball programs in Utah could be beneficial and profitable for everyone involved. Rivalries run deep here. Incessant trash-talking ensues before and after every "Holy War," and with Utah State poised to continue its recent run at national relevancy on the gridiron, the Aggies have inserted themselves into the conversation. So why aren't schools lacking in the football department given the chance to claim the top spot for state bragging rights? First off, whether this idea ever becomes a reality is up to BYU and Utah. With the largest athletic budgets in the state, both schools can afford to be selective when choosing opponents that an NCAA selection committee would deem "lesser" than say a nationally-ranked Oregon team, which, by playing UVU, BYU and Utah this year, plays more Utah-based schools than any other in this state, save Weber State. Utah athletic director Chris Hill has spoken openly about the challenges of working out future meetings with Utah State — and even struggled to ensure the round-ball game with BYU was a lock moving forward — so the possibility of a six-team tournament may just be a pipe dream, but you can bet Southern Utah, UVU and Weber State would be more than open to beginning the season against local programs whose level they aspire to reach. Secondly, the revenue sharing is complicated. The first question that would arise, if agreed upon, would be the venue. The obvious answer would be Energy Solutions Arena but then you bring another party into the already crowded discussion. However, 2013 would have provided the perfect opportunity for the round robin. The Jazz were on a four-game road trip from Nov. 5-9 and didn't play another home game until Nov. 11, leaving the 19,911 seat arena unoccupied during the first week of the college basketball season. If a deal were brokered with Jazz owner Gary Miller, it would be similar to the one implemented by BYU and Utah state when they met at ESA Nov. 30. Basically, the universities would share the profits made, with a slight kickback to the accommodating Jazz. Thirdly, a six-team format isn't the easiest to manage. To undoubtedly specify which team is the best, each would have to go head-to-head with the other participants. That means a total of at least five games for each school, which is likely too many if you factor in semifinal and championship/consolation games. In order to combat the potential issue, a random seeding could be done by the use of chance, or it could even be set up based on the previous year's results. The team with best RPI would be the one seed and so on. Another possibility is to utilize the framework of the Maui Invitational — a preseason tournament between eight teams with a winner's and loser's bracket — with a few modifications to give teams that lose their first game a chance to still make it to the finals. For example, if UVU and Utah squared off in the first round, even if the Wolverines lost they'd still have one more game to move into the winner's bracket against another team that dropped its tourney opener. The logistics can be confusing, but there could even be a system that relies on margin of victory to identify the brackets and which losers or winners NCAAB 82 |