UTAH VALLEY TOPS SDSU IN CANCUN OPENER

Tuesday, November 25

Cancun, Mexico

5 p.m.

South Dakota State University

4-3,0-0Summit League

Utah Valley

4-2,0-0WAC

Utah Valley

South Dakota St.

Trey Buchanan

Photo by: Megan Glover | South Dakota State

11/25/2025 7:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

CANCUN, Mexico – Utah Valley led from start to finish en route to a 75-52 victory over South Dakota State on Tuesday, Nov. 25, on the opening day of the men's portion of the Cancun Challenge at Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.

The Wolverines (4-2) scored the game's first nine points. That stretch saw the Jackrabbits turn the ball over four times as SDSU called a timeout just over three minutes into the contest.

SDSU trailed 11-2 before rattling off eight straight points to cut the deficit to 11-10 at the 12:14 mark of the first half. Utah Valley responded with a 10-point scoring run to make it 21-10 in favor of the Wolverines.

The Jacks cut the margin to 29-24 before halftime as back-to-back field goals by Joe Sayler made it a two-possession game at the break.

Both teams in the opening 20 minutes shot under 36% from the field and committed double-digit turnovers.

Utah Valley got the second half started with six consecutive points to push its advantage briefly into double digits. A Jaden Jackson layup with 16:50 remaining cut the score to 38-30. SDSU had the deficit down to eight on three separate occasions, however a 10-point scoring stretch midway through the second half for the Wolverines put the game out of reach.

The Jackrabbits were held to season lows in points, field goal percentage (33.3%) and 3-point field goal percentage (15.4%), while they committed a season-high 21 turnovers. SDSU fell to 4-3 in the defeat.

Matthew Mors was the lone Jackrabbit in double digits scoring with 10 points. He also had a team-high three assists. Damon Wilkinson grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

NOTES

Utah Valley improved to 1-4 all-time against SDSU. The Wolverines have won the last four meetings.

UP NEXT
South Dakota State closes out its stay at the Cancun Challenge on Wednesday. The Jackrabbits take on UC Irvine in the ballroom of the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya at 7:30 p.m. CT.

-GoJacks.com-