After leaving BYU, we drove about 20 minutes to another college campus, Utah Valley University in Orem. I had been here once before for minor league baseball as the Orem Owlz used to play here, but I had forgotten about that visit completely. Anyway, we parked in the yellow permit lot, which seems to be open to all on weekends and walked over to the UCCU center, home of UVU basketball.
Around the parking lot are some statues of athletes, though I could not find any particular reason for them to be here.
The photo op letters are on the west side of the building; I find it interesting that the two 'U' characters are slightly different. Otherwise, it would be a perfect palindromic logo.
The box office is on the lower level on the west side and GA tickets were $9 each. You can then go up a staircase to reach the main concourse.
The venue opened in 1996 and has a capacity of 8,500. It was originally named after David O. McKay, the ninth president of the LDS Church but in 2010, the school sold the naming rights to the Utah Community Credit Union and since then, it has been known as the UCCU Center.
The school's Hall of Fame is there and the most famous name is probably Ronnie Price, who played here for three seasons before going on to a 12-year career in the NBA as a bench player, including four years with the Jazz.
The floor is surrounded by temporary seats on all sides, with each side completely separate so you cannot easily walk from one to another.
Instead, you have to go up to the top and walk around, with the concourse on the sidelines actually just a couple of recreational courts; in the photo below, you can see the back of the seats on the left.
There are three sections on each side between the baselines and a couple of smaller sections on the ends, one of which was an empty student section from what I could tell.
Most fans sat on the side facing the benches, while the seats on the other side were rather empty for some reason.
The UVU Game Day team includes a drumline known as the Green Man Group; last year the Game Day team won the
Division I national championship.
Utah Valley is known as the Wolverines, with a fierce logo whose teeth represent the Wasatch Mountains that provide the campus backdrop.
The school made the jump to Division I in 2003 and joined the WAC in 2013. The men's team has had some success in the regular season but those titles have not translated into WAC tournament wins so they have yet to make March Madness; though they did reach the semifinals of the NIT in 2023.
The women do have a single appearance as a 16 seed in 2021, where they lost 87-44 to Stanford.
Overall, I found UCCU Center to have a pretty good atmosphere for college hoops; helped mostly by that Game Day team that kept fans engaged. UVU might be overshadowed by BYU so close by, but it is certainly worth a visit if you are in the area.
The Game
The Tarleton State Texans were visiting with a 10-5 conference record, two games better than the Wolverines. It was fan appreciation day and the home team wore black for the occasion, something you rarely see in college basketball. The score was tied at 2,4, and 6 and Tarleton had an 8-6 lead before UVU's Danja Stafford hit the first trey of the game. The visitors scored another inside shot but Halle Nelson drained another bomb for the Wolverines to make it 12-10 at the media timeout. The teams missed everything for over two minutes until Ally Criddle hit a three for Utah Valley and they pushed that lead to 9 points, only for Elise Turrubiates to hit a buzzer-beating three for the Texans to make it 22-16 after one.
It looked like a close game would develop but midway through the second quarter, Stafford and Cambree Blackham hit back-to-back threes and to put UVU squarely in the lead 36-25 and they rode that to a 43-29 advantage at the half. The third quarter was even with Tarleton State unable to get closer than 9 and in the final frame, they went over five minutes without a field goal, sealing their fate as Utah Valley sailed to a somewhat surprising 75-58 win.
UVU shot an unbelievable 9 of 13 (69.2%) from downtown, substantially better than their 16/35 (45.7%) from inside the arc. Tarleton State was only 4 of 10 from long range and that was pretty much the difference in the game. On the individual side of things, I was particularly impressed with Tarleton State's Faith Acker (above), a 6'2 sophomore who has the smoothest shot I have seen in the women's game. Her 23 points and 9 rebounds led all players, while Nelson had 22 for the winners.
Notes
This was my 300th basketball venue lifetime.
While doing research for Faith Acker, I came across a picture from the game on her Tarleton State bio page and amazingly, Sharpy and I are in it, just to the right of the defender's arm.
Best,
Sean
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