Zione White scored 16 points and High Point put the clamps down defensively in the second half to claim a 75-51 win over Utah Valley State Monday night in the Millis Center.

Danny Gathings tossed in 12 points and Mark Wilson added 11 points for the Panthers (5-8), who will enter Big South Conference play having won three of their last four contests.

Utah Valley State (4-9), an NCAA Division I independent, was held to 28 percent shooting after halftime. Ronnie Price, the nation's third-leading scorer (25.8 ppg) led the Wolverines with 17 points.

The visiting Wolverines shot 45 percent from the field in the first half and led by as many as six points (18-12) before the Panthers used a 10-2 run to claim their first lead of the game at 22-20 on a pair of Landon Quick free throws with 8:43 to play before halftime.

UVSC seesawed back in front, 28-24, on the strength of back-to-back layups by Josh Cottle, but the Panthers scored the next seven points to surge ahead 31-28 when Wilson scored on a fast break at the 2:59 mark. HPU took its biggest lead at that point (37-30) to intermission.

A jumper by Price in the opening seconds of the second half brought the Wolverines within five points at 37-32, but they would get no closer. The Panthers shot 47 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, taking their first double-digit lead of the contest with 9:58 to go on a layup by Jerry Echenique (nine points, a game-high seven rebounds) at 54-44, and coasted the rest of the way to a 24-point win.

High Point's five victories this season have come by an average of 29.8 points. The Panthers routed James Madison, 82-63, last Wednesday night.

Cottle provided nine points and six rebounds for Utah Valley State, which got eight points apiece from Benjamin Devoe and Pierre Thomas. Devoe tallied four blocked shots.

Patrick Hilliman notched a game-high three blocks and freshman Arizona Reid pulled down a career-best six boards for HPU.

The 51 points scored by Utah Valley State were a season-low for a Division I opponent against the Panthers.

The game was the opener of a four-game homestand for the Panthers, who welcome Liberty (2-9) to the Millis Center Wednesday night (7:00 pm) in a rematch of the 2004 Big South Tournament championship game. It will be the 2005 Big South opener for both schools.