Utah Valley at #13/14 Gonzaga GAME INFORMATION
TV: ROOT Sports
Radio: ESPN 960 AM
Radio Webcast: espn960sports.com
Live Video Stream: TheW.tv
Live Stats Link: GU Live Stats
 

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OREM, Utah--Utah Valley opens the 2016-17 season at No. 13/14 Gonzaga on Friday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington. The game will mark the first-ever meeting against Gonzaga and the seventh time in team history that the Wolverines have faced a ranked opponent.

Utah Valley returns only three players from last year's team that went 12-18 in head coach Mark Pope's inaugural season. Ivory Young and Andrew Bastien are the lone returning starters from the 2015-16 season. Young ranked fourth on the team in scoring at 9.0 points per game and led UVU from long range, connecting on 37.7 percent (49-of-130) of his shots from beyond the arc. Andrew Bastien led the team in blocks with 52.

The Wolverines welcome 11 new players to this year's roster, including five who sat out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA transfer rules or injuries. UVU welcomes eight transfers and three freshmen to the team. Three of UVU's newcomers will have redshirt the season due to transfer rules. Two-year starter Zach Nelson, who sat out last season with injury, returns to the hardwood this season. The preseason all-WAC honoree is the lone remaining player from UVU's 2014 WAC regular season championship team.

The Wolverines were selected to finish fourth by the coaches and fifth by the media in the WAC preseason poll. UVU received two first place votes in the media poll.

Pope enters his second season as the head coach of the Utah Valley men's basketball team. The Kentucky graduate led a depleted and injury-riddled roster to 12 wins in his debut season, including wins over Weber State, UTSA and Idaho State.

UVU won its exhibition game on Monday night at the UCCU Center, defeating Division II foe Western State (Colo.), 113-87. Junior guard Brandon Randolph posted a triple-double in the win, tallying 20 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

BROADCAST INFO
Friday's game at Gonzaga will be broadcast live on ROOT Sports Northwest and rebroadcast on ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain at 10 p.m. (MST). Sam Adams and Richard Fox will be calling the action. The game will be streamed live online at TheW.tv.

The game will also be broadcast live on ESPN 960 AM radio with Jim McCulloch and Jason Erickson handling the play-by-play and color duties. A live stream of the radio broadcast will be available through ESPN960sports.com and also through the ESPN 960 app, which is available for both iPhone and Android.

ABOUT GONZAGA
Gonzaga enters the season ranked No. 13 in the USA Today Preseason Coaches' Poll and No. 14 in the Associated Press  Top 25 Preseason Poll. Gonzaga was selected to win the West Coast Conference for the 16th straight season in the WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving seven of the 10 first place votes.

The team picked up a 122-76 exhibition win over West Georgia at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Saturday. Six players finished in double figures led by Nigel Williams-Goss' 20 points. The redshirt junior added eight rebounds and a game-high five assists. He made 7-of-12 shots from the field.

The Zags return eight letterwinners and one starter from last year's 28-8 team that made a run to the NCAA Sweet 16. Redshirt sophomore guard Josh Perkins is the lone returning starter from last year's squad. Perkins averaged 10.1 points, 4.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds last season. 7-footer Przemek Karnowski returns for his senior year after playing just five games last season due to a back injury. The Poland native is the 39th player in Gonzaga history to top 1,000 career points. Both Perkins and Karnowski were named to the Preseason All-WCC team.

GU has won 27-straight regular season home openers dating back to 1988. Gonzaga has sold out the McCarthey Athletic Center 228 straight times. The Zags have won 162 of their 175 games played inside the arena since it opened in 2004.

Gonzaga is coached by Mark Few who is in his 18th year as the head coach of the program. Few is one of the most successful coaches in the NCAA as he has put together a 466-111 overall record. He has won 15 regular season league titles in his 17 seasons and has taken the Zags to the NCAA Tournament in each of his 17 seasons. Coach Few is the winningest active coach by percentage (.808), followed by Roy Williams of North Carolina.

SERIES HISTORY VS. GONZAGA, WCC
Utah Valley and Gonzaga meet on the basketball hardwood for the first time in the two team's history. The Wolverines hold an all-time 1-5 record against teams from the West Coast Conference.

All-Time Results vs. WCC Teams
Nov. 29, 2003    Brigham Young 84, Utah Valley 65    Provo, Utah
Nov. 21, 2012    Santa Clara 75, Utah Valley 67    Santa Clara, Calif.
Dec. 1, 2012    Utah Valley 67, Pepperdine 63    Orem, Utah
Nov. 23, 2013    Pepperdine 58, Utah Valley 53    Malibu, Calif.
Nov. 13, 2015    Brigham Young 85, Utah Valley 54    Provo, Utah
Dec. 28, 2015    Saint Mary's 65, Utah Valley 50    Moraga, Calif.

UTAH VALLEY/GONZAGA CONNECTION
Gonzaga assistant coach Donny Daniels is the father of Utah Valley assistant coach Eric Daniels. The father-son duo go head-to-head for the first time in their careers. Gonzaga redshirt junior Nigel Williams-Goss is the nephew of Utah Valley head wrestling coach Greg Williams.

RANDOLPH'S TRIPLE-DOUBLE LEADS UVU TO 113-87 EXHIBITION WIN
Brandon Randolph recorded a 20-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double to lead the Utah Valley University men's basketball team to a 113-87 win over Division II foe Western State in an exhibition contest on Monday night at the UCCU Center. Randolph scored his game-high 20 points on a 6-of-9 clip from the field, including a 3-of-9 mark from beyond the arc. He also knocked down 7-of-9 free throws. The junior guard had two steals to go along with his 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Conner Toolson and Jared Stutzman each added 15 points.  Toolson knocked down 6-of-14 shots from the field, including three shots from long range. The sophomore guard also tallied a team-high three steals. Stuzman hit 5-of-9 shots on the night with four three-pointers. He also pulled down five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Isaac Neilson and Kenneth Ogbe had 12 points, while Zach Nelson helped with 11. Ivory Young had 10 points.

UVU IN SEASON OPENERS
Utah Valley holds an all-time 6-7 record in regular season openers since making the transition to Division I in 2003. The Wolverines have won three of their last five regular season openers dating back to the 2011-12 season.

Last Five Results in season openers
Nov. 13, 2015    BYU 85, Utah Valley 54    Provo, Utah
Nov. 14, 2014    Utah Valley 60, South Dakota 52    Orem, Utah
Nov. 8, 2013    Utah Valley 74, IUPUI 66    Orem, Utah
Nov. 9, 2012    IUPUI 67, Utah Valley 54    Indianapolis, Ind.
Nov. 11, 2011    Utah Valley 80, Simpson 53    Orem, Utah

NUVI BASKETBALL CENTER
Utah Valley University broke ground on a new $3.5 million basketball practice and conditioning facility on June 22 at a ceremony celebrating the new building.
 
The 14,500-square-foot facility, which is privately funded, will be named the NUVI Basketball Center after a lead donation from NUVI executive chair Keith Nellesen. The structure will be located on the south side of the UCCU Center on UVU's Orem campus.
 
The facility, designed by Method Studio, will include 8,000 square feet of court space and nine basketball standards, with "game-day atmosphere" graphics to match the UCCU Center environment. A mesh wall will separate the court from 1,900 square feet of strength and conditioning space, with sliding doors to dampen sound when necessary. A mezzanine level overlooks the court and will include 3,000 square feet of office space split into suites for the men's and women's coaching staff. Each suite will feature a large office for each head coach that can double as a conference room, offices for three assistant coaches and basketball operations.

NEW FACES
Utah Valley welcomes 13 new players to its roster this season, including three players (Brandon Randolph, Isaac Neilson, Jordan Poydras) who had to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. The Wolverines have added five new transfers to this year's roster, including three who will have to sit out and redshirt this season.UVU welcomes three freshman to the team, including sharp-shooters Conner Toolson and Jared Stutzman.

MBA SMARTS
Utah Valley might be the only team in the country with two juniors that are entering their first year in a post graduate MBA program. Zach Nelson and Kenneth Ogbe started their first year in the MBA program at UVU this year.

WOLVERINES RANK 4TH IN PRESEASON COACHES' POLL, 5TH IN MEDIA POLL - NELSON NAMED PRESEASON ALL-WAC
The Utah Valley University men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth by the coaches and fifth by the media in the WAC preseason polls released at the annual WAC Preview and Media Day at the Marriott Denver Airport Gateway Park.
 
UVU junior forward Zach Nelson earned preseason all-WAC second team honors by both the coaches and the media. Nelson returns to the team after sitting out last season with a medical redshirt. The junior forward played in all 30 games and made 28 starts for UVU during the 2014-15 season. He led the team in rebounding at 6.1 rebounds a game and ranked second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points a contest.

New Mexico State was picked to win the league in both polls. The Aggies received nine of the 24 available first place votes from the media and four first place votes from the coaches.
 
In the coaches' poll, Grand Canyon was picked to finish second with CSU Bakersfield third and Utah Valley fourth. Seattle U and UMKC tied for fifth followed by UT Rio Grande Valley in seventh and Chicago State in eighth.
 
On the media side, Grand Canyon was picked second and CSU Bakersfield was third. Seattle U was selected fourth and Utah Valley was fifth. UMKC was picked to finish sixth, followed by UTRGV in seventh and Chicago State in eighth. Utah Valley received two first place votes in the media poll.
 
WAITING IN THE WINGS
Utah Valley has three players that must redshirt this season due to NCAA transfer rules. UVU signees Jake Toolson (BYU), Cory Calvert (BYU) and Akolda Manyang (Oklahoma) will redshirt this season.