Utah Valley (0-1) at #1 Duke (1-0) GAME INFORMATION
TV: ACC Network Extra (Ryan Craig/Chris Spatola)
Live Video: WatchESPN.com
Radio: ESPN 960 AM (Jim McCulloch/Holton Hunsaker)
Radio Webcast: espn960sports.com
Live Stats Link: Duke Live Stats
 

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OPENING TIP
Utah Valley has embarked on what might be the toughest 24 hours of basketball ever played in NCAA history as the team opened the season with a hard-fought 73-63 setback at No. 4 Kentucky on Friday night and now travels to take on consensus No. 1 Duke on Saturday night. The game at Duke will be a homecoming for assistant coach Chris Burgess, who as a player helped the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight in 1998 and a run to the national championship game in 1999.

Utah Valley University made a run at No. 4/5 Kentucky before eventually falling, 73-63, on the opening night of the college basketball season on Friday night at historic Rupp Arena. The Wolverines led by as much as 12 points in the second half, when Kenneth Ogbe converted on a three-point play with a dunk and a free throw, but the Wildcats took control of the game on the strength of an 18-0 run. Ogbe led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points while Jake Toolson added 11 points and three others chipped in 10. Akolda Manyang blocked five shots to go along with six points and six rebounds while Isaac Neilson scored 10 points and grabbed eight boards, as Utah Valley out-rebounded Kentucky, 38-37. Conner Toolson and Brandon Randolph also scored 10 points apiece, while Randolph dished out seven assists.

Utah Valley returns eight players who saw significant time last season, including 2016-17 leading scorer Conner Toolson (11.9 ppg.). The Wolverines return five of their top six scorers and their top five rebounders from the 2016-17 season. WAC All-Defensive team honoree and preseason All-WAC selection Isaac Neilson returns after leading the team with 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game last season

The Wolverines welcome nine new players to this year's roster, including four who sat out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules or injuries. UVU welcomes eight transfers and one freshman to the team.

The Wolverines were selected to finish third by the media and fourth by the coaches in the WAC preseason poll. UVU received three first place votes in the media poll and one first place vote in the coaches' poll. UVU senior forward Isaac Neilson was received preseason all-WAC first team honors by the media and second team honors by the coaches.

Mark Pope enters his third season as the head coach of the Wolverines. His team scored more points than any other team in UVU history last season. UVU picked up its first-ever postseason national tournament wins with a run to the College Basketball Invitational Final Four. The team also picked up a historic win over crosstown rival BYU, scoring 114 points - the most ever scored by a BYU opponent in the Marriott Center. The Wolverines completed one of the biggest comebacks in NCAA history last season, overcoming a 27-point deficit to defeat Denver in the Mile High City. UVU also picked up a first-ever win at WAC rival New Mexico State, snapping the Aggies' 39-game conference home win streak and ended the nation's third-longest home win streak.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's game at Duke will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra with Ryan Craig on the play-by-play and Chris Spatola and Gerald Henderson handling color duties. ACC Network Extra is available via WatchESPN.com or on the ESPN App.

The game will also be broadcast on the air waves at ESPN 960 AM radio with Jim McCulloch and Holton Hunsaker 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 DUKE
Duke opened the season with a 97-68 win over Elon at home on Friday night. Freshman Marvin Bagley had 25 points and 10 rebounds in his college debut in the win over Elon. With the win over Elon, Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski is now just one victory from yet another career milestone as the coach now has 999 wins at Duke.  Grayson Allen added 22 points and made six of the Blue Devils' 12 3-pointers while Gary Trent Jr. added 17 points and four more 3s in the victory. Duke has won 133 consecutive home games vs. non-conference competition, the longest such streak in the nation. The last time Duke dropped a non-conference game at home was on Feb. 26, 2000 against St. John's. Duke will play its 150st game as the No. 1 team in the AP poll since 1998. That figure is 70 more games than the next closest school (Kentucky) during that time frame. Duke went a perfect 3-0 in exhibition games, defeating reigning Division II national champion Northwest Missouri State, 93-60, on Oct. 27, then followed that up with a 116-53 win over Bowie State on Nov. 4. Duke returns 20 percent of its scoring (603/2,991), 17 percent of its rebounding (224/1,341) and 26 percent (128/484) of its assists from a season ago. Team captain Grayson Allen is the team's lone senior and he has been recognized as a preseason All-American by several outlets, including first team honors by Blue Ribbon.

SERIES HISTORY VS. DUKE, ACC
Utah Valley and Duke meet up on the basketball hardwood for the first time on Saturday night. The Wolverines have played just one ACC opponent in the school's 14-year Division I history. UVU traveled to play Louisville in the team's lone matchup against an ACC opponent on Dec. 23, 2015.

All-Time Results vs. ACC Opponents (0-1)
Dec. 23, 2015    Louisville def. Utah Valley, 98-68    Louisville, Kentucky

#TOUGHEST24 - UVU PLAYING TOUGHEST 24 HOURS OF BASKETBALL IN NCAA HISTORY? WHAT'S BETTER THAN THE POPE IN TWO CATHEDRALS OF BASKETBALL?
Utah Valley will embark on what might be the toughest 24 hours of basketball ever played in NCAA history. Utah Valley will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to open the 2017-18 season against SEC foe Kentucky on Nov. 10 at Rupp Arena before continuing its road trip against ACC foe Duke on Nov. 11 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Kentucky and Duke own a combined 13 NCAA men's basketball national titles. Kentucky is ranked No. 4 and Duke is No. 1 in the preseason USA Today/Coaches Poll. ESPN's Kevin Connors featured Utah Valley as his Star of the Night this past summer for scheduling the two games, saying "What's better than the Pope in two cathedrals of basketball?"

COACH BURGESS RETURNS TO DUKE
Saturday night's game at Duke will be a homecoming for Utah Valley assistant coach Chris Burgess, who as a player helped the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight in 1998 and a run to the national championship game in 1999. Duke earned the No. 1 seed at the NCAA Tournament in each of his two seasons. In fact, Burgess only lost six games over his two years at Duke en route to a pair of ACC championships. Burgess never lost a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium during his two seasons with the team. Burgess played alongside William Avery, Shane Battier, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette at Duke under coach Mike Krzyzewski. He averaged 4.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and shot 50.8 percent from the field as a freshman. He averaged 5.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and shot 61.4 percent from the field while averaging 15.6 minutes a game as a sophomore.

UVU HANGS WITH NO. 4/5 KENTUCKY BEFORE FALLING, 73-63
Utah Valley University made a run at No. 4/5 Kentucky before eventually falling, 73-63, on the opening night of the college basketball season on Friday night at historic Rupp Arena. The Wolverines (0-1) led by as much as 12 points in the second half, when Kenneth Ogbe converted on a three-point play with a dunk and a free throw, but the Wildcats (1-0) took control of the game on the strength of an 18-0 run. The run turned a 37-25 UVU lead into a 43-37 advantage for Kentucky. Ogbe led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points while Jake Toolson added 11 points and three others chipped in 10. Akolda Manyang blocked five shots to go along with six points and six rebounds while Isaac Neilson scored 10 points and grabbed eight boards, as Utah Valley out-rebounded Kentucky, 38-37. Conner Toolson and Brandon Randolph also scored 10 points apiece, while Randolph dished out seven assists. Despite falling behind by 14 on two different occasions, Utah Valley was able to get as close as six, 69-63, with 15 seconds remaining on a Jake Toolson steal and a Randolph lay-up. The Wildcats hit four free throws over the final seconds to extend it back to 10. Both teams finished with 34 points in the paint while the Wildcats were able to turn 20 UVU turnovers into 23 points, finishing plus-seven in that category.

COACH POPE'S KENTUCKY HOMECOMING
Friday's game at Kentucky was a homecoming for Pope, who as a player helped the Wildcats to a national title in 1996 under head coach Rick Pitino. After redshirting in 1993-94, Pope helped Kentucky win back-to-back SEC titles, advance to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1995 and win the NCAA National title in 1996. Pope earned Academic All-SEC honors in 1995 and graduated from Kentucky with a degree in English in 1996.