Utah Valley (2-2) vs. Eastern Oregon (8-0) GAME INFORMATION
Tickets: GoUVU.com/Tickets
Live Video: WAC Digital Network
Radio: ESPN 960 AM (Jim McCulloch/Jason Erickson)
Radio Webcast: espn960sports.com
Live Stats Link: UVU StatBroadcast
 

---

OPENING TIP
After opening the season with what is likely the toughest 24 hours in basketball history with road losses at Kentucky and Duke, Utah Valley has rebounded with a pair of wins to even its record at 2-2. The Wolverines most recently picked up an 80-71 win over Big West champion UC Davis on Saturday afternoon in the team's home opener at the UCCU Center. UVU now hosts NAIA foe Eastern Oregon on Monday night at the UCCU Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MT

 Kenneth Ogbe scored a game-high 21 points and three other Wolverines reached double figures to lead Utah Valley to an 80-71 win over reigning Big West Conference champion UC Davis on Saturday afternoon in the team's home opener at the UCCU Center. As a team, Utah Valley shot 49.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range. UVU also went 14-of-16 from the foul line for an 87.5 percent clip. Ogbe led all scorers on the afternoon with 21 points behind a 3-of-4 clip from three-point range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Manyang pitched in 16 points and eight rebounds in the winning effort, and was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Jake Toolson was the third Wolverine to go 4-of-4 from the charity stripe on his way to scoring 13 points. Conner Toolson scored 16 points on a game-high four three-pointers, and Randolph had a solid all-around game with seven points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists.

Utah Valley senior center Akolda Manyang was named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 7-13.  The Rochester, Minn., native averaged 11.5 points on 60 percent shooting, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks in a pair of road games against two Top 5 teams last week. Manyang recorded a double-double with a career-high 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds against No. 1 Duke. He also dished out a career-high six assists and registered a steal. Manyang connected on 6-of-11 shots from the field and knocked down 5-of-6 free throws against the Blue Devils. In the season opener at Kentucky, Manyang scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting, pulled down seven rebounds and tallied a game-high five blocked shots.

UVU opened the season with what might just be the toughest 24 hours ever played in college basketball history as the Wolverines took on No. 4/5 Kentucky and No. 1 Duke on back-to-back nights to open the season. The Wolverines dropped a 73-63 decision at Kentucky before falling 99-69 at Duke. UVU then had to travel to Pocatello, Idaho just two days later to take on Idaho State, which the Wolverines defeated, 84-71.

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
Monday night's game against Eastern Oregon will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network at WACsports.com/live with Brandon Crow and Holton Hunsaker handling play-by-play and color duties. The game will also be broadcast on the air waves at ESPN 960 AM radio with Jim McCulloch and Josh Kullanki 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 EASTERN OREGON
Eastern Oregon plays in the NAIA and is a member of the Frontier Conference, along with nine other teams, including Carroll College, College of Idaho, Lewis-Clark, Montana Northern, Montana Tech, Montana Western, Providence, Rocky Mountain, and Southern Oregon. The Mountaineers are a perfect 8-0 on the season. The team did lose a 104-65 decision to Boise State in an exhibition game. The team most recently picked up a 102-76 win at New Hope Christian on Saturday afternoon in Eugene, Oregon. Senior guard Cole Ashby scored a career-high 22 points, including an impressive 6-for-9 clip from three-point range. Junior guard Paul Hugo netted a career-high 20 points with four assists, while freshman Jordan May chipped in 16 points off the bench. Sophomore guard Max McCullough leads the team in scoring at 21.3 points per game. The 5-foot-11 guard is connecting on 58.7 percent of his shots from the field and a 41.9 clip from beyond the arc (61-of-104). Freshman guard Jordan May and senior guard Blake O'Donnell also average double figures at 16.1 and 15.4 points per game, respectively. O'Donnell leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 7.5 boards a contest. As a team, EOU is averaging 99.0 points per game while allowing an average of 75.9 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. EASTERN OREGON
Utah Valley and Eastern Oregon meet up on the basketball hardwood for the first time on Monday evening. Utah Valley does have another Frontier Conference foe on its schedule as the Wolverines will host Montana Tech on Dec. 20.

HOME SWEET UCCU CENTER
Utah Valley holds an all-time 152-45 (77 percent) record in 12 seasons at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines are averaging 12.5 wins a season at the UCCU Center. UVU finished play at home last season with an 8-5 record. UVU is a perfect 1-0 at home this season.

HOME OPENERS
Utah Valley improved its all-time record in home openers record 13-2 record to 13-2 all-time since joining the Division I ranks as the Wolverines defeated UC Davis, 80-71, on Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center. UVU has now won its home opener in each of the past seven seasons. The last time a UVU team dropped its home opener was on Nov. 12, 2010 when the Wolverines dropped a 71-66 overtime decision to Maine. The only other loss was on Nov. 21, 2003 as UVU fell to Kennesaw State, 78-43. UVU defeated Idaho State, 82-73, in last season's home opener.

THREE-POINT STREAKING
Utah Valley has now hit a three-point field goal in 102 straight games. The last time UVU played in a game without hitting a shot from beyond the arc was on Feb. 27, 2014 against New Mexico State.

FIVE NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS ON THIS SEASON'S SLATE
Utah Valley will play five teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season. In fact, the team plays five teams that won their conference tournaments last year. Kentucky won the SEC Tournament, Duke won the ACC Tournament, UC Davis won the Big West Tournament, North Dakota won the Big Sky Tournament, and New Mexico State won the WAC Tournament. UVU plays four of those teams during its first six games of the season, three of which are on the road.

#TOUGHEST24 - UTAH VALLEY PLAYS TOUGHEST 24 HOURS OF BASKETBALL IN NCAA HISTORY
Utah Valley embarked on what is likely the toughest 24 hours of basketball ever played in NCAA history. Utah Valley traveled 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. The Wolverines played two of the top-5 teams in the nation on back-to-back nights on the road at a pair of basketball cathedrals. UVU chartered a plane and welcomed a travel party of over 100 staff and boosters to join the team on the trip.  Kentucky and Duke own a combined 13 NCAA men's basketball national titles. Kentucky was ranked No. 4/5 and Duke was the consensus No. 1 ranked team in the preseason polls. ESPN embedded a reporter and a television crew with the team, which featured a behind-the-scenes, all-access look at the Wolverines on the trip. ESPN' SportsCenter created a four-minute documentary-style feature on UVU that aired on SportsCenter throughout the day on Sunday, Nov. 12. ESPN's Sam Strong also traveled with the Wolverines and featured numerous stories and video clips about the team on ESPN.com throughout the entire #Toughest24 trip. ESPN's Kevin Connors also featured the Wolverines on SportsCenter two times prior to the trip and once while the Wolverines were on the trip.
 
MANYANG NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley senior center Akolda Manyang has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 7-13. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor. The Rochester, Minn., native averaged 11.5 points on 60 percent shooting, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks in a pair of road games against two Top 5 teams last week. Manyang recorded a double-double with a career-high 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds against No. 1 Duke. He also dished out a career-high six assists and registered a steal. Manyang connected on 6-of-11 shots from the field and knocked down 5-of-6 free throws against the Blue Devils. In the season opener at Kentucky, Manyang scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting, pulled down seven rebounds and tallied a game-high five blocked shots.