Utah Valley (3-2) at North Dakota (3-2) GAME INFORMATION
Tickets: GoUVU.com/Tickets
TV: Fox Sports North
Live Video: BigSkyTV | Pluto TV, Channel 240
Radio: ESPN 960 AM (Jim McCulloch/Jason Erickson)
Radio Webcast: espn960sports.com
Live Stats Link: North Dakota Live Stats
 

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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 three straight wins to up its record to 3-2. The Wolverines picked up their third straight victory with a 97-52 win over NAIA foe Eastern Oregon on Monday night at the UCCU Center. UVU now travels to play reigning Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament champion North Dakota on Saturday night in Grand Forks, N.D. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. (MT).

North Dakota and Utah Valley have a familiar history as the two teams were transitioning to Division I at the same time. UVU and UND were each members of the Great West Conference from 2010-12. They met up on the basketball hardwood six times with each team winning three games. Saturday's game marks the first matchup between the two teams since their final season together in the Great West in 2012.

Akolda Manyang registered a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double to lead Utah Valley to a 97-52 win over Eastern Oregon on Tuesday night. Utah Valley shot a season-high 60.3 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Mountaineers 50-25 to secure the win. Kenneth Ogbe scored 16 points, while Isaac Neilson helped with 15. Jake Toolson was just three rebounds shy of a double-double with 11 points and seven rebounds. Conner Toolson dished out a game-high six assists to go along with nine points.

Jake Toolson was named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 14-19 on Monday. The Gilbert, Ariz., native averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in a pair of wins last week, including an 84-71 road win at Idaho State and an 80-71 win over reigning Big West champion UC Davis in the Wolverines' home opener. Toolson opened the week with a career-high 27 points, knocking down 12-of-15 shots from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. He also dished out four assists and pulled down five rebounds. He followed it up with 13 points in the win over UC Davis, connecting on 4-of-7 shots from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. Toolson also dished out a career-high five assists and pulled down five rebounds. On the week, Toolson shot an impressive 72.7 percent from the field, including a 60 percent mark from long range and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. He also had a 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

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.

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 North Dakota will be broadcast live on Fox Sports North. The game will also be broadcast on the air waves at 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 NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota is the reigning Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament champion. The team made its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament last season under head coach Brian Jones who is in his 12th season with the team. Jones was named last season's Big Sky Coach of the Year. UND was selected to finish fifth by the media and sixth by the coaches in the Big Sky preseason polls. North Dakota enters Saturday's game with a 3-2 record. The team opened the season by winning two of three games at the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. The team then dropped a 92-70 decision at Nebraska before rebounding with a 79-48 win over Northland College in the team's home opener on Tuesday night. Junior Cortez Seales scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Fighting Hawks to the 79-48 win over Northland College on Tuesday night. Juniors Marlon Stewart and Conner Avants each helped with 11 points. Geno Crandall leads the team in scoring at 19.6 points per game over UND's five games this season. Four other Hawks average double figures. As a team, UND is averaging 78.0 points while allowing opponents an average of 74.4 points a contest.

SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTH DAKOTA
Utah Valley and North Dakota meet up on the basketball hardwood for the sixth time on Saturday. The two teams played all six of their games against one another during their transition to NCAA Division I in the Great West Conference. The two teams played one of UVU's three quadruple overtime games in 2011 as the Wolverines defeated the Fighting Hawks, 107-96, in the four-overtime contest in Grand Forks on Jan. 20, 2011. UVU also played a quadruple OT game on Jan. 29, 2009, defeating Chicago State on the road,123-121, and again last season in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament, falling 80-81 to CSU Bakersfield in quadruple overtime on March 10, 2017.

All-Time Results vs. North Dakota (series tied 3-3)
Jan. 14, 2010    North Dakota def. Utah Valley, 67-62                 Orem, Utah
Feb. 20, 2010    North Dakota def. Utah Valley, 74-58                Grand Forks, N.D.
Jan. 20, 2011    Utah Valley def. North Dakota, 107-96 (4OT)    Grand Forks, N.D.
Feb. 19, 2011    Utah Valley def. North Dakota, 67-64                Orem, Utah
Jan. 21, 2012    Utah Valley def. North Dakota, 72-64                Orem, Utah
March 3, 2012    North Dakota def. Utah Valley, 57-56               Grand Forks, N.D.

THREE-POINT STREAKING
Utah Valley has now hit a three-point field goal in 103 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.

TOOLSON NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley sophomore guard Jake Toolson was been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 14-19. This is his first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor. The Gilbert, Ariz., native averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in a pair of wins last week, including an 84-71 road win at Idaho State and an 80-71 win over reigning Big West champion UC Davis in the Wolverines' home opener. Toolson opened the week with a career-high 27 points, knocking down 12-of-15 shots from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. He also dished out four assists and pulled down five rebounds. He followed it up with 13 points in the win over UC Davis, connecting on 4-of-7 shots from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. Toolson also dished out a career-high five assists and pulled down five rebounds. On the week, Toolson shot an impressive 72.7 percent from the field, including a 60 percent mark from long range and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. He also had a 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Utah Valley starters Conner and Jake Toolson are second cousins and basketball is in their blood. Conner and Jake's fathers are first cousins. UVU all-time leading scorer Ryan Toolson (2003-04, 06-09) is first cousins with Jake and second cousins with Conner. Ryan has enjoyed a lengthy professional career overseas. Jake is the nephew of two-time NBA champ and current Boston Celtic general manager Danny Ainge. Conner's father, Andy, played college basketball at BYU before playing a lengthy professional career that included two seasons with the Utah Jazz.

LEADING THE WAC
Utah Valley leads the WAC in field goal percentage at a 48.1 percent clip. That mark ranks the Wolverines 89th nationally. UVU also leads the WAC in personal fouls per game at 16.0 a game. UVU ranks second in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.99), fewest fouls (80), free throw percentage (75.9 percent), rebound margin (9.2), and three point field goal percentage (35.9). Individually, Akolda Manyang leads the WAC with two double-doubles, which ranks him 35th nationally. He also leads the WAC with a 63.3 percent clip from the field, ranking him 63rd in the country.

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.
 
SENIOR CITIZENS OF NCAA HOOPS
Utah Valley has two of the oldest players in NCAA Division I basketball. Utah Valley graduate student Zach Nelson is the third-oldest player in the nation at 25 years, 143 days, while Isaac Neilson ranks fourth on the NCAA Division I senior citizens list at 24 years, 352 days old. Sam Houston State's Josh Boutte is the oldest player in the nation at 25 years, 307 days. Hawaii's Gibson Johnson ranks second at 25 years, 273 days. Both Nelson and Neilson served LDS Church missions and had redshirt seasons.

Oldest Players in NCAA Division I Basketball
1.    Josh Boutte, Sam Houston State    25 years, 307 days
2.    Gibson Johnson, Hawaii    25 years, 273 days
3.    Zach Nelson, UVU    25 years, 143 days
4.    Isaac Neilson, UVU    24 years, 352 days
5.     Kyle Brown, Cornell    24 years, 345 days
6.    Ron Patterson, IUPUI    24 years, 296 days