Utah Valley (4-2) vs. BYU (4-2) GAME INFORMATION
Tickets: GoUVU.com/Tickets
TV: BYUtv (Dave McCann/Blaine Fowler/Spencer Linton)
Live Video: BYUtv.org
Live Video: ESPN3
Radio: ESPN 960 AM (Jim McCulloch/Holton Hunsaker)
Radio Webcast: espn960sports.com
Live Stats Link: UVU StatBroadcast
 

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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 to win four straight, improving its record to 4-2 overall. The Wolverines picked up their fourth straight victory with an 83-75 road win at Big Sky reigning champion North Dakota on Saturday. UVU now welcomes crosstown rival BYU to the UCCU Center for the first time in program history on Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Despite being separated by less than five miles on the same road, Utah Valley and BYU meet on the basketball hardwood for just the fourth time on Wednesday night. The two teams meet up on UVU's home court for the first time in series history. UVU's roster features three former BYU players in Isaac Neilson, Jake Toolson, and Cory Calvert. UVU head coach Mark Pope was an assistant coach under BYU head coach Dave Rose at BYU for four seasons (2011-15). BYU assistant coach Quincy Lewis coached UVU junior guard Conner Toolson at Lone Peak High School and was an assistant coach at Utah Valley from 1997-2002. UVU defeated BYU, 114-101, last season at the Marriott Center. UVU's 114 points against the Cougars are the most points ever scored against BYU in the Marriott Center. UVU's 18 three-point field goals in that game are the most ever recorded on BYU's home court.  

Akolda Manyang scored a career-high 24 points, including nine of the team's 16 points in overtime, to lead Utah Valley to an 83-75 road win over reigning Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament champion North Dakota. Manyang also added a career-high six blocks and nine rebounds on the day. Brandon Randolph scored a season-high 19 points with four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Isaac Neilson led the Wolverines on the boards with a season-best 11 rebounds to go along with seven points. Jake Toolson pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds with seven points.

Utah Valley has now played four teams that won their conference tournaments last season and made trips to the NCAA Tournament, including Kentucky (SEC Tournament), Duke (ACC Tournament), UC Davis (Big West Tournament), and North Dakota (Big Sky Tournament). The Wolverines went 2-2 with wins over UC Davis and North Dakota.

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 has since won four straight games.

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
Wednesday night's game will be broadcast live on BYUtv. Dave McCann and Blaine Fowler will be on the call, along with Spencer Linton on the sidelines. A live stream of the broadcast will also be available at BYUtv.org. The game will also be broadcast on the air waves at ESPN 960 AM radio with Jim McCulloch and former Wolverine 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 BYU
BYU enters Wednesday night's game with a 4-2 record. The Cougars played in the Barclays Center Classic last week. The team opened play at home last week with a 95-88 win over Niagra before splitting a pair of games in New York against Alabama and UMass. BYU dropped a 71-59 decision to Alabama before picking up a 68-66 win over UMass. In BYU's win over UMass, sophomore forward Yoeli Childs recorded his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Elijah Bryant and sophomore guard  Jashire Hardnett added 18 and 10 points, respectively. Bryant leads the team in scoring at 18.2 points per game. Childs averages 15.7 a contest, while sophomore guard TJ Haws also averages double figures at 10.5 points per game. Childs fronts BYU on the boards, pulling down 8.8 rebounds a game. The Cougars are averaging 75.5 points a contest, while limiting opponents to a 71.8 points per game average.  

SERIES HISTORY VS. BYU
Although the two schools are separated by only about 4.6 miles, Utah Valley and BYU have met just three times on the basketball hardwood. UVU most recently took a 114-101 win over BYU last season at the Marriott Center. Isaac Neilson scored a team-high 26 points and Brandon Randolph recorded a 21-point, 14-assist double-double to help lead the Wolverines to the win. UVU knocked down a school-record 18 three-point field goals en route to its 114-point performance--the second-most points ever scored in a game by UVU.  The Cougars defeated Utah Valley 84-65 on Nov. 29, 2003 and 85-54 on Nov. 13, 2015. Wednesday night's game marks the first time that BYU has made the trip to Orem to take on the Wolverines. UVU coach Mark Pope holds an all-time 1-1 mark against BYU.

All-Time Series Results (BYU leads 2-1)
Nov. 29, 2003    BYU def. Utah Valley 84-65    Provo, Utah
Nov. 13, 2015    BYU def. Utah Valley, 85-54    Provo, Utah
Nov. 26, 2016    Utah Valley def. BYU, 114-101    Provo, Utah

HOME SWEET UCCU CENTER
Utah Valley holds an all-time 153-45 (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 2-0 at home this season. UVU's game against UCCU Crosstown Clash against BYU on Wednesday night will be the highest-attended game in UVU basketball history.

THREE-POINT STREAKING
Utah Valley has now hit a three-point field goal in 104 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.

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 Celtics 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.

TOP RPI IN THE WAC
As of Nov. 27, Utah Valley's RPI is 27 according to WarrenNolan.com. UVU sits a spot ahead of North Carolina at No. 28.  The Wolverines hold the best RPI in the WAC as the team sits ahead of CSU Bakersfield (56), New Mexico State (145), Seattle U (164), Kansas City (165), Grand Canyon (178), Chicago State (311), and UTRGV (315).  The WAC's conference RPI currently sits at No. 11, ahead of the WCC, which is at No. 15.

UVU STARTING TO RECEIVE VOTES IN COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOP-25 POLL
For the first time this season, Utah Valley has received votes in the latest CollegeInsider.com top-25 poll. The Wolverines received five votes and sit just behind North Dakota who received six votes. UVU plays four teams this season that are currently ranked or receiving votes in the poll.

LEADING THE WAC
As of Nov. 27, Utah Valley leads the WAC in field goal percentage at a 47.8 percent clip. The Wolverines also rank in the top three in 14 different statistical categories. UVU ranks 45th nationally in rebounds per game at 41.33. The team also ranks 50th nationally in rebound margin (7.7). Senior center Akolda Manyang leads the WAC in three categories, including blocks per game (2.17), field goal percentage (61.2), and total blocks (13). He ranks 49th, 54th, and 40th nationally in the three categories, respectively.  

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