Utah Valley (9-5) vs. UC Riverside (5-7) GAME INFORMATION
Live Video: WAC Digital Network (Brandon Crow/Holton Hunsaker)
Radio: ESPN 960 AM (Jim McCulloch)
Radio Webcast: espn960sports.com
Live Stats Link: UVU StatBroadcast
 

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OPENING TIP
Fresh off a 75-64 road win at Sam Houston State on Dec. 22 in the team's final non-conference road game of the season, Utah Valley returns to the UCCU Center to open a five-game home stand against UC Riverside on Thursday night against Big West foe UC Riverside. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Akolda Manyang recorded a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead Utah Valley to a 75-64 win at Sam Houston State on Dec. 22. The Wolverines improved to 9-5 on the season and handed the Bearkats their first home loss of the season. In addition to his double-double, Manyang also blocked four shots on the night. Brandon Randolph nearly had a double-double himself as he scored 14 points and dished out eight assists to go along with four rebounds. Kenneth Ogbe was also in double figures with 13 points.

All five of UVU's starters are averaging double figure scoring this season led by Akolda Manyang's 14.6 points per game. Kenneth Ogbe ranks second on the team at 13.1 points, while Jake Toolson is third at 13.0 points a contest. Brandon Randolph  and Conner Toolson each average 11.0 points per game.

Utah Valley graduate forward Zach Nelson is closing in on the 1,000-point mark. Nelson currently has 926 points and is just 74 points shy of reaching the milestone. Nelson will become just the seventh player in UVU history to reach the mark. Nelson will become the first player in UVU history to score 1,000 points, pull down 500 or more rebounds and dish out 200 or more assists.

Utah Valley has 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 eight of its last 11 games.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Thursday's game will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network at WACsports.com/live. Brandon Crow and former Wolverine Holton Hunsaker will be on the call. The game will also be available on the air waves at ESPN 960 AM radio with Jim McCulloch handling the play-by-play duties. A live audio 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 UC RIVERSIDE
UC Riverside has won three of its last four games, including two straight to improve to 6-7 overall on the season. The Highlanders most recently defeated UC Merced on Dec. 22 as the team scored 25 of the game's first 34 points and never trailed in the 91-46 win. Four Highlanders scored in double digits, including sophomore forward Eric Rwahwire, who notched a career-high 10 points. Junior center Idy Diallo recorded a career-high 10 rebounds in the win. UC Riverside also defeated Valparaiso, 73-60, on Dec. 20. Dikymbe Martin leads the Highlanders in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Martin was recently named the Big West Player of the Week on Tuesday, Dec. 26. In the week leading up to Christmas, the sophomore scored a career-high 30 points in the Highlanders' win over Valparaiso, knocking down 7-of-12 shots from the field and 14-of-16 free throw attempts. He also added six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. As a team, UC Riverside is averaging 66.6 points per game while allowing opponents a 67.2 points per game average.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UC RIVERSIDE
Utah Valley and UC Riverside meet up on the basketball hardwood for just the second time on Thursday night. The two teams first met exactly one year ago with the Wolverines taking a 73-64 win at SRC Arena in California.

All-Time Results vs. UC Riverside
Dec. 28, 2016    Utah Valley def. UC Riverside, 73-64    Riverside, Calif.

LAST TIME VS. UC RIVERSIDE (12/28/16)
Conner Toolson led three other Wolverines in double figures with 16 points and hit a pair of clutch threes down the stretch to help lift Utah Valley to a 73-64 road win over UC Riverside on Dec. 28, 2016 at SRC Arena.
 
Utah Valley took a 17-point lead, 55-38, with 13:55 remaining to play before UC Riverside went on a 21-5 run to cut the UVU lead to just one point, 60-59, with 2:37 remaining. Toolson then hit a shot from long range to give the Wolverines a four-point cushion, 63-59, with 2:20 to play. The Wolverines then out-scored UC Riverside 11-4 over the final two minutes to secure the 73-64 win.
 
Toolson connected on 6-of-11 shots from the field, including a 4-of-8 mark from beyond the arc for his team-high 16 points. The sophomore guard also pulled down six rebounds with one assist and a steal. Kenneth Ogbe scored 14 points on a 5-of-10 clip from the floor, including three shots form long range. Ogbe dished out two assists and pulled down a pair of rebounds.
 
Brandon Randolph and Isaac Neilson were also in double figures, scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. Randolph knocked down 4-of-8 shots from the floor, including a 2-of-4 mark from three. The junior guard dished out a game-high four assists with five rebounds. Neilson pulled down six rebounds with a season-high four blocks to go along with his 12 points.
 
Utah Valley connected on 44.4 percent (24-of-54) of its shots on the night compared to UC Riverside's 38.3 percent (23-of-60) mark. The Wolverines knocked down 13 shots from beyond the arc.

UVU WRAPS UP NON-CONFERENCE ROAD PLAY WITH 75-64 WIN AT SAM HOUSTON STATE
Led by a 21-point 10-rebound double-double from Akolda Manyang, the Utah Valley University men's basketball team pulled away late in the clock to defeat Sam Houston State, 75-64, on Dec. 22 at the Bernard Johnson Coliseum.
 
UVU's win improved its record to 9-5 for the season and handed Sam Houston State its first home loss of the year. As a team, the Wolverines shot 48.1 percent from the field compared to the Bearkats' 36.5 percent clip. Utah Valley enjoyed a slight advantage in the paint with two more points than SHSU, and recorded seven blocks compared to just one for Sam Houston State.

Sam Houston State came out of the locker room hot and scored the first-seven points of the second half. Ogbe finally connected on a three to stop the bleeding for the Wolverines and push the lead back to seven. UVU faced some early foul trouble in the second half as SHSU found itself in the bonus just four minutes in.
 
The next stretch of the contest saw both teams trade baskets as Utah Valley's lead stayed in single digits for nine minutes. With 11 minutes to play in the game, Conner Toolson hit his second three of the half to restore the Wolverines' lead to double digits.
 
The Bearkats scored the next-eight points to cut the lead down to two, but Jake Toolson knocked down a shot from distance to preserve the lead for the Wolverines. Moments later, SHSU cut the deficit down to one, but another Conner Toolson three kept UVU ahead.
 
UVU continued to hit timely threes and knocked down its free-throws as it closed the game with a 10-0 run to win by 11.
 
In addition to his double-double, Manyang blocked four shots for Utah Valley. Randolph nearly joined Manyang with a double-double of his own as he finished the game with 14 points and eight assists to go with four rebounds. Ogbe was the final Wolverine in double figures as he ended the game with 13 points.

ZACH NELSON CLOSING IN ON 1,000 POINT CLUB
Utah Valley graduate forward Zach Nelson is closing in on the 1,000-point mark. Nelson currently has 926 points and is just 74 points shy of reaching the milestone. Nelson will become just the seventh player in UVU history to reach the mark. Nelson will become the first player in UVU history to score 1,000 points, pull down 500 or more rebounds and dish out 200 or more assists as he currently has 537 rebounds and 227 assists. He will become the second player in UVU history to score 1,000 points and pull down 500 rebounds. Ben Aird is the only other player to score 1,000 points and pull down at least 500 rebounds as he scored 1,516 points and pulled down 1,012 rebounds

UVU 1,000 Point Club
1.    2,163    Ryan Toolson (03-04, 06-09)
2.    1,545    Holton Hunsaker (2010-14)
3.    1,516    Ben Aird (2010-14)
4.    1,245    Ronnie Price (2003-05)
5.    1,078    David Heck (2003-07)
6.    1,066    Isiah Williams (2010-12)

NELSON CLIMBING UVU CAREER RECORD CHARTS
Zach Nelson currently ranks in the top-10 in 16 different all-time individual career statistical categories. He ranks second all-time in defensive rebounds (403), third in rebounds (537), third in games started (91), fourth in blocks (78), sixth in minutes played (2621), seventh in blocks per game (0.8), sixth in field goals made (359), seventh in field goals attempted (726), eighth in three-point field goals attempted (259), seventh in assists (227), eighth in points (926), eighth in offensive rebounds (134), ninth in defensive rebounds per game (4.0), ninth in rebounds per game (5.4), ninth in field goal percentage (.494), and 10th in free throws attempted (203).

UTAH VALLEY FEATURES TWO OF THE OLDEST PLAYERS IN NCAA DIVISION I
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. As of the start of the season on Nov. 10, Nelson was ranked the third-oldest player at 25 years, 143 days, while Isaac Neilson ranked fourth on the NCAA Division I senior citizens list at 24 years, 352 days old.

NUMEROUS RECORDS FALL IN WIN OVER BETHESDA
A numbers of records were broken in Utah Valley's 106-44 win over Bethesda on Thursday night at the UCCU Center. Every player that saw minutes for UVU scored, including Mckay Johnson who notched the first points of his Wolverine career. Utah Valley set a new school record for made field goals in a game with 43, and set a record for most points scored in a home game with 106. The 106 points are also a UCCU Center record, topping the previous high of 103. The 62-point victory was the third largest in school history. UVU's 35 assists are also a school record over the previous record of 29.

UVU ONE OF JUST TWO TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY TO HAVE ALL FIVE STARTERS AVERAGE DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING
Utah Valley is one of just two teams in the nation to have all five of its starters averaging double figure scoring this season. Akolda Manyang leads the way at 14.6 points a game, followed by Kenneth Ogbe at 13.1 points, Jake Toolson at 13.0 points, Conner Toolson at 11.0 points, and Brandon Randolph at 11.0 points a contest. The five starters average a combined 62.7 points per game. As a team, UVU averages 80.1 points per game. The five starters are responsible for 78 percent of the team's points.

THREE-POINT STREAKING
Utah Valley has now hit a three-point field goal in 112 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.

HOME SWEET UCCU CENTER
Utah Valley holds an all-time 157-46 (77.3 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 6-1 at home this season. UVU's game against BYU on Nov. 29 was the team's first-ever sellout since joining the Division I ranks in 2003. 7,574 fans attended the game on Wednesday night, breaking the previous attendance record of 7,124 set against Utah State on Dec. 18, 2010.