#4 Utah Valley (14-15, 6-8) vs. #5 Seattle U (13-16, 5-9) GAME INFORMATION
WAC Tournament Central: WACsports.com
Video Stream: WAC Digital Network (Mychal Clanton / Sed Bonner)
Radio: ESPN 960 AM (Jim McCulloch / Clint Burgi)
Radio Webcast: espn960sports.com
Live Stats Link: WAC StatBroadcast
 

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OPENING TIP
Utah Valley makes its fourth appearance at the WAC Tournament this week in Las Vegas. The Wolverines take the No. 4 seed into the tournament and will take on fifth-seeded Seattle U on Thursday at 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT. The winner will face top-seeded CSU Bakersfield on Friday at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT.

The Wolverines hold a 14-15 overall record and placed fifth in the WAC with a 6-8 league mark. Seattle U is 13-16 overall on the season and placed sixth in the conference with a 5-9 record.

Jordan Poydras scored a game-high 17 points and made some key plays down the stretch to lead the Utah Valley to a 61-54 win over Seattle U in the team's regular season finale on Saturday night at the UCCU Center. Conner Toolson helped with eight points while Brandon Randolph helped with seven. Isaac Neilson had a game-high five blocks.
 
Toolson leads the Wolverines in scoring at 12.2 points per game. Kenneth Ogbe ranks second on the team in scoring at 10.9 points a contest. Neilson leads the team on the boards, pulling down 9.0 rebounds a game. Randolph leads the team in assists, averaging 4.2 helpers a game.

Junior forward Isaac Neilson has been named to the WAC's All-Defensive team by the WAC's eight head coaches. Neilson, from Mission Viejo, Calif., has enjoyed the most successful season of his career. He ranks second in the WAC on the boards, pulling down 9.0 rebounds a game. He also ranks second in the WAC with a 57.4 percent clip from the field. He leads both the team and the WAC in blocks, averaging 1.72 a game. Neilson has 50 blocks this season which is just six shy of tying the UVU all-time single season blocks record.  

Utah Valley is the 10th fastest team in the nation according to KenPom.com at 73.8 possessions per 40 minutes. Savannah State (81.2) is ranked as the No. 1 tempo team in the nation, followed by The Citadel (79.9) and Marshall (78.3) in third. The Wolverines are in 10th just behind Auburn (74.0) in ninth and in front of Nebraska Omaha (73.8) in 11th.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's game against Seattle U will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network (WACsports.com/live) with Mychal Clanton and Sed Bonner on the call. The game will also be broadcast on the air waves at ESPN 960 AM radio with Jim McCulloch and Clint Burgi 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 SEATTLE U
Seattle U heads into Thursday's matchup against Utah Valley with a 13-16 overall record. The Redhawks finished sixth in the WAC with a 5-9 league mark. The Redhawks have dropped five of their last six games, including a 61-54 decision to Utah Valley on Saturday night. Morgan Means finished with a team-high 16 points while William Powell added nine points and Matej Kavas finished with eight.  Brendan Westendorf leads the team in scoring this season at 14.3 points per game. UVU held Westendorf to just four points in Saturday's win over the Redhawks. Three other Redhawks also average double figures. Seattle U averages 70.3 points per game while allowing opponents a 71.6 average.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SEATTLE U
Utah Valley and Seattle U meet on the basketball hardwood for the 15th time on Thursday. It marks the first time the two teams have met at the WAC Tournament. SU holds an all-time 8-6 advantage over the Wolverines. Utah Valley had dropped four straight to Seattle U before Saturday night's win over the Redhawks. Seattle has won four of the last five matchups between the two teams. The two teams split this year's season series with each squad winning on its home floor.

WAC TOURNAMENT
Utah Valley makes its fourth appearance at the WAC Tournament this week. The Wolverines hold an all-time 1-3 record at the tournament. UVU's lone win at the tournament was a 83-63 win over UTRGV in the quarterfinals of the 2013 tournament. The Wolverines earned the No. 1 seed in their first-ever appearance at the tournament in 2014. 2017 marks the second-straight year that UVU has entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed.

All-Time Results at WAC Tournament (1-3)
March 13, 2014    #1 Utah Valley 83, #8 UTRGV 63    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 14, 2014    #5 Idaho 74, #1 Utah Valley 69    Semifinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 12, 2015    #4 Bakersfield 55, #5 Utah Valley 40    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 10, 2016    #5 UMKC 80, #4 Utah Valley 78    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada

NEILSON NAMED TO WAC ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Junior forward Isaac Neilson has been named to the WAC All-Defensive team in a vote by the WAC's eight head coaches. Neilson, from Mission Viejo, Calif., has enjoyed the most successful season of his career. He ranks second in the WAC on the boards, pulling down 9.0 rebounds a game. He also ranks second in the WAC with a 57.4 percent clip from the field. He leads both the team and the WAC in blocks, averaging 1.72 a game. Neilson has 50 blocks this season which is just six shy of tying the UVU all-time single season blocks record.  

NEILSON CLOSING IN ON UVU SINGLE SEASON BLOCKS RECORD
Isaac Neilson has registered an impressive 50 blocks this season which is just six shy of tying the Utah Valley single season blocks record. Ben Aird (2012-13) holds the single season record with 56 blocks during the 2012-13 season. Neilson is currently tied for second on the list with Ben Devoe who swatted 50 shots during the 2004-05 season. Neilson's 1.7 blocks per game ranks him fourth on the UVU single season blocks per game chart.

UTAH VALLEY BECOMES FIRST WAC TEAM TO SWEEP NMSU/UTRGV ROAD TRIP
Utah Valley became the first team in WAC history to sweep the New Mexico State/UT Rio Grande Valley road trip. The Wolverines defeated New Mexico State 84-72 before downing UTRGV 88-68. The road sweep marks UVU's first WAC road sweep since its sweep of UMKC and Chicago State last season.

UTAH VALLEY PICKS UP HISTORIC 84-72 WIN AT NEW MEXICO STATE, SNAPS NMSU'S HOME WIN STREAKS
Utah Ivory Young and Kenneth Ogbe each scored 16 points to lead the Utah Valley University men's basketball team to an 84-72 win over New Mexico State on Feb. 23 at the Pan American Center. The win snapped New Mexico State's 39-game conference home win streak and ends the nation's third-longest home win streak at 23 games. Utah Valley is the only team this season to pick up a win in the Pan American Center as NM State wrapped up its home slate with a 16-1 record at the Pan American Center this season. The Aggies last loss at home was a 62-59 setback to Wyoming on Dec. 13, 2015. NMSU's last WAC home loss dated back to a 68-60 loss to Nevada on Jan. 26, 2012.

SO CLOSE DOWN THE STRETCH
Utah Valley has lost six games this season where the Wolverines either trailed by two or less points or held a lead with under four minutes to play in regulation. The Wolverines have lost four games this year where the team was tied or held a lead with under four minutes to play.

CRASHING THE BOARDS - UVU RANKS FIFTH IN NATION ON DEFENSIVE GLASS
Utah Valley currently ranks fifth in the country in defensive rebounds per game, pulling down 29.83 boards per game on the defensive side. The Wolverines have pulled down 865 defensive boards this season. UVU has 1,106 total rebounds this season, an average of 38.14 per game, which ranks 58th nationally.

UVU HOLDS HIGHEST SCORING AVERAGE IN TEAM HISTORY
This year's team is scoring more points per game than any UVU team in team history. The Wolverines are averaging 77.3 points a contest. The school record for scoring average is 76.0 points per game set by last year's 2015-16 team. The 2010-11 squad holds the third spot on the list at 75.9 points per game.

THESE GUYS ARE SMART - TEAM HOLDS IMPRESSIVE 3.49 TEAM GPA
Utah Valley might be the only team in the country with two juniors that are entering their first year in a post graduate MBA program. Zach Nelson and Kenneth Ogbe started their first year in the MBA program at UVU this year. Under head coach Mark Pope, Utah Valley basketball players hold a perfect pass-fail rate. Every single player under his guidance has passed each and every class taken over the past two seasons. This year's team holds an impressive 3.49 team grade point average.

FREE-THROWIN'
Utah Valley and UMKC combined for a total of 84 free throw attempts in their game on Jan. 14 at the UCCU Center. UVU connected on 31-of-42 attempts at the charity stripe in the game, while UMKC knocked down 27-of-42 shots from the line. The combined 84 free throws fell just short of the WAC-record 93 attempted free throws between Wyoming (33) and New Mexico (58) during the 1965-66 season. UVU attempted 48 free throws in a win over UTRGV on Jan. 26. The 48 attempts falls short of the team record of 52 set at Chicago State on Jan. 29, 2009. However, the 48 attempts at the free throw line are the most ever recorded in the UCCU Center, breaking the previous team record of 42 set against UMKC on Jan. 14 of this season.

FAST AND THE FURIOUS
As of March 4, Utah Valley is the 10th fastest team in the nation according to KenPom.com at 73.8 possessions per 40 minutes. Savannah State (81.2) is ranked as the No. 1 tempo team in the nation, followed by The Citadel (79.9) and Marshall (78.3) in third. The Wolverines are in 10th just behind Auburn (74.0) in ninth and in front of Nebraska Omaha (73.8) in 11th.

UVU BREAKS MULTIPLE TEAM RECORDS FROM LONG RANGE
Utah Valley knocked down seven threes in its win over Seattle U on Saturday night to break the all-time single season UVU record for threes made. UVU now has 257 threes on the year, breaking the previous record of 256 set by last year's team. UVU has also broken the all-time UVU record for threes made in a single game with 18 made shots from beyond the arc at BYU on Nov. 26. The team also broke the single game UVU record for threes attempted as the Wolverines put up a school-record 43 three-point attempts in a 86-52 win over Benedictine on Nov. 19, surpassing the previous record of 37 set last season against Chicago State (2/18/2016). Utah Valley ranks 54th in the nation in threes per game, averaging 8.9 threes a contest.