OREM, Utah—Utah Valley University head coach Mark Pope announced today that his team will embark on what might be the toughest 24 hours of basketball ever played in NCAA history.
 
Utah Valley will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to open the 2017-18 season against SEC foe Kentucky on Nov. 10 at Rupp Arena. The Wolverines will then continue their road trip against ACC foe Duke on Nov. 11 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Kentucky and Duke own a combined 13 NCAA men's basketball national titles.
 
"This is what college basketball is supposed to be," said Pope. "We couldn't be more excited to go out and play two of the best teams in the entire country in a 24-hour period. Our goal is to be the best team we can possibly be at the end of the season. We had great success with that last year and part of doing that is putting together the hardest non-conference schedule we can and we've accomplished that."
 
The game at Kentucky will be a homecoming for Pope, who as a player helped the Wildcats to a national title in 1996 under head coach Rick Pitino. After redshirting in 1993-94, Pope helped Kentucky win back-to-back SEC titles, advance to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1995 and win the NCAA National title in 1996. Pope earned Academic All-SEC honors in 1995 and graduated from Kentucky with a degree in English in 1996.
 
The game at Kentucky will mark Utah Valley's first-ever matchup against the Wildcats. Kentucky went 32-6 last season and the team finished 5th in the final USA Today Coaches Poll. The Wildcats made a run to the Elite Eight of the 2017 NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national champion North Carolina, 75-73. Kentucky boasts 15 Final Four appearances and eight national titles, including a championship under current head coach John Calipari in 2012.
 
Duke is coming off a 28-9 season that included a run to the ACC Tournament title and the program's 22nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Blue Devils became the first team ever to win four games in four days to claim the ACC tournament crown last season. Duke earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and dropped an 88-81 decision to South Carolina, which made a run to the Final Four. Mike Krzyzewski will enter his 38th season as Duke's head coach. He is the only men's coach in Division I history to win 1,000 games overall and will enter the 2017-18 season just two wins shy of his 1,000th at Duke. His 998 wins at Duke are the most in NCAA history by a coach at one school. Krzyzewski's 1,071 overall wins are the most in NCAA history. Coach K has led Duke to five NCAA national titles. The trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium will mark UVU's first-ever matchup against the Blue Devils.

The game at Duke will be a homecoming for UVU assistant coach Chris Burgess, who played for Coach K and the Blue Devils for two seasons from 1997-99. He played in 79 games and made 16 starts for the Blue Devils, helping the team to an Elite Eight NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998 and a run to the national title game against Connecticut in 1999.
 
Utah Valley won six of its last eight games last season to wrap up the 2016-17 campaign with a 17-17 overall record. The Wolverines made a run to the Final Four of the College Basketball Invitational, picking up the program's first-ever national postseason wins at Georgia Southern and Rice before falling at Wyoming in the CBI Final Four.
 
Utah Valley picked up three of the most memorable and historic wins in program history during the 2016-17 season. The Wolverines recorded one of the biggest comebacks in NCAA history after overcoming a 27-point deficit to defeat Denver, 88-85, in the Mile High City. The Wolverines followed up the Denver victory with a first-ever win over crosstown rival BYU, 114-101, on the road. The 114 points and 18 three-point field goals recorded by UVU are the most ever recorded against the Cougars in the Marriott Center. Utah Valley also defeated WAC powerhouse New Mexico State, snapping the Aggies' 39-game WAC home win streak and ended the nation's third-longest home win streak with an 84-72 win in Las Cruces. UVU became the first WAC team to defeat NM State in Las Cruces since Nevada downed the Aggies, 68-60, on Jan. 26, 2012.
 
Utah Valley returns eight players who saw significant time last season, including 2016-17 leading scorer Conner Toolson who led UVU averaging 11.9 points a game. The Wolverines return five of their top six scorers and their top five rebounders from the 2016-17 season. WAC All-Defensive team honoree Isaac Neilson also returns after leading the team with 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. UVU also welcomes four four newcomers, including Oklahoma transfer Akolda Manyang, Jacksonville College transfer Benjamin Nakwaasah, and BYU transfers Jake Toolson and Cory Calvert.
 
Utah Valley will continue to release its non-conference schedule as it becomes finalized. The Wolverines have home games scheduled this season with in-state rival Weber State (Dec. 6), 2017 NCAA Tournament team UC Davis, UTSA, and UC Riverside. UVU will also host crosstown foe BYU for the first time in program history as part of the UCCU CrossTown Clash series. The BYU game is set for Nov. 29 at the UCCU Center.

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