UTAH VALLEY TRAVELS TO LOGAN TO TAKE ON UTAH STATE ON FRIDAY NIGHT
Utah Valley plays its third-straight road game on Friday night as the Wolverines travel north on I-15 to take Logan to play in-state foe Utah State on Friday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (MST). The game at Utah State marks the second game of a four-game set in the MGM Main Event series.

Utah Valley was unable to bounce back from a slow start as the team dropped a 92-63 decision at Saint Mary's on Sunday evening at McKeon Pavilion. Jake Toolson led the Wolverines with 15 points with Wyatt Lowell and TJ Washington adding 14 and 10 points, respectively. Saint Mary's Jordan Ford finished with career-high 35 points for the Gaels. The Wolverines were out-rebounded 37-25 and finished the game 24-of-59 from the field while knocking down 9-of-22 shots from behind the arc.

Redshirt junior center Baylee Steele pulled down a school-record 19 rebounds at BYU on Nov. 9. Steele's 19 boards breaks the previous single game UVU mark of 18 set by Jon Bell at Florida Gulf Coast on March 5, 2004. Geddes Robinson tied the 18-rebound mark on Jan. 28, 2012 against NJIT. The record stood for 14 years before Steele broke it on Nov. 9, 2018 at BYU.

Utah Valley currently owns the nation's fifth-longest active home win streak in the nation at 15 games. The Wolverines look to extend their win streak against North Dakota on Nov. 24.

Utah Valley returns just four letterwinners, including two starters from last year's squad that finished the season with a school-record 23 wins and a second-straight appearance at the College Basketball Invitational. Preseason All-WAC honorees Connor Toolson (12.1 ppg.) and Jake Toolson (10.9 ppg.) are back after combining to score an average of 23.0 points per game last season. The Wolverines return just 36 percent of its scoring from a season ago. Ben Nakwaasah (4.8 ppg.) and Richard Harward (1.3 ppg.) also return this season.

The Wolverines were selected to finish third by the media and fourth by the coaches in the WAC preseason poll. UVU received 162 points in the media poll to finish third behind No. 1 NM State and No. 2 Grand Canyon. The Wolverines received 43 points in the coaches' poll to fall just behind Seattle U in third at 45 points. NM State earned the top spot in the coaches' poll, followed by Grand Canyon in second.

Mark Pope enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Wolverines. He recently signed a new six-year contract after continuing to take the Wolverines to new heights last season. He led the team to a school-record 23 wins during the 2017-18 season and a second-straight trip to a national postseason tournament, where his team hosted its first-ever national postseason tournament game. He also helped UVU to its first top-100 finish in school history in both the Ken Pom and RPI rankings. Under his direction, the Wolverines compiled a school-record 16-1 home mark last season. His team held the nation's fifth-ranked home court advantage in the nation last season according to KenPom.com. Five of his players earned all-WAC honors last season and his team continues to excel in the classroom as he holds one of the top team GPAs in the country. Utah Valley scored more points than any UVU team ever in program history last season. His teams have broken the single season scoring record in each of his three seasons at UVU.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday night's game at Utah State will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network at UtahStateAggies.com/Watch. The game will also be broadcast over the radio waves as Jim McCulloch enters his ninth season as the radio play-by-play personality. Jason Erickson will be handling the color commentary duties on the radio. The radio broadcast will be aired live on ESPN 960AM radio. A live stream of the radio broadcast will also be available at ESPN960Sports.com.

ABOUT UTAH STATE
Utah State enters Friday night's game with a perfect 3-0 record with wins over Montana State (101-71), Hartford (100-73), and Mississippi Valley State (94-59). The Aggies are off to a perfect 3-0 start for the fifth time in the last six years. Utah State has defeated its first three opponents by an average margin of 30.7 points. The team has averaged 98.3 points per game this season. The team has also out rebounded its first three opponents by an average margin of 19.3 boards per game. Junior guard Sam Merrill leads the team in scoring this season at 25.5 points per game. Senior forward Quinn Taylor leads the Aggies in rebounding at 5.5 boards a game. Utah State is averaging 98.3 points per game while limiting opponents to a 67.7 points per game average. The Aggies are shooting 54.0 percent from the field this season while holding opponents to a 35.4 clip. Craig Smith is in his first season as the head coach of the Aggies after an impressive four-year career at South Dakota.

SERIES HISTORY VS. USU
Utah Valley and Utah State meet on the basketball hardwood for the 13th time on Friday night. The Aggies hold an all-time 12-0 series advantage, including a 6-0 mark in games played in Logan. The 2017-18 season marked the first time the two teams haven't met on the hardwood since the 2006-07 season. Two of the last three games between the two teams have been decided by three or less points.
 
All-Time Results vs. Utah State
Dec. 19, 2016    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 80-79 (OT)    Orem, Utah
Nov. 24, 2015    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 81-55        Logan, Utah
Dec. 13, 2014    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 50-47        Orem, Utah
Dec. 14, 2013    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 71-60        Logan, Utah
Dec. 15, 2012    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 69-63        Orem, Utah
Dec. 06, 2011    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 63-54        Logan, Utah
Dec. 18, 2010    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 76-58        Orem, Utah
Dec. 12, 2009    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 87-56        Logan, Utah
Dec. 13, 2008    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 69-50        Orem, Utah
Dec. 20, 2007    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 87-65        Logan, Utah
Jan. 10, 2007    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 81-70        Logan, Utah
Dec. 09, 2006    Utah State def. Utah Valley, 69-65        Orem, Utah

LAST MEETING VS. UTAH STATE (12/10/2016)
Conner Toolson recorded a 24-point, 11-rebound double-double and Isaac Neilson scored 16 points with 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season to lead Utah Valley in an 80-79 overtime loss to Utah State on Dec. 10, 2016 at the UCCU Center.

Down by one point, 79-78, Utah State's Shane Rector knocked down a pair of free throws with 1.6 seconds left on the clock in overtime to help the Aggies secure an 80-79 win, as Utah Valley was unable to get a shot off as time expired.
 
Toolson knocked down 8-of-15 shots from the field and hit 7-of-7 shots at the free throw line to score his game-high 24 points. The sophomore guard also pulled down a rebound and registered a steal to go along with his career-high 11 rebounds.
 
Neilson registered his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Neilson hit 5-of-6 shots from the field and went 6-for-8 at the charity stripe on the night. The junior forward also had a pair of blocks and an assist.
 
Jordan Poydras was also in double figures with 16 points, connecting on 5-of-13 shots from the field, including three shots from long range. Poydras also had one assists, one steal and a pair of rebounds. Brandon Randolph scored 10 points with six rebounds and a game-high six assists.
 
Utah State and Utah Valley each tallied 42 rebounds on the night. The Aggies shot 40.8 percent from the field compared to Utah Valley's 44.4 percent clip. Utah Valley, which averages 10.5 three-pointers per game, connected on only four shots from beyond the arc.

Utah Valley took a 69-66 lead with under two minutes to play in regulation before Utah State's Koby McEwen knocked down a three to tie the game, 69-69. UVU's Kenneth Ogbe was fouled and hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Wolverines a 70-69 lead with 1:32 to play. USU's Rector dunked the ball with 1:03 remaining to give the Aggies a 71-70 advantage. USU then fouled Neilson who went to the line and connected on 1-of-2 shots to tie the game, 71-71, with 52 seconds to play. Neither team could connect on a shot down the stretch as the two times headed to overtime.
 
Koby McEwen led Utah State with 21 points. Rector and Jalen Moore were also in double figures with 18 and 15 points, respectively.
 
UVU CANT OVERCOME SLOW START IN LOSS AT SAINT MARY'S
Utah Valley was unable to bounce back from a slow start as the team dropped a 92-63 decision at Saint Mary's on Sunday evening at McKeon Pavilion.
 
The Gaels took a 45-23 lead into the half by using a couple key runs to extend their lead. Saint Mary's went on an 18-3 run to take a 22-8 lead six minutes into the game. Another 10-2 run by the Gaels extended their lead to 40-18 with just over two minutes to go in the first half.
 
Jake Toolson led the Wolverines with seven points in the first half and Wyatt Lowell provided five points off the bench, hitting the team's only three. Jordan Ford had 16 points to lead the Gaels in the opening half.
 
The Wolverines picked up the scoring in the second half, making their first five threes, including back to back threes by Lowell. Utah Valley was unable to slow the Gaels offensive attack as Saint Mary's used an 11-0 run to push the lead to 77-44 with nine minutes to go in the game. The Wolverines hit eight threes in the second half but were unable to make the comeback.
 
Toolson led the Wolverines with 15 points with Lowell and TJ Washington adding 14 and 10 points, respectively. Jordan Ford finished with career-high 35 points for the Gaels. The Wolverines were out-rebounded 37-25 and finished the game 24-of-59 from the field while knocking down 9-of-22 shots from behind the arc.

MAN OF STEELE
Redshirt junior Baylee Steele pulled down a school-record 19 rebounds against BYU on Friday night. Steele's 19 boards breaks the previous single game UVU mark of 18 set by Jon Bell at Florida Gulf Coast on March 5, 2004. Geddes Robinson tied the 18-rebound mark on Jan. 28, 2012 against NJIT. The record stood for 14 years before Steele broke it on Nov. 9, 2018 at BYU.

UVU Single-Game Rebounds Record
1.    19    Baylee Steele    at BYU, 11/9/18
2.    18    Jon Bell    at Florida Gulf Coast, 3/5/04
        18    Geddes Robinson    vs. NJIT, 1/28/12
4.    17    Jordan Brady    vs. CSU Bakersfield, 3/1/08
        17    Geddes Robinson    at North Dakota, 1/20/11
        17    Geddes Robinson    vs. Georgia State, 12/17/11
 
UVU HOLDS NATIONS'S FIFTH-BEST ACTIVE HOME WIN STREAK IN THE NATION
Utah Valley won a school-record 16 games at home last season, finishing the 2017-18 campaign with a school-record 16-1 record at home, surpassing the previous record of 14-1 set by the 2006-07 team. Utah Valley currently owns the nation's fifth-longest active home win streak in the nation at 15 games. The Wolverines look to extend their win streak against North Dakota on Nov. 24.

Longest Active Home Win Streaks in the Nation
1.    South Dakota    23
2.    Charleston    18
3.    Houston    17
4.    Montana    17
5.    Utah Valley    15
6.    Nebraska    14
7.    Buffalo    13
8.    Tennessee    11