UTAH VALLEY OPENS MGM MAIN EVENT AGAINST HARTFORD ON MONDAY IN LAS VEGAS
Utah Valley plays its fourth straight game on the road on Monday as the Wolverines travel south on I-15 to play in the MGM Main Event on Monday and Wednesday at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. UVU will take on Hartford on Monday at noon (MST) before playing either Iona or Long Beach State on Wednesday.

Utah Valley dropped its third game in a row on Friday night at Utah State. The Wolverines were unable to overcome poor-shooting and costly turnovers in a 65-46 loss to in-state foe Utah State in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. TJ Washington led the Wolverines with 14 points and Conner Toolson finished with 11 points. UVU shot a season low 30.9 percent (17-of-55) from the field, including a 23.1 percent (3-of-13) mark from long range.

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.

Conner Toolson moved up to sixth on the all-time UVU steals list. He passed up Chris Bailey (2005-07) for the sixth spot and is now just four steals away from the fifth spot on the list, which is occupied by cousin Ryan Toolson (2003-04, 06-09). Holton Hunsaker is UVU's all-time steals leader with 157.

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
Monday's game against Hartford in the MGM Main Event in Las Vegas will be broadcast live at https://bdglobal.inplayer.com/main-event/. Tony Cordasco will be on the call. The game will also be broadcast over the radio waves as Jim McCulloch enters his ninth season as the radio play-by-play personality. Clint Burgi 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 HARTFORD
Hartford is a member of the America East Conference. The team was picked to finish second behind Vermont in the America East preseason poll. The Hawks made a 10-win improvement from 2016-17 to 2017-18. The team posted the most wins since transitioning to Division I (1984-85) with a 19-14 record last season. Hartford enters Monday's game with a 1-3 record. The Hawks picked up their first win of the season on Thursday night in a 68-54 victory over in-state foe Quinnipiac. Redshirt senior forwardJohn Carroll scored a season-high 22 points and senior forward George Blagojevic recorded Hartford's first double-double of the year, netting 11 points and adding 13 rebounds in the win over Quinnipiac. Hartford is averaging 67.0 points a game while shooting a 42.3 percent clip this season. The team is averaging 8.3 threes per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. HARTFORD
Utah Valley and Hartford will meet on the basketball hardwood for the first time on Monday. The game will mark UVU's seventh game against a team from the America East Conference. The Wolverines hold an all-time 2-4 mark against teams from the conference.

UVU DROPS 65-46 DECISION AT UTAH STATE
Utah Valley was unable to overcome poor-shooting and costly turnovers in a 65-46 loss on the road against in-state rival Utah State in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Friday night.
 
Utah State used a 7-0 run to take a 9-3 lead four minutes into the game. After going back and forth, the Wolverines held Utah state scoreless for 5:56 to tie the game at 16 a piece. The Aggies then went on a 14-2 run over the last 5:04 of the half to take a lead 32-20 into intermission.
 
Conner Toolson led all scorers in the half with nine points and Wyatt Lowell add five points off the bench. Utah Valley was plagued by seven turnovers which resulted in nine points for the Aggies. The Wolverines were also outrebounded 19-26 in the opening half and trailed 8-0 on fast breaks.
 
Utah Valley used a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to 40-33, but Utah State responded with an 21-4 run to push the lead back out to 61-37. The Aggies were then able to hold off the Wolverines' comeback attempt. Utah Valley had an 8-0 run late in the game but it was too little too late.
 
TJ Washington led the Wolverines with 14 points and six rebounds and Conner Toolson finished with 11 points. Sam Merrill led the Aggies with 14 points.
 
The Wolverines shot just 17-of-55 from the field, including 3-of-13 from three and 9-of-16 from the foul line. Utah Valley finished with 17 turnovers, resulting in 24 points for the Utah State. The Wolverines were also outrebounded 50-37, including 17-8 on the offensive glass

CONNER TOOLSON MOVES UP ON THE CAREER STEALS AND THREE-POINTERS MADE CHARTS
Conner Toolson moved up to sixth on the all-time UVU steals list. He passed up Chris Bailey (2005-07) for the sixth spot and is now just four steals away from the fifth spot on the list, which is occupied by cousin Ryan Toolson (2003-04, 06-09). Holton Hunsaker is UVU's all-time steals leader with 157. Toolson also ranks sixth all-time at UVU on the three-point field goals made chart with 134.

UVU Career Steals Chart
1.    157    Holton Hunsaker, 2010-14
2.    110    Ben Aird, 2010-14
3.    108    Ronnie Price, 2003-05
4.    106    Jordan Swarbrick, 2007-11
5.    100    Ryan Toolson, 2003-04, 06-09
6.    96    Conner Toolson, 2016-pres
7.    94    Chris Bailey, 2005-07
8.    80    Josh Olsen, 2006-09
9.    75    David Heck, 2003-07
10.    73    Pierre Thomas, 2003-06

UVU Career Three-Point FG made
1.    315    Ryan Toolson , 2003-04, 06-09
2.    236    Holton Hunsaker, 2010-14
3.    166    Isiah Williams, 2010-12
4.    161    Ronnie Price, 2003-05
5.    140    David Heck, 2003-07
6.    134    Conner Toolson, 2016-pres
7.    125    Kenneth Ogbe, 2016-18
8.    117    Richard Troyer, 2004-08
9.    92    Jordan Swarbrick, 2007-11
10.    86    Josh Olsen, 2006-09

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. Steele is averaging team-best 9.3 rebounds per game this season.

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
T8.    Tennessee    11
T8.    LSU    11