UTAH VALLEY HOSTS WESTMINSTER ON TUESDAY NIGHT IN SEASON OPENER
Utah Valley officially opens the 2018-19 the season against Division II in-state foe Westminster on Tuesday at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines look to extend nation's fifth-longest active home win streak in the country to 15 straight wins against the Griffins. The team wrapped up the 2017-18 season with a school-record 16 wins at the UCCU Center. Tip-off against Westminster is set for 7 p.m.

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 Hayward (1.3 ppg.) also return this season.

Utah Valley welcomes seven new players to its roster this season, including one player (Baylee Steele) who had to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. The Wolverines have added four new transfers (Isaiah White, TJ Washington, Connor MacDougall, and Baylee Steele) to this year's roster. Brandon Averette (Oklahoma State), Casdon Jardine (Boise State), and Ege Havsa (Fordham) also join the team but will have to sit out and redshirt this season. UVU welcomes three true freshmen to the team in Wyatt Lowell, Drew Cotton, and Cache Fields.

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, including 14-straight home wins--the fifth-best active home win streak in the nation. 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
Tuesday's season opener against Westminster will be broadcast live on UVUtv and the WAC Digital Network. Brandon Crow will be handling the play-by-play duties, while former UVU player Holton Hunsaker will be on the color commentary. The WAC Digital Network is available at WACdigitalNetwork.com. The network is also available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku TV. UVU will also send the feed out on its YouTube channel. The game will also be broadcast over the radio waves as Jim McCulloch enters his ninth season as the radio play-by-play personality. Josh Kallunki 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 WESTMINSTER
Westminster is an NCAA Division II member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Griffins are entering their first full year of full Division II status after spending the last three years as a provisional member. The team joined the RMAC in 2015. The Griffins return only four players from last year's team that finished with an impressive 21-5 overall record and a 17-5 RMAC record. Eight players made their Westminster debut in last Thursday's 72-43 setback at BYU. Last week's game against BYU and Tuesday night's game against UVU count as exhibition contests for Westminster. Brandon Warr and Jacob McCord recorded double figures in the loss at BYU. Warr led the team with 12 points, going 4-13 from the field, 2-for-5 from beyond the arc and 2-for-3 from the stripe. McCord made 4-10 field goals and finished 2-4 on free throws. Westminster is coached by long-time Salt Lake Community College head coach Norm Parrish. He holds a 51-25 record in three seasons at Westminster.

SERIES HISTORY VS. WESTMINSTER
Tuesday's matchup against Westminster will mark the first time the two teams have met during a regular season contest. The two teams have played one exhibition contest with UVU winning, 79-67, at the UCCU Center. Tuesday's game will count as an exhibition for Westminster, but will count as a regular season game for UVU.

All-Time Results vs. Westminster (1-0) - Exhibition
Nov. 5, 2007    Utah Valley def. Westminster, 79-67        Orem, Utah (Exhibition)

LAST MEETING VS. WESTMINSTER (11/5/2007)
A strong start and finish was key as Utah Valley outlasted Westminster, cruising to a 79-67 victory in the Wolverines final exhibition game of the 2007-08 season.

Ryan Toolson led four Wolverines in double figures as he scored 27 points and dished out six assists. Jordan Brady came up just one rebound shy of a double-double as he poured in 20 points and grabbed nine boards.

In front of a large exhibition crowd, UVU got off to a quick start in the first half, grabbing an early double-digit lead. A Toolson three-pointer gave the Wolverines 20-8 advantage with 13:24 left in the half.

Westminster fought back, cutting the Utah Valley lead to five after a 10-3 run. The Griffins kept the pressure on, scoring the final eight points of the half, including a three-pointer at the buzzer by Weston Anderson to tie the game at 36.

After Westminster took an early 45-42 lead in the second half, the Wolverines went on a 14-2 run behind strong play from Toolson and Brady. Later, UVU extended its lead to double-digits with nine minutes remaining in the game. From there, the lead dropped below double-digits only once as UVU held off the Griffins.

UVU DEFEATS DIXIE STATE IN EXHIBITION, 88-70
Jake Toolson scored 22 points and Conner Toolson added 15 to lead the Utah Valley University men's basketball team to an 88-70 exhibition win over Dixie State on Tuesday night at the UCCU Center.
 
The game was a final tune-up before officially opening the season next Tuesday against Westminster College.
 
Down 9-8 just five minutes into the game, UVU went on a 15-4 run over a six-minute span to jump out to a 23-13 lead with 9:46 remaining in the half. Dixie State then cut the UVU lead to just four points, 24-20, with 7:51 left in the period. The two teams then played even the remainder of the half with the Wolverines taking a 39-35 lead into the break.
 
The Wolverines opened the second half on a 23-6 run over the first six minutes to take a 23-6 run to open its lead to a 19-point advantage, 62-43. UVU then extended its lead 25 points after going on a 15-5 run over a four and a half minute span late in the second half to secure the win.
Jake Toolson led the Wolverines with a game-high 22 points. The junior guard connected on 7-of-11 shots from the field, including a 2-of-4 clip from long range. Toolson also knocked down 6-of-6 shots from the charity stripe. He also had five rebounds and a pair of assists in 28 minutes of play.
 
Conner Toolson scored his 15 points on a 5-of-10 mark from the field, including a pair of threes. He also had three rebounds and two assists. Baylee Steele had 13 points on a perfect 4-of-4 night from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 mark from the free throw line. Connor MacDougall tallied a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
 
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 holds the fifth-longest active home win streak in the nation at 14 games. The Wolverines look to extend their win streak against Westminster in the team's home opener on Tuesday night.

Longest Active Home Win Streaks in the Nation
1.    South Dakota    20
2.    Houston    17
3.    Charleston    16
4.    Montana    15
5.    Utah Valley    14
T6.    St. Bonaventure    13
T6.    NC A&T    13
8.    Buffalo    12
9.    Nebraska    11

UVU TO CELEBRATE NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE NIGHT FOR HOME OPENER AGAINST WESTMINSTER
November is Native American Heritage month and so in a combined effort to celebrate the month, Utah Valley will be sponsoring Native American Heritage night at its home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Westminster. Players will be wearing shooting shirts with different tribes' logos on them.

HALL OF FAME COACH RICK PITINO VISITS UVU
Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino will be on the Utah Valley University campus next week to raise awareness for his foundation and speak to supporters of the Utah Valley men's basketball program.
 
Pitino, who coached UVU head coach Mark Pope to a national title at Kentucky in 1996, will also be in attendance at UVU's season opener against Westminster on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at the UCCU Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Coach Pitino is the only coach to lead three different schools (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to a Final Four and is one of only four coaches in NCAA history  to take his school to the Final Four in four separate decades, one of only three coaches to have led two different programs to at least two Final Fours each, and one of only two coaches to have led two different programs to at least three Final Fours each. In 2013, Pitino was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
Pitino will speak to UVU men's basketball boosters and donors at several private events next week. He will also be giving a speech prior to UVU's game against Westminster. The event will be held at Utah Valley's NUVI Basketball Center on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. The speech will be a free and open to the general public.
 
Donations to the Daniel Pitino Foundation will be accepted at Pitino's speech. The Daniel Pitino Foundation was founded by Rick Pitino and his wife, JoAnne, to honor the memory of their infant son, Daniel, who died of a congenital heart condition in 1987. The foundation's mission is to benefit underprivileged children and other charitable causes.

UTAH VALLEY PICKED THIRD BY MEDIA, FOURTH BY COACHES IN PRESEASON POLL
Utah Valley was selected to finish third by the media and fourth by the coaches in the WAC preseason polls released prior to the season at the annual WAC Basketball Preview and Media Day at the Crowne Plaza Denver International Airport Convention Center.
New Mexico State was picked to win the league in both polls. The Aggies received seven of the nine available first place votes from the coaches and 22 of the 24 first place votes from the media.
 
In the coaches' poll, Grand Canyon was picked to finish second with Seattle U third and Utah Valley fourth. CSU Bakersfield was fifth, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley in sixth, Kansas City seventh, California Baptist eighth, and Chicago State ninth.
 
On the media side, Grand Canyon received two first place votes and was picked second. Utah Valley was selected third, followed by Seattle U in fourth, and CSU Bakersfield in fifth. UT Rio Grande Valley was picked sixth, Kansas City seventh, California Baptist eighth, and Chicago State ninth.

CONNER TOOLSON, JAKE TOOLSON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
Utah Valley senior guard Conner Toolson earned preseason all-WAC first team honors by both the media and coaches. Toolson returns to the team after averaging 12.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game last season. He led the WAC with 53 steals and also ranked third in three-point field goals made (75) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (40.3). Toolson earned second team all-WAC honors in 2018.
 
Jake Toolson received preseason all-WAC second team honors by both the media and the coaches. The junior guard averaged 11.2 points and 4.7 rebounds last season. He ranked third in the WAC with an 84.6 percent clip from the free throw line and was seventh in the league with a 50.4 percent mark from the field. Toolson was named to the WAC All-Newcomer team last season.
 
SCHENCK GRADUATES WITH MBA - TEAM HOLDS ONE OF BEST TEAM GPAs IN THE COUNTRY
For a second-straight season, UVU will have a player on its roster that has already graduated with both their undergraduate degrees and graduate degree. Senior guard Hayden Schenck graduated with his MBA at UVU this past summer. Zach Nelson and Kenneth Ogbe each earned their MBAs prior to the start of last season. 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. For a second-straight season, UVU finished with one of the best team GPAs in the country at 3.38.

HOME SWEET UCCU CENTER
Utah Valley holds an all-time 167-46 (78 percent) record in 13 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 a school-record 16-1 record. The team holds the nation's fifth-best active home win streak in the country at 14 games.

NEW FACES
Utah Valley welcomes seven new players to its roster this season, including one player (Baylee Steele) who had to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. The Wolverines have added four new transfers (Isaiah White, TJ Washington, Connor MacDougall, and Baylee Steele) to this year's roster. Brandon Averette (Oklahoma State), Casdon Jardine (Boise State), and Ege Havsa (Fordham) also join the team but will have to sit out and redshirt this season. UVU welcomes three true freshmen to the team in Wyatt Lowell, Drew Cotton, and Cache Fields.