UVU TO TAKE ON BYU ON FRIDAY NIGHT IN UCCU CROSSTOWN CLASH AT MARRIOTT CENTER
Utah Valley opened the 2018-19 season with a 96-71 win over Division II Westminster College on Tuesday night at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines now travel the 4.9 miles down University Parkway to take on in-state rival BYU on Friday night at the Marriott Center in a UCCU Crosstown Clash. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

Jake Toolson fronted four other Wolverines in double figures with 22 points to lead Utah Valley to the 96-71 win over Westminster in the season opener at the UCCU Center on Tuesday night. Conner Toolson had 14 points, Connor MacDougall scored 13, Ben Nakwaasah tallied 12, and Isaiah White recorded 10. UVU shot 52.3 percent from the field and knocked down 11 three-point field goals.

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.

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. 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 BYU will be broadcast live BYUtv with Dave McCann handling the play-by-play duties. Blaine Fowler will be taking care of the color commentary and Lauren McClain will be courtside. The game will be streamed live through BYUtv.org. 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 BYU
BYU opened the season on Tuesday night with a 86-70 loss at seventh-ranked Nevada. Junior guard Jashire Hardnett tied a career high with 17 points, including 13 in the second half in the setback to the Wolf Pack. Junior forward Yoeli Childs registered his 21st career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. BYU returns all five starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's team that went 24-11 and tied for third in the WCC with an 11-7 record. Last year's squad made an appearance at the NIT where it lost to Stanford in the first round. The Cougars have returned 71.2 percent of their scoring from last season.  The Cougars are coached by Dave Rose who is in his 14th season with the team and holds an all-time 329-123 record. He has led BYU to 13-straight 20-win seasons.

SERIES HISTORY VS. BYU
Utah Valley and BYU meet on the basketball hardwood for the fifth time on Friday night at the Marriott Center. The Cougars hold an all-time 3-1 lead in the series. The last time the two teams met in Provo, Utah Valley picked up its first-ever win in the series with a 114-101 victory on Nov. 26, 2016. Last season, BYU defeated UVU in a palindromic 85-58 win in the first-ever meeting between the two schools at the UCCU Center in Orem.

All-Time Results vs. BYU
Nov. 29, 2017    BYU def. Utah Valley, 85-58    Orem, Utah
Nov. 26, 2016    Utah Valley def. BYU, 114-101    Provo, Utah
Nov. 13, 2015    BYU def. Utah Valley, 85-54    Provo, Utah
Nov. 29, 2003    BYU def. Utah Valley, 84-65    Provo, Utah

LAST MEETING VS. BYU (11/29/2017)
In the first contest between the two rivals to ever take place in the UCCU Center, Utah Valley fell to Brigham Young, 85-58, on Nov. 29, 2017 in the UCCU Crosstown Clash.   

Both teams traded baskets early to open the game as the score went back and forth. Brandon Randolph led the way for the Wolverines in the first half with nine points.
 
BYU proceeded to put together a 15-2 run on the way to jumping out to a 14-point lead. The Wolverines trimmed the lead down to 10, but Yoeli Childs led the Cougars with 18 in the first half and helped BYU increase its lead to 16 at halftime, 42-26.
 
UVU out-rebounded BYU in the first half behind a balanced effort on the glass, led by Randolph and Jake Toolson with three apiece. Conner Toolson and Kenneth Ogbe each grabbed a steal in the opening period of play, and Ogbe pitched in five points in the scoring column.
 
The Wolverines came out of the break attacking the paint, but BYU got hot from the three-point line, hitting a total of seven in the second half to pull away.
 
Randolph led Utah Valley in scoring with 16 on the night. Jake Toolson pitched in 14 and Akolda Manyang was the final Wolverine in double figures with 11. Manyang also led UVU on the glass with five rebounds and recorded two blocks on the game. Randolph and Ogbe each finished the night with two steals

UVU DEFEATS WESTMINSTER IN HOME OPENER, 96-71
Jake Toolson scored a game-high 22 points and four other Wolverines reached double digit scoring to lead the Utah Valley men's basketball team to a 96-71 win over Westminster in the team's season opener on Tuesday night at the UCCU Center.
 
The game extends UVU's home win streak to 15 games dating back to last season. The 15-straight wins at the UCCU Center ranks as the third-best active home win streak in the nation.
 
Trailing 11-5 just five minutes into the game, Utah Valley went on a 19-0 run over a six minute span to jump out to a 24-11 lead with 8:25 to play in the first half. The Wolverines made 12-straight defensive stops while holding the Griffins without a point over a six-minute span. UVU then out-scored Westminster 18-14 the rest of the half to take a 42-27 lead into the break.
 

Utah Valley opened the second half on a 12-5 run to extend its lead to a 19-point 54-35 advantage at the 15:52 mark. The Wolverines then out-scored Westminster 37-27 over the next 10 minutes to take a 91-62 lead into the final media timeout at the 3:52 mark before securing a 96-71 win.
 
Jake Toolson led the Wolverines with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-8 clip from long range. The junior guard also dished out three assists and pulled down two rebounds. Conner Toolson scored 14 points on a 6-of-10 mark from the field with a pair of threes.
 
Connor MacDougall scored 13 points with six rebounds, while Ben Nakwaasah scored 12 points with four assists and four boards. Isaiah White was also in double figures with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.
 
UVU shot 52 percent (34-of-65) from the floor on the night, including a 65.4 percent mark (11-of-22) from beyond the arc
 
UVU HOLDS NATIONS'S THIRD-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 is currently tied for the third-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    21
2.    Charleston    17
T3.    Utah Valley    15
T3.     Montana    15
T3.    Houston    15
T6.    Buffalo    13
T6.    St. Bonaventure    13
8.    Nebraska    12

UVU CELEBRATES NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE NIGHT AT HOME OPENER AGAINST WESTMINSTER
November is Native American Heritage month and so in a combined effort to celebrate the month, Utah Valley sponsored Native American Heritage night at its home opener on Nov. 6 against Westminster. Players wore be wearing shooting shirts with different tribes' logos on them. There were performances before the game and at halftime to celebrate the month.

HALL OF FAME COACH RICK PITINO VISITS UVU
Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino celebrated attended UVU's season opener to raise awareness for his foundation, speak to supporters of the Utah Valley men's basketball program, and meet with the team. 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.

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.