UVU CONTINUES ROAD PLAY AT NORTHERN ARIZONA ON SATURDAY NIGHT
After a hard-fought 80-69 loss at Arizona on Thursday night, Utah Valley continues play in the Grand Canyon State as the Wolverines look for their first road win of the season on Saturday evening against Big Sky foe Northern Arizona at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. (MST)

Jake Toolson scored 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe, to go along with a team-high 8 rebounds as Utah Valley's upset bid at Arizona fell short in an 80-69 setback in Tucson. The Wolverines led the Wildcats at the half, 41-29. Conner Toolson and TJ Washington were also in double figures, finishing with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Utah Valley looks for its first road win of the season at Northern Arizona on Saturday as the Wolverines hold a 0-4 record on the road this year. UVU and NAU meet on the basketball hardwood for just the third time with the all-time series tied at 1-1. Each team won on its home floor during the 2008-09 season with UVU taking a 68-62 win at home on Nov. 14, 2008 and NAU taking a 64-63 victory on Dec. 6, 2008. The Wolverines hold an all-time 24-26 record against teams from the Big Sky Conference.

Jake Toolson leads Utah Valley in scoring at 15.8 points per game, followed closely behind by Conner Toolson at 15.0 points a contest. Jake holds the best shooting percentage on the team at 56.9 percent (58-of-102), including the top three-point percentage on the team at 48.8 percent (20-of-41). Baylee Steele leads UVU on the boards, pulling down 8.4 rebounds a game.

Utah Valley ranks in the top-50 nationally in three team statistical categories and two individual categories. The Wolverines rank 34th in the nation in total rebounds (378), 43rd in three-point field goals made (85), and 46th in total assists (346). Baylee Steele holds the highest individual national rank as he is 32nd in the country with 84 total rebounds. Conner Toolson ranks 48th in the nation with 18 steals this season.

Utah Valley is currently tied for the fourth-longest active home win streak in the nation at 18 games. UVU's next home game is set for Wednesday, Dec. 19 against Idaho State.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday night's game at Northern Arizona will be broadcast live Pluto.TV. Mitch Strohman and Matt Jarecki will be on the call. Corderro McMurry will be reporting from the sidelines. The game will also be broadcast over the radio waves on ESPN960 AM 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. A live stream of the radio broadcast will also be available at ESPN960Sports.com.

ABOUT NORTHERN ARIZONA
Northern Arizona enters Saturday's game with a 2-4 overall record. The team has lost three in a row, including setbacks at Hawaii (Nov. 18), UC Davis (Nov. 29), and Santa Clara (Dec. 1). Saturday's game marks just the second home game of the season for the Lumberjacks, who haven't played at home since its 97-82 win over Jacksonville in its season opener on Nov. 10. The game also marks the Lumberjacks' final non-conference home game of the season. NAU will close out the non-league slate with three consecutive road games at San Jose State (Dec. 15), San Francisco (Dec. 19) and Utah (Dec. 21). Sophomore guard Carlos Hines leads the Lumberjacks in scoring at 14.0 points per game. Junior guard Ted McCree and sophomore forward Bernie Andre also average double figures at 12.2 and 12.0 points per game, respectively. Junior forward Brooks DeBisschop leads the team on the boards at 6.7 rebounds per game. As a team, NAU averages 74.3 points per game while allowing opponents a 79.5 points a contest.

SERIES HISTORY VS. NAU, BIG SKY
Utah Valley and Northern Arizona meet on the basketball hardwood for just the third time on Saturday night. The two teams have met just two times with the Wolverines taking a 68-62 win over NAU in Orem on Nov. 14, 2008 and the Lumberjacks taking a 64-63 win in Flagstaff on Dec. 6, 2008. Utah Valley holds an all-time 24-26 record against teams from the Big Sky Conference.

LAST TIME VS. NORTHERN ARIZONA (Dec. 6, 2008 - Walkup Skydome - Flagstaff, AZ)
Utah Valley lost a heartbreaker at Northern Arizona of the Big Sky Conference, 63-64, on Dec. 6, 2008, despite second-half heroics from senior guard Ryan Toolson.

Toolson scored 21 points in the second half and finished the game with 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the floor, 4-for-7 from three-point land, and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Senior guard Josh Olsen chipped in 11 points and junior forward Tyray Petty scored 10.

The Wolverines were down 40-52 with 9:12 to play in the game, but took the lead at 57-55 after Toolson's second three-point bucket in a row. The lead changed hands three more times in the final two minutes leaving UVU on the short end of the stick in a one-point game.

Toolson was fouled on a three-point shot with Utah Valley down 61-64 and 2.9 seconds to go in the game. He sunk the off-balance three-pointer that hit nothing but nylon, but the referee waived off the shot and sent Toolson to the line for a one-and-one. He then made both free throws from the bonus to pull back within one. NAU made one of two free throws on the other end of the court with two seconds left, and UVU had to go the length of the court to win the game. The full-court pass was intercepted, and time ran out.

The series between these two teams is now tied at one win apiece. The Wolverines beat the Lumberjacks 68-62 in the season opener for both teams at the McKay Center in November. Utah Valley is also now 2-1 against Big Sky opponents this year with wins over NAU and Montana.

UVU'S UPSET BID COMES UP SHORT IN 80-69 LOSS AT ARIZONA
Utah Valley was unable to hold on to a 12-point halftime lead in an 80-69 loss to Arizona at the McKale Center on Thursday night in Tucson. The loss drops the Wolverines to 6-4 on the season, snapping their five-game winning streak. The Wildcats pushed their record to 7-2 on the year and extended their non-conference home winning streak to 52 games.

The first half began with runs by each team as Utah Valley rushed out to a 7-2 lead over the first minute of the game before Arizona answered with an 8-0 run of their own to make it 7-10. The teams traded before the Wolverines used a 21-4 run to push their lead to 32-22 with 5:48 to go in the half. The Wolverines dominated the paint and took advantage of several Wildcat turnovers during the opening period. Utah Valley finished scored the final five points of the half to take a 41-29 advantage into the break.
 
Arizona started the second half on a 16-2 run to take a 45-43 lead with 16:49 to go in the game. After trading baskets, the Wildcats used a 26-7 spurt to take a 76-62 lead with 2:48 left in the contest. Arizona got hot in the second half, making eight threes while shooting over 60 percent from the floor. The Wildcats also took advantage of six Wolverine turnovers in the second half, turning them into 11 points.
 
After shooting 50 percent from the floor in the opening half, Utah Valley cooled off, making just one of eight shots from beyond the arc and shooting just 31.8 percent from the field. The Wolverines were out-rebounded 36-26 but still managed to hold a 32-28 edge in points in the paint. Utah Valley converted 16 Wildcat turnovers into 24 points and led for over 20 minutes of the game but were unable to finish off the upset.

Jake Toolson led the Wolverines with 20 points on 6-11 shooting from the field, including a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe, to go along with a team-high 8 rebounds. Conner Toolson and TJ Washington were also in double figures, finishing with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

CONNER TOOLSON MOVES UP ON THE CAREER LISTS
Conner Toolson is now tied for fourth on the all-time UVU steals list with 106 take aways. He is now just two steals away from tying UVU great Ronnie Price (2003-05) for the third spot on the steals chart. He ranks fifth on the made threes list with 155 and is just six threes away from tying price for fourth on that chart . Toolson ranks ninth on UVU's all-time scoring list with 953 points. He needs just 47 points to become just the eighth player in UVU history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

SUMMIT LEAGUE/WAC CHALLENGE
After eight games, the WAC leads 6-2 in The Summit League/WAC Challenge. The Challenge features head-to-head competition between all nine teams. Matchups were set based upon factors including the previous year's achievements, records and RPI rankings, as well as projected rankings in the upcoming season. Those teams with home games in 2018 will play on the road in 2019 and vice versa. In addition, teams won't face the same opponent in back-to-back years.

Complete list of 2018 matchups and results
Nov. 6 Grand Canyon at South Dakota State L, 74-79
Nov. 6 North Dakota State at NM State W, 73-56
Nov. 13 California Baptist at Oral Roberts W, 70-69
Dec. 1 Kansas City at Purdue Fort Wayne W, 90-73
Dec. 1 CSU Bakersfield at South Dakota L, 56-68
Dec. 1 Denver at Utah Valley W, 98-75
Dec. 5 North Dakota at UT Rio Grande Valley W, 70-56
Dec. 6 Omaha at Seattle U W, 90-71
Dec. 20 Chicago State at Western Illinois 2 p.m. CT