Utah Valley (22-10) vs. Eastern Washington (20-14)
Tuesday, March 13, 2018  |  7:00 p.m. MST
Orem, Utah  |  UCCU Center (7,500)
Complete Utah Valley Game Notes (PDF) | Eastern Washington Game Notes (PDF)

GAME INFORMATION
TV: WAC Digital Network (Brandon Crow/Holton Hunsaker)
Live Video: WACsports.com/Watch
Radio: ESPN 960 AM (Jim McCulloch/Josh Kallunki)
Radio Webcast: espn960sports.com
Live Stats Link: UVU StatBroadcast
 

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OPENING TIP
Utah Valley has accepted a bid to play in the College Basketball Invitational and will play the first national postseason tournament home game in school history as UVU will host Eastern Washington on Tuesday, March 13 in the tournament's first round. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (MST) at the UCCU Center.

UVU makes its fourth appearance at a national postseason tournament this week. It also marks the team's second straight appearance at the College Basketball Invitational as the Wolverines made a run to the Final Four of the tournament last season after picking up the team's first-ever post season national tournament victories with road wins at Georgia Southern and Rice.

Utah Valley went 1-1 at the WAC Tournament last week in Las Vegas, defeating CSU Bakersfield, 81-74, in the quarterfinals before falling to Grand Canyon, 75-60, in the semifinals.

Five UVU players earned WAC postseason honors. Kenneth Ogbe was named to the All-WAC first team, while Conner Toolson and Brandon Randolph earned second team All-WAC honors. Akolda Manyang was named to the WAC's All-Defensive team and Jake Toolson was named to the WAC All-Newcomer team. Manyang was also named to the USBWA All-District team, becoming only the second player in UVU history to earn the distinction. NBA journeyman Ronnie Price is the only other UVU player to earn USBWA All-District honors (2004-05).

Utah Valley tied a single season school record with its 22nd victory of the season on March 8 over CSU Bakersfield. It is the highest win total of head coach Mark Pope's tenure at UVU, improving upon last season's win total of 17. It marks the fifth time in school history that a team has won 20 or more games. The last time UVU won at least 20 games was during the 2013-14 season when the Wolverines finished the season with a 20-12 record. The 22-win mark ties the 2006-07 team that also won 22 games. A win over EWU on Tuesday night would break the record.

Utah Valley is tied for the fourth-longest current home win streak in the nation at 13 games. South Dakota State holds the nation's longest current home win streak at 20 games, followed by the College of Charleston at 16 games in a row. Utah Valley holds a school-record 15-1 mark at the UCCU Center this season, surpassing the previous record of 14-1 set by the 2006-07 team.

Utah Valley has five players averaging double figures. Kenneth Ogbe leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game. Akolda Manyang  is second on the team at 13.0 points per game, while Conner Toolson is third on the team at 12.5 points per game. Jake Toolson averages 11.4 points, followed by Brandon Randolph at 10.8.

UVU opened the season with what might just be the toughest 24 hours ever played in college basketball history as the Wolverines took on No. 4/5 Kentucky and No. 1 Duke on back-to-back nights to open the season. The Wolverines dropped a 73-63 decision at Kentucky before falling 99-69 at Duke. UVU has since won 21 of its 28 games since the loss at Duke.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Tuesday night's College Basketball Invitational first round game against Eastern Washington will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network. Brandon Crow and Holton Hunsaker will be on the call. The WDN can be accessed at www.WACsports.com/watch. The game will also be available on the air waves at ESPN 960 AM radio with Jim McCulloch and Josh Kallunki handling the action. A live audio stream of the radio broadcast will be available through ESPN960sports.com and also through the ESPN 960 app, which is available for both iPhone and Android.

UVU MAKES FOURTH APPEARANCE IN A NATIONAL POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT
The bid to play in the College Invitational Tournament marks Utah Valley's fourth appearance in a postseason national tournament and second straight appearance at the CBI. The Wolverines played in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) against California in 2014 and in the CollegeInisder.com Tournament against Weber State in 2012. UVU picked up its first-ever national postseason wins last year with victories over Georgia Southern and Rice en route to a loss at eventual champion Wyoming in the CBI Final Four. Tuesday night's first round CBI game will be the first national postseason tournament home game in UVU history.

All-Time Results in Postseason National Tournaments (2-3)
March 13, 2012    CollegeInsider.com Tournament    Weber State def. Utah Valley, 72-69    Ogden, Utah
March 19, 2014    National Invitational Tournament    California def. Utah Valley, 77-64    Berkeley, Calif.
March 15, 2017    College Basketball Invitational    Utah Valley def. Georgia Southern, 74-49    Statesboro, Georgia
March 20, 2017    College Basketball Invitational    Utah Valley def. Rice, 85-79    Houston, Texas
March 22, 2017    College Basketball Invitational    Wyoming def. Utah Valley, 74-68    Laramie, Wyoming
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON
Eastern Washington is 20-14 on the season and finished 13-5 in Big Sky Conference play. It marks the second-straight season that the team has won 20 or more games. The Eagles have won 17 of their last 23 games after opening the season with a 3-8 start. Last weekend, EWU defeated Portland State 78-72 in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament, defeated Southern Utah 82-70 in the semifinals, then fell to regular season champion Montana 82-65 in the championship. Eastern Washington boasts Big Sky Conference MVP Bogdan Bliznyuk, who is averaging 21.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. He was the only player in the Big Sky to rank in the top-10 in all three categories. He recently broke a 24-year old Big Sky career scoring record of 2,102 points. Just five players in the 55-year history of the Big Sky Conference have hit the 2,000-point mark, and Bliznyuk stands above all of them with 2,142 points in 137 career games. Eastern will be making it sixth appearance in a national postseason tournament in school history and fourth-in-a-row. Eastern advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2015, were in the NIT in 2003 and have played in the last two College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournaments. In the 2016 CBI, Eastern recorded its first win in a national postseason tournament with a 79-72 home win over Pepperdine.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON
Utah Valley and Eastern Washington meet up on the basketball hardwood for the third time on Tuesday night. The series is tied 1-1 with Eastern Washington defeating UVU 75-50 on Nov. 17, 2014, in Cheney, Washington. Utah Valley defeated EWU 86-83 on Nov. 20, 2012, on a neutral court at the CBE Classic in Santa Clara, Calif.

All-Time Results vs. Eastern Washington (Series tied, 1-1)
Nov. 17, 2014    Eastern Washington def. Utah Valley, 75-50    Cheney, Wash.
Nov. 20, 2012    Utah Valley def. Eastern Washington, 86-83    Santa Clara, Calif.

WAC TOURNAMENT
Utah Valley recently made its fifth appearance at the WAC Tournament this week. After its quarterfinal win over CSU Bakersfield and its semifinal loss to Grand Canyon, the Wolverines now hold an all-time 4-5 record at the tournament. Prior to its win over CSUB last week, UVU's lone victories at the tournament were a 83-63 win over UTRGV in the quarterfinals of the 2013 tournament and a 65-53 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Seattle U in the 2017 tournament. This year's No. 2 seed is the highest ranking UVU has earned since winning the regular season WAC title and taking the No. 1 seed into the 2014 tournament.

All-Time Results at WAC Tournament (3-4)
March 13, 2014    #1 Utah Valley 83, #8 UTRGV 63    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 14, 2014    #5 Idaho 74, #1 Utah Valley 69    Semifinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 12, 2015    #4 Bakersfield 55, #5 Utah Valley 40    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 10, 2016    #5 UMKC 80, #4 Utah Valley 78    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 09, 2017    #4 Utah Valley 65, #5 Seattle U 53    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 10, 2017    #1 CSU Bakersfield 81, #4 Utah Valley 80 (4OT)    Semifinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 8, 2018    #2 Utah Valley 81, #7 CSU Bakersfield 76    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 9, 2018    #3 Grand Canyon 75, #2 Utah Valley 60    Semifinals - Las Vegas, Nevada

MANYANG RECEIVES WAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM HONORS
Utah Valley senior center Akolda Manyang was named to the WAC's All-Tournament team after averaging 14.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game over the Wolverines two games at the tournament. He knocked down 10-of-14 shots from the field for an impressive 71.4 percent clip from the field. Manyang scored 11 points with seven rebounds and three blocks in UVU's 81-74 win over CSU Bakersfield in the tournament quarterfinals before recording his seventh double-double of the season with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks in the team's 75-60 setback to Grand Canyon in the semifinals. Manyang is just the second UVU player in school history to earn the all-tournament team honors. Holton Hunsaker was the only other Wolverine to earn the distinction as he was named to the team in 2014.

WAC All-Tournament Team
Alessandro Lever, Grand Canyon
Zach Lofton, NM State
Akolda Manyang, Utah Valley
Keonta Vernon, Grand Canyon
Most Valuable Player: Jemerrio Jones, NM State

FIVE UVU PLAYERS EARN WAC POSTSEASON HONORS
Five Utah Valley players have earned WAC postseason honors. Kenneth Ogbe, Conner Toolson, and Brandon Randolph each earned all-WAC honors with Ogbe being named to the first team. Toolson and Randolph were each named to the second team. Akolda Manyang and Jake Toolson were also honored with Manyang earning WAC All-Defensive team honors and Toolson being named to the WAC's All Newcomer team.

MANYANG NAMED TO USBWA ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
Utah Valley senior center Akolda Manyang has been named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District team. Manyang becomes just the second player in Utah Valley history to be named to the USBWA All-District team. Ronnie Price is the only other Wolverine to receive the honor as he was named to the team during the 2004-05 season. Manyang, an Oklahoma transfer from Rochester, Minn., led the Western Athletic Conference with a 2.30 blocks per game average this season, which ranked him 24th nationally. Manyang has a UVU school-record 62 blocks this season, which ranks second in the WAC and 38th in the country. His defensive efforts earned him WAC  All-Defensive team honors. The senior center was named to the USBWA All-District VIII team, which includes players from Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Montana.

USBWA All-District VIII Team
Jordan Caroline, Nevada
Yoeli Childs BYU
Hayden Dalton, Wyoming
Chandler Hutchison, Boise State
Justin James, Wyoming
Jemerrio Jones, New Mexico State
Zach Lofton, New Mexico State
Akolda Manyang, Utah Valley
Caleb Martin, Nevada
Brandon McCoy, UNLV