UTAH VALLEY HOSTS UTRGV ON THURSDAY NIGHT AT UCCU CENTER

• Utah Valley continues WAC play at home this week as the Wolverines host UTRGV on Thursday and New Mexico State on Saturday. Tip-off for both games is set for 7 p.m. (MST)
   
• Utah Valley holds the second-longest active home win streak in the nation at 21 games. The Wolverines sit behind Houston (29) for the top spot. Nebraska is third at 20 games, while Buffalo and Murray State are tied with 18 in a row. Michigan and Murray state are tied with 17 in a row.}
   
• Utah Valley has won 11 of its last 15 games, including six of its last eight. The Wolverines bounced back from a pair of road losses to defeat Seattle U, 88-78, on Saturday night at the UCCU Center. The team overcame a 20-point first half deficit to defeat the Redhawks. Jake Toolson led UVU with a season-high 26 points. Richard Harward had a career night with a career-high 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for his first career double-double.
   
• Richard Harward was named WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday for his performance against Seattle U last week. The sophomore center had a career night as he tallied career-high 12 points, including seven in the second half comeback, to go along with a career-high 15 rebounds in a career-high 24 minutes of play. His previous career highs were four points, six rebounds and 10 minutes. He knocked down a perfect 4-of-4 shots from the field which were also career highs in both field goals made and attempted. Harward also connected on 4-of-6 shots from the charity stripe, which were also career highs, dished out a career-high two assists and blocked one shot.
   
• Jake Toolson leads Utah Valley in scoring at 15.7 points per game, followed closely behind by Conner Toolson at 13.2 points a contest. The Toolson duo has scored nearly 40 percent of UVU's points this season. Jake has been impressive from the floor, shooting 57.4 percent (101-of-176), including a team-best 46.4 percent (32-of-69) clip from three-point range. He also leads UVU with an 88.9 percent (48-of-54) clip from the free throw line. Baylee Steele leads UVU on the boards, pulling down 6.9 rebounds a game, while TJ Washington leads the team in assists at 3.9 a game.
   
• Utah Valley ranks in the top-50 in four statistical team categories and two individual categories. The Wolverines rank 42nd in the country in field goal percentage (48.1 percent), 43rd in free throws made (278), 46th in defensive rebounds per game (27.78), and 48th in free throws attempted (385). Individually, UVU's Jake Toolson holds the highest ranking as he is 25th free throw percentage (88.9 percent), which is the best free throw mark in the WAC this season. Toolson also ranks 44th nationally in field goal percentage with a 57.4 percent clip, which also leads the WAC.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Thursday's game against UT Rio Grande Valley will be broadcast live on UVUtv and the WAC Digital Network.  UVU has also entered into a new partnership with KSLtv. The KSLtv app will be streaming all home UVU men's basketball games live. The game will also be streamed live through the GoUVU YouTube channel, and on the GoUVU Facebook page. Brandon Crow and Holton Hunsaker 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. 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 UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
UTRGV enters Thursday night's contest against the Wolverines with a 9-10 overall record and a 1-2 mark in WAC play. The team dropped a pair of home games last week, falling 75-69 to CSU Bakersfield before taking a 69-65 setback to Grand Canyon. UTRGV's lone WAC win was an 81-74 victory at California Baptist. Redshirt senior center Terry Winn III led UTRGV with a career-high 23 points in the loss to Grand Canyon on Saturday night. He knocked down a career-high tying 8-of-15 shots from the field and connected on 7-of-10 shots at the free throw line. Redshirt junior forward Jordan Jackson scored 11 points against the 'Lopes and tallied three steals. Winn III leads the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game, followed by junior forward Lesley Varner II at 11.9 points a contest. Varner II leads the team on the boards, pulling down 5.7 rebounds per game. As a team, UTRGV is averaging 68.6 points per game while allowing opponents 70.8 points a contest.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UTRGV
Utah Valley and UTRGV meet up on the basketball hardwood for the 27th time on Thursday night. UVU holds a 23-3 all-time advantage in the series dating back to 2005. UVU swept the WAC series last year, defeating UTRGV 84-76 in Texas and 84-72 in Orem. UVU has won 12 straight games over UTRGV. UVU's last loss to UTRGV was a 62-60 setback in Texas on Jan. 19, 2013. The Wolverines hold an all-time 12-1 record against UTRGV in games played at the UCCU Center. UTRGV's lone win at the UCCU Center was a 56-53 win on March 10, 2010.

Last 5 Results vs. UTRGV (UVU leads 22-3)
Feb. 17, 2018    Utah Valley def. UTRGV, 84-72    Orem, Utah
Jan. 18, 2018    Utah Valley def. UTRGV, 84-76    Edinburg, Texas
Feb. 25, 2017    Utah Valley def. UTRGV, 88-68    Edinburg, Texas
Jan. 26, 2017    Utah Valley def. UTRGV, 92-81    Orem, Utah
Feb. 04, 2016    Utah Valley def. UTRGV, 88-77    Edinburg, Texas

WOLVERINES OVERCOME 20-POINT DEFICIT IN 88-78 WIN OVER SEATTLE U
Jake Toolson scored a season-high 26 points and Richard Harward recorded a 12-point, 15-rebound double-double to help Utah Valley overcome a 20-point deficit to defeat Seattle U, 88-78, on Saturday night at the UCCU Center. The win pushes UVU's home win streak to 21 games, which is the second-best mark in the nation.
 
Utah Valley improves to 12-6 overall and 1-2 in WAC play. Seattle U falls to 12-6 overall and 0-3 in league play.
 
Seattle U used an early 10-0 run to jump out to a 13-2 run to open the game. UVU's Jake Toolson then knocked down a three to stop the run and cut the score to 13-5 with 15:53 to play. Baylee Steele knocked down a shot to cut the SU lead to just eight points, 18-10, with 11:41 to play in the half.  The Redhawks then used a 14-4 run to take a 32-14 advantage with nine minutes remaining. UVU responded by outscoring SU 23-16 the rest of the half to cut the Redhawks lead to a 13-point, 50-37 advantage at the half.
 
The Wolverines opened the second half on an 11-2 run to cut the Seattle lead to just one point, 52-51, with 15:31 left to play. An Isaiah White dunk cut the lead back to one point, 68-67, with 7:25 to go. UVU then made a stop on the defensive end before Jake Toolson gave the Wolverines their first lead of the game, 69-68, with 6:54 to play.  Utah Valley then outscored Seattle 19-10 the rest of the way to secure the victory. The Wolverines outscored the Redhawks 51-28 in the second half.
 
Toolson scored his 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including a perfect 2-of-2 mark from three-point range. He was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line, extending his streak of consecutive made free throws to 33. Toolson also dished out a pair of assists.
 
Harward's 12 points and 15 rebounds are both career highs. It marks the first double-double of his career. The sophomore center scored his 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 clip from the field and a 4-of-6 mark from the charity stripe. He also dished out a pair of assists and tallied a block. Isaiah White, TJ Washington, and Ben Nakwaasah were also in double figures with 14, 13, and 10 points, respectively.

UVU RECORDS TIES BEST 15-GAME START TO A SEASON
The Wolverines wrapped up non-conference play with an 11-4 record (.733), one of the best non-league marks in school history. The 11-4 record matches the 15-game start to the 2003-04 team, but that team did not play a full Division I schedule and did not yet have a conference to play in. The 11-4 record also matches last year's 15-game start to a season (11-4). Last year's team entered WAC play with an 11-5 record (.687).

HARWARD NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley sophomore center Richard Harward has been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 7-13. This is his first WAC Player of the Week honor.
 
The Orem, Utah native had a career night as Utah Valley overcame a 20-point second half deficit to defeat Seattle U Saturday. Harward had a career-high 13 points, including seven in the second half comeback, to go along with a career-high 15 rebounds in a career-high 24 minutes of play. His previous career highs were four points, six rebounds and 10 minutes. He knocked down a perfect 4-of-4 shots from the field which were also career highs in both field goals made and attempted. Harward also connected on 4-of-6 shots from the charity stripe, which were also career highs, dished out a career-high two assists and blocked one shot.

THREE-POINT STREAKING
Utah Valley has now hit a three-point field goal in 125 straight games. The last time UVU played in a game without hitting a shot from beyond the arc was on Feb. 27, 2014 against New Mexico State.

JAKE TOOLSON CLOSING IN ON WAC RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE FREE THROWS MADE
Redshirt junior guard Jake Toolson has knocked down 33 straight shots at the free throw line. It is the second-best streak in UVU history behind Holton Hunsaker's mark of 41 straight. Toolson is now just 19 free throws away from tying the WAC consecutive free throws made, which is 52 in a row set by Rob Robbins of New Mexico during the 1989-90 season. The NCAA record for consecutive free throws made is 85 in a row set by Butler's Darnell Archey over three seasons (2000-03).

THIRD-BEST NCAA RATING IN THE WAC
As of Jan. 15, Utah Valley's NCAA net rating is 129 according to NCAAsports.com. UVU sits four spots ahead of South Carolina (133) and 19 spots ahead of UNLV (148). The Wolverines have one of the best non-conference NCAA net rating wins of the season with its victory over No. 67 Fresno State.  The Wolverines hold the third-best net rating in the WAC as the team sits behind New Mexico State (95) and Grand Canyon (106). UVU is ahead of Seattle U (155), CSU Bakersfield (164), UTRGV (212), California Baptist (214), UMKC (235), and Chicago State (345).

WAC'S CONFERENCE RPI IS #15 OUT OF 32
The WAC's conference RPI currently sits at No. 15, one spot ahead of the Mountain West Conference at 16. The WAC sits ahead of the Mountain West (16), Sun Belt (17), Colonial (18), Patriot (19), Atlantic Sun (20), Horizon (21), Ohio Valley (22), Big West (23), Northeast (24), and Big Sky (25).

CONNER TOOLSON BECOMES EIGHTH PLAYER IN UVU HISTORY TO SCORE 1,000 CAREER POINTS
Conner Toolson knocked down a shot from long range with 14:38 remaining in the second half against Sam Houston State on Dec. 22 to lift his career point total to 1,002 points as he became just the eighth player in UVU history to score 1,000 career points. Toolson scored 18 points on the night to up his career total to 1,007. He now sits in seventh on the all-time UVU scoring chart with 1,041 points.

UVU Career Points Chart
1.    2163    Ryan Toolson (113 games), 2003-04, 06-09
2.    1545    Holton Hunsaker (126 games), 2010-14
3.    1516    Ben Aird (124 games), 2010-14
4.    1245    Ronnie Price (56 games), 2003-05
5.    1078    David Heck (111 games), 2003-07
6.    1066    Isaiah Williams (63 games), 2010-12
7.    1041    Conner Toolson (84 games), 2016-19
8.    1001    Zach Nelson (119 games), 2010-11, 13-15, 16-18
9.    992    Jordan Swarbrick (110 games), 2007-11
10.    802    Kenneth Ogbe (66 games), 2016-18

UVU HOLDS SECOND-LONGEST ACTIVE HOME WIN STREAK IN THE NATION, LONGEST STREAK IN UVU HISTORY
Utah Valley has won a school-record 21 straight games at home dating back to last season. The last loss at home was an 85-58 setback to BYU on Nov. 29, 2018. Since that time, the Wolverines have won 21 straight at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines 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 holds the country's second-longest active home win streak in the nation at 21 games. Utah Valley sits behind Houston (29) for the top spot.  The previous UVU home win streak record was 17 games, which was set from the 2004-05 season to the 2005-06 season.

Longest Active Home Win Streaks in the Nation
1.    Houston    29    
2.    Utah Valley    21
3.    Nebraska    20
4.    Buffalo    19
5.    Murray State    18
5.    Michigan    18
6.    Tennessee    17
7.    Gonzaga    16
7.    LSU    16
8.    Northern Kentucky    15
8.    Kansas    15