OPENING TIP

• Utah Valley travels to the Golden State to continue Western Athletic Conference road play on Saturday at CSU Bakersfield. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. (MST)
   
• Utah Valley has won 10 of its last 12 games, including five of its last six. The Wolverines opened WAC play on Thursday night with a 71-60 loss at Grand Canyon. Utah Valley shot 21-of-56 from the field while connecting on all but one of their 16 free throws but were they were out rebounded 40-38. The team's 16 turnovers proved to be costly. Ben Nakwaasah led the Wolverines with 15 points on 6-11 from the field. Baylee Steele was the other Wolverine in double figures, finishing with 12 points on a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe to go along with seven rebounds. Jake Toolson and Isaiah White led the team in rebounds, with both players finishing with eight rebounds apiece, UVU finished with a season-low three assists for the game.
   
• Utah Valley closed out non-league play last week with one of its best wins of the season in a 64-60 victory at Fresno State on Saturday. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 65 in the KenPom.com rankings at the time of UVU's win. Prior to the win at Fresno State, Weber State (164) was the highest ranked win of the season for the Wolverines and for the WAC.
   
• Jake Toolson leads Utah Valley in scoring at 15.4 points per game, followed closely behind by Conner Toolson at 13.6 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 57.3 percent (90-of-157), including a team-best 48.3 percent (29-of-60) clip from three-point range. Baylee Steele leads UVU on the boards, pulling down 7.3 rebounds a game, while TJ Washington leads the team in assists at 4.1 a game.
   
• Utah Valley ranks in the top-50 in two statistical team categories and three individual categories. The Wolverines rank 19th in the nation in total rebounds with 594. The team also ranks 34th nationally in defensive rebounds per game at 28.63. Individually, UVU's Jake Toolson holds the highest ranking as he is 30th in total minutes at 533:06. He also ranks 50th in field goal percentage at a 57.3 percent mark. Conner Toolson ranks 49th in total minutes (509:08).
   
• Utah Valley is tied with Montana for the nation's third-longest active home win streak in the nation at 20 games. The Wolverines sit in a tie for third behind Houston (27) and Charleston (22).

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's game at CSU Bakersfield will be broadcast live on ESPN3 (ESPN.com/Watch). The game will also be broadcast over the radio waves 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. 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 CSU BAKERSFIELD
CSU Bakersfield enters Saturday night's contest against the Wolverines with a 9-5 overall record. CSUB has won six of its last seven games. The team opened WAC play with an 83-71 win over Seattle U on Thursday night in front of its home crowd. CSUB led by as many as 24 points against the Redhawks. Redshirt senior guard Damiyne Durham led the 'Runners with a game-high 20 points. Sophomore Jarkel Joiner helped with 16 points, while redshirt freshman Darrin Peterson Jr had a career-high 10 points. Durham has a career 290 three-point field goals and needs just one more to surpass Utah State's Jaycee Carroll (2004-08) for the all-time career three-point field goals WAC record. Joiner leads the 'Runners in scoring at 13.6 points per game. Damiyne and Rickey Holden also average double figures at 11.7 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. As a team, CSUB averages 72.3 points a game while limiting opponents to a 70.1 points per game average.

SERIES HISTORY VS. CSU BAKERSFIELD
Utah Valley and CSU Bakersfield meet up on the basketball hardwood for the 22nd time on Saturday night. CSUB holds a 12-9 all-time advantage in the series dating back to 2008. Utah Valley snapped a six-game losing streak to the 'Runners on Jan. 6, 2018 in Orem with a 75-42 win in the Wolverines' 2018 WAC opener at the UCCU Center. UVU also defeated CSUB, 70-47, last season in Bakersfield on Feb. 22, 2018, winning for the first time in Bakersfield since 2014. UVU swept the three-game series last season after capturing an 81-74 win in the quarterfinals of last season's WAC Tournament.

LAST TIME VS. CSU BAKERSFIELD (March 8, 2018 - WAC Tournament - Las Vegas)
LAS VEGAS – Jake Toolson scored a team-high 19 points while Conner Toolson dropped in 18 of his own to lead Utah Valley to an 81-74 WAC Tournament quarterfinal victory over CSU Bakersfield on March 8, 2018 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
 
With the win, UVU moved to 22-9 for the season and advances to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament where it will face third-seeded Grand Canyon. The Wolverines claimed a slight advantage in field goal percentage with a 47.2 percent clip to Bakersfield's 46 percent mark. UVU out rebounded the Roadrunners 39-27 for the game and assisted on 20 of 25 made baskets.

The Wolverines started fast as Akolda Manyang blocked Bakersfield's first shot of the game, which led to a three by Conner Toolson on the other end. Jake Toolson followed with a reverse lay in and Manyang got going offensively with a three-point play. The Roadrunners responded with a quick 7-0 run to take a four-point lead.
 
Ben Nakwaasah then came off the bench to hit three-consecutive shots from downtown and put Utah Valley back on top. UVU proceeded to shift its focus down low as Jake Toolson put it back-to-back layups as part of a 13-2 burst. Kenneth Ogbe's first bucket of the day, a three, capped the run. Utah Valley continued its rhythm on offense as Zach Nelson checked in to lay in three-straight shots and stretch the Wolverines' lead to 15. Five quick points from Bakersfield made it a 10-point game, but Jake Toolson hit a deep three and found Nelson for another layup as UVU held onto its double-digit lead heading into halftime with the score 43-31. Jake Toolson and Nakwaasah led the Wolverines in scoring in the first half with nine apiece. Nelson also added eight off the bench.
 
Bakersfield came out of the locker room fighting as it strung together a 9-3 run and trimmed the deficit down to six. Brandon Randolph hit a shot to temporarily stop the bleeding for the Wolverines, but the 'Runners continued chipping away and made it a two-point game. UVU's offense would finally get going as Conner Toolson knocked down a three and Manyang tipped in a basket.
 
Conner Toolson stayed hot by hitting another shot from distance at the eight-minute mark and Ogbe followed it up with a dunk to give Utah Valley a nine-point lead. Toolson then knocked down a pair of free throws to restore UVU's advantage to double figures.
 
Despite Utah Valley's lead, it could not pull away as Bakersfield made it a four-point game with just over three minutes to play. Conner Toolson again came up clutch with a three to give the Wolverines some breathing room, and Jake Toolson hit a pair from the charity tripe to push the lead back up to nine. Jake Toolson hit another layup on the next possession plus a free throw as UVU went up by 12. The Roadrunners made one final push and cut the deficit to seven, but the Wolverines knocked down their free throws and closed out the victory.
 
Jake Toolson's 19 points led UVU and he added seven rebounds, two assists and a steal to his game. Conner Toolson scored 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range and came away with three rebounds. Manyang was the final Wolverine in double figures with 11 while also collecting seven rebounds and blocking three shots. Nelson was one-point shy of a double-double off the bench with nine points and 10 rebounds. Nakwaasah was also key off the bench for Utah Valley, knocking down three threes for nine points.

WOLVERINES DROP WAC OPENER AT GRAND CANYON, 71-60
Utah Valley dropped their conference opener, 71-60, on the road against Grand Canyon. The loss snaps the Wolverines five-game winning streak and drops their season record to 11-5 on the year. Grand Canyon improved to 8-6 on the season.  
 
The Wolverines took a 9-8 lead with 16:17 to go in the first half before the Lopes used a 9-0 run to take the lead. UVU answered with a 7-0 run of their own to trim the lead to 17-16 with 10:05 but were never able to regain the lead again. Grand Canyon responded by outscoring Utah Valley 20-10, including the final five points of the half to take a 37-26 lead into intermission.
 
The Wolverines opened the second half with a 14-5 run to cut the lead down to two with 14:10 to go in the game. GCU pushed the lead back out to seven before UVU cut the lead to 49-48. The Lopes then used a 10-2 run put the game out of reach with 4:40 to go and the Wolverines were unable to get closer than five points the rest of the game.
 
Utah Valley shot 21 of 56 from the field while connecting on all but one of their 16 free throws but were they were out rebounded 40-38 and their 16 turnovers proved costly. Ben Nakwaasah led the Wolverines with 15 points on 6-11 from the field. Baylee Steele was the other Wolverine in double figures, finishing with 12 points on a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe to go along with seven rebounds. Jake Toolson and Isaiah White led the team in rebounds, with both players finishing with eight rebounds apiece, UVU finished with a season-low three assists for the game

UVU RECORDS BEST NON-CONFERENCE RECORD IN SCHOOL HISTORY, TIES BEST 15-GAME START TO A SEASON
The Wolverines wrapped up non-conference play with an 11-4 record (.733), which is the best non-league mark 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).

UTAH VALLEY WRAPS UP NON-CONFERENCE PLAY WITH 64-60 ROAD WIN AT FRESNO STATE
Jake Toolson poured in 15 points as Utah Valley fended off Fresno State down the stretch to defeat the Bulldogs, 64-60, on Saturday evening at the Save Mart Center. The Wolverines finish non-conference play on a five-game winning streak and push their record to 11-4. The Bulldogs wrap up their non-conference slate at 9-3 as the team suffers its first loss of the season at home.

Utah Valley used an 8-1 run to take an 11-6 advantage with 16:17 to go in the opening half before Fresno State responded with a 9-0 run. After exchanging baskets, the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to take a 22-17 lead with 5:12 to go in the half. Wyatt Lowell hit a three with under a minute to go to push the lead to six but the Bulldogs scored the final five points of the half to trim the Wolverine lead to 33-32 at the half.
 
After Fresno State momentarily took the lead, the Wolverines used an 11-3 run to extend their lead to 51-43 with 10:43 to go in the game.  As the game went back-and-forth, the Bulldogs used a late 8-0 run to tie the game up at 59 a piece with 1:59 to go. TJ Washington converted the go-ahead basket on a driving layup and the Wolverines would lead the rest of the way. Baylee Steele slammed home the exclamation point off a pass ahead from Toolson to seal the game.
 
Utah Valley shot 46.2 percent from the field while holding Fresno State to a season-low 34 percent. The 60 points scored by the Bulldogs is also a season low. The Wolverines dominated the paint, outscoring the home team 40-14. Ben Nakwaasah and Conner Toolson led UVU with six rebounds apiece, while Isaiah White added three steals.

THREE-POINT STREAKING
Utah Valley has now hit a three-point field goal in 123 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.

UVU ONCE AGAIN RECEIVING VOTES IN COLLEGEINSIDER.COM POLL
For the second straight week, Utah Valley is receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll. UVU received five points last week and is now receiving two points in this week's poll despite the team picking up its best win of the season at Fresno State.