UTAH VALLEY CONTINUES ROAD PLAY AT LONG BEACH STATE
Utah Valley looks to make it a road sweep as the Wolverines continue road play at Long Beach State on Saturday in California. Tip-off at the Walter Pyramid is set for 5 p.m. (MT)

Utah Valley has played seven of its last 10 games on the road, traveling over 9,000 miles through the air in the process. The Wolverines snapped a five-game skid at Wyoming on Wednesday night, defeating the Cowboys in the final seconds, 69-67.

Isaiah White hit the game-winning layup with under six seconds to go as the Wolverines knocked off Wyoming, 69-67, on the road in Laramie on Wednesday night at Arena-Auditorium. White paced the Wolverines with 19 points on 9-of-10 from the foul line to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. Brandon Averette poured in 18 points and a pair of threes and TJ Washington chipped in 13 points on a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe with a team high three assists. Jamison Overton added a block and three steals, including the steal to ice the game.

As of Dec. 20, Utah Valley is tied for second in the nation in blocks with 76. The Wolverines also rank 17th nationally in blocks per game at 5.8 a contest. Individually, Emmanuel Olojakpoke ranks eighth nationally with 35 blocks. He also ranks tied for 20th in blocks per game at 2.6. With 35 blocks already this season, Olojakpoke is on track to break the all-time UVU single season blocks record of 72 set by Akolda Manyang during the 2017-18 season.

Junior forward Isaiah White leads the Wolverines in scoring at 15.4 points per game. Senior guard TJ Washington is second at 14.1 points a game, followed by Brandon Averette at 12.1 and Trey Woodbury at 9.9. Brandon Morely ranks seventh in the league in rebounding at 5.6 boards a game, while Emmanuel Olojakpoke leads the WAC and ranks sixth in the nation with 35 blocks this season.

Mark Madsen enters his first season as the head coach of the Wolverines. The two-time NBA champion, former Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, and former Stanford University basketball star makes his debut season as a head coach. He is just the third head coach in UVU's Division I history. Madsen takes over the Utah Valley program after serving the past six seasons as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a two-time NBA champion as a player with the Lakers (2001 and 2002), and he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves for six seasons.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's game at Long Beach State will be broadcast live on BigWest.tv. The game will also be broadcast over the radio waves as Jim McCulloch enters his 10th season as the Voice of the Wolverines. 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 LONG BEACH STATE
Long Beach State enters Saturday's game with a 3-9 overall record. The Beach is looking to snap a five-game losing streak. Long Beach State has won two of its three games at home this year. The team has wins over San Diego, Fresno Pacific, and Providence this season. The team holds a 2-2 record at the Pyramid. The team most recently dropped an 84-63 decision at home on Thursday night to Southern Utah. Long Beach State held SUU to just 11 points in the first 12 minutes of Thursday's game, but would eventually fall to the T-Birds at home. Sophomore guard Michael Carter III led the Beach with 13 points, while senior guard Jordan Griffin scored 12 and junior guard/forward Jordan Roberts 10. Sophomore guard Chance Hunter leads the team in scoring this season at 13.9 points a game, followed by Carter III at 12.7 points per game, and junior guard Colin Slater at 10.5 points a contest. As a team, Long Beach State averages 68.7 points per game while allowing opponents a 79.0 points per game average.

SERIES HISTORY VS. LONG BEACH STATE
Utah Valley and Long Beach State will meet on the basketball hardwood for just the second time on Saturday. The Wolverines won the only contest between the two teams, taking an 87-72 win at the MGM Main Event title game at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas last season.

LAST TIME VS. LONG BEACH STATE (Nov. 21, 2018 - Las Vegas, Nevada)
LAS VEGAS—Jake Toolson scored 20 points and Ben Nakwaasah added a career-high 18 to lead Utah Valley to the MGM Main Event Middleweight title with a 87-72 win over Long Beach State on Nov. 21, 2018 at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.
 
Jake Toolson led the Wolverines with 20 points on a perfect 8-for-8 clip from the field, including a 2-of-2 mark from beyond the arc and a perfect 2-of-2 performance from the free throw line. He also pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists.
 
Nakwaasah scored his career-high 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor, including a 3-of-3 clip from long range. He also knocked down 3-of-4 free throws and pulled down five rebounds with five assists.
 
Conner Toolson scored 15 points, while Baylee Steele and Isaiah White also reached double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. As a team, Utah Valley shot a season-best 58 percent (29-of-50) from the field, including a 52 percent (11-of-21) mark from three-point range.
 
Utah Valley and Long Beach State played through four lead changes and seven ties over the first 17 minutes of the first half. UVU then used back-to-back-to-back threes by Isaiah White, Ben Nakwaasah, and Conner Toolson to go on a 9-0 run and take a 40-28 lead with 1:22 left in the half. The Wolverines took a 41-34 advantage into the break.
 
The two teams played evenly through the first 12 minutes of the second half until UVU pushed its lead to 12 points, 63-51, on Conner Toolson and Nakwaasah threes. Toolson then gave UVU a 66-53 lead after knocking down a three with seven minutes to play. The Wolverines then out-scored LBSU 13-9 the rest of the way to secure the win.
 
Conner Toolson was named the MGM Main Event Middleweight MVP after scoring a combined 38 points over the two games at the tournament.
 
UTAH VALLEY SNAPS SKID, DEFEATS WYOMING IN FINAL SECONDS
Isaiah White hit the game-winning layup with under six seconds to go as the Wolverines knocked off Wyoming, 69-67, on the road in Laramie on Wednesday night at Arena-Auditorium.

Jamison Overton stole the ball and passed it ahead to White who took it all the way to the basket. The win snaps a five-game losing streak and brings the Wolverines to 5-8 on the season. The Cowboys drop its sixth-straight game and fall to 3-9 on the year.  
 
"It was time we won one of these close games, and it was won with effort," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen. "I was really proud of our guys and if you look at both plays that were made in the last 12 seconds of the game, we executed perfectly. Our guard play was huge with TJ, Brandon, and Ege controlling tempo and making their teammates better."

Trey Woodbury hit a three to get the scoring going for the Wolverines before the Cowboys went on an 8-2 run to take an early 8-5 lead. Both teams traded baskets as the lead changed five times during the opening half. Isaiah White hit a hanging and-one layup and the following free throw to end a 7-0 run to give Utah Valley University a 31-23 lead with seven seconds to go in the half. White was a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line in the first half. Wyoming hit a desperation three at the buzzer to cut the lead down to 31-26 at intermission.
 
Utah Valley extended its lead to 36-28 on a Casdon Jardine jumper from deep with 17:56 to go in the game. Wyoming chipped away at the lead, using a 12-5 run to trim the lead down to 41-40 with
12:19 to go in the second half. After the Wolverines pushed its lead to eight again, the Cowboys used a 10-2 run to take their first lead of the second half, 58-55, with 4:42 remaining in the contest. TJ Washington hit four straight free throws to retake the lead as both teams went back and forth down the stretch.
 
After four straight points from the Cowboys, White and Washington each hit layups to regain the lead at 63-62 with just over two minutes left in the game. After another lead change and a pair of free throws by Washington, Wyoming took its final lead at 67-65 with under a minute to go. Brandon Averette hit a pair of clutch free throws to tie the game at 67 apiece. Wyoming let the clock run down before an errant pass was intercepted by Overton who then found White for the game winner.
 
"We've had low turnovers in the games we've won and that's been an emphasis," said Madsen. "We've been working all week on the court and in the video room and the guys have taken the ownership on themselves. Can't say enough about Isaiah White and how he stayed in shape and was ready after missing a month and Brandon Morley went to work when we needed a couple buckets."
 
Utah Valley finished 23-of-49 from the field and shot an impressive 17-18 from the foul line. The Wolverines cut down on the turnovers, finishing with only eight giveaways. UVU also got a big boost from its bench, using a 27-19 advantage in bench scoring.

White paced the Wolverines with 19 points on 9-of-10 from the foul line to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. Averette poured in 18 points and a pair of threes and Washington chipped in 13 points on a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe with a team high three assists. Overton added a block and three steals, including the steal to ice the game.

UP UP AND AWAY
The Wolverines have played eight of their 13 games on the road this season. During those seven road games, UVU has traveled an estimated 9,500 miles through the air in just one month. The Wolverines will travel an roughly 22,000 miles through the friendly skies this season.

SOOOOO CLOSE!
Utah Valley has dropped five of its eight games this season by just six points or less. UVU has dropped three of its last five games by five points or less, including a three point loss at Mount St. Mary's, a five point loss to Weber State, and a one point loss at Southern Utah.

NEARLY PERFECT AT THE LINE
Utah Valley sophomore guard Trey Woodbury was a perfect 19-for-19 at the free throw line this season until missing his first shot at the line against Northern Arizona on Saturday night. He has now knocked down 19-of-20 shots at the charity stripe. The UVU record is 41 straight free throws made, set by Jake Toolson last season and Holton Hunsaker during the 2011-12 season.

UTAH VALLEY WINS SUMMIT LEAGUE/WAC CHALLENGE GAME FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT SEASON
With its 68-62 win at North Dakota State on Nov. 23, Utah Valley claimed a win in the Summit League/WAC Challenge for a second straight season. Utah Valley defeated Denver in last season's Summit League/WAC Challenge matchup. The WAC won the first-ever Summit League/WAC Challenge by finishing with a 6-3 record against the Summit League last season. The Summit League won this season's challenge, 5-3.

UVU SECOND IN THE NATION IN BLOCKS
As of Dec. 20, Utah Valley is tied for second in the nation in blocks with 76. The Wolverines also rank 17th nationally in blocks per game at 5.8 a contest. Individually, Emmanuel Olojakpoke ranks eighth nationally with 35 blocks. He also ranks tied for 20th in blocks per game at 2.6. With 35 blocks already this season, Olojakpoke is on track to break the all-time UVU single season blocks record of 72 set by Akolda Manyang during the 2017-18 season.