UTAH VALLEY HOSTS ANTELOPE VALLEY ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT UCCU CENTER
Utah Valley hosts NAIA foe Antelope Valley in its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. (MT)

Utah Valley has played eight of its last 11 games on the road, traveling over 10,000 miles through the air in the process. The Wolverines have played nine of their 14 games on the road this year.

Utah Valley's second-half rally came up short in a 68-65 loss on the road at Long Beach State on Dec. 21 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif. The Wolverines trailed by as many as 13 in the second half but was able to tie it late before falling just short. Isaiah White paced the Wolverines with 22 points off the bench to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Averette was the other Wolverine in double figures with 17 points, dishing out a game-high five assists. Emmanuel Olojapoke grabbed seven rounds and swatted a team-high four shots.

As of Dec. 27, Utah Valley ranks second in the nation in blocks with 82 swats. The Wolverines also rank 13th nationally in blocks per game at 5.9 a contest. Individually, Emmanuel Olojakpoke ranks seventh nationally with 39 blocks. He also ranks tied for 18th in blocks per game at 2.7. With 39 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 16.5 points per game, which ranks third in the WAC. Senior guard TJ Washington is second at 13.3 points a game, followed by Brandon Averette at 12.4 and Casdon Jardine at 10.6. Brandon Morely ranks seventh in the league in rebounding at 5.7 boards a game, while Emmanuel Olojakpoke leads the WAC and ranks seventh in the nation with 39 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 against Antelope Valley will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network. Brandon Crow will be handling the play-by-play duties, while former UVU player Holton Hunsaker will be on the color commentary. The WAC Digital Network is available at WACdigitalNetwork.com. The network is also available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku TV. UVU will also send the feed out on its YouTube channel. KSL TV will also stream the game on the KSL TV app. The game will also be broadcast over the radio waves as Jim McCulloch enters his 10th season as the Voice of the Wolverines. 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 ANTELOPE VALLEY
Antelope Valley enters Saturday's game with a 10-4 overall record. UAV is an NAIA member of the California Pacific Conference. The team is ranked No. 25 in the latest NAIA Division II national rankings. Saturday's game marks the team's lone matchup against a Division I opponent this season and will count as an exhibition game for the Pioneers. UAV has won five of its last six games, including a 75-62 win at home over No. 2 The Master's University on Friday, Dec. 20. The upset is UAV's third of the season against NAIA Div. I top-ranked opponents, having already defeated then No. 15 Vanguard on Nov. 9 and then No. 10 Arizona Christian on Nov. 20. Senior guard Kamal Holden (Los Angeles, CA) led all Pioneers with a season-high 23 points and also added 10 rebounds to secure a double-double in the win over Masters. Senior guard Ronnie Rousseau III (Cincinnati, OH) leads the Pioneers in scoring at 18.3 points a game. Senior guard Chris Johnson and Holden also average double figures at 10.7 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. As a team, UAV averages 78.0 points per game while limiting opponents to a 67.3 points per game average. The Pioneers average 8.4 threes a game at a 31.1 percent clip.

SERIES HISTORY VS. ANTELOPE VALLEY
Utah Valley and Antelope Valley will meet on the basketball hardwood for just the third time on Saturday. The Wolverines hold a perfect 2-0 record against the Pioneers with both of those games being played at the UCCU Center. The two teams last met on Jan. 2, 2017 with the Wolverines taking a 102-63 win. UVU also took a 104-60 win over the Pioneers on Nov. 20, 2015.  

All-Time Results vs. Antelope Valley (2-0)
Jan. 02, 2017    Utah Valley def. Antelope Valley, 102-63    Orem, Utah
Nov. 20, 2015    Utah Valley def. Antelope Valley, 104-60    Orem, Utah

LAST TIME VS. ANTELOPE VALLEY (Jan. 2, 2017 - UCCU Center - Orem, Utah)
OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University used a scorching start from the field en route to a 102-63 win over Antelope Valley in the Wolverines' final non-conference game of the 2016-17 season on Jan. 2, 2017at the UCCU Center.
 
Conner Toolson led the way with 23 points in just 18 minutes of action, hitting a career-high seven 3-pointers including his first five attempts. Telly Davenport posted career highs with 21 points and a game-high eight rebounds while Jared Stutzman also scored a career best, finishing with 16.

The Wolverines (8-7) shot 57.1 percent (36-for-63) from the field while holding the Pioneers to just 28.8 percent (19-for-66). UVU finished with 27 assists – six coming from Ivory Young – on its 36 made field goals and also outrebounded Antelope Valley, 48-30.
 
Utah Valley put the game out of reach early, racing out to an 18-0 lead four minutes into the contest. Jordan Poydras – who finished with 13 -- and Toolson each connected on a pair of 3-pointers while Zach Nelson scored the other six Wolverine points. Toolson's fifth straight triple of the half came with 12:30 left and extended the UVU lead to 33-9.

Stutzman connected on two first-half threes, with the second making it 44-12 with 8:32 left until the break. That shot had Utah Valley shooting a torrid 18-for-21 (85.7 percent) to that point. UVU led 57-34 at the half, scoring its second-highest point total in a half this season after its 60-point, second half output earlier at BYU.
 
All 12 Wolverines who played in the game scored, including Jeffrey Yan, who made his first appearance of the year for Utah Valley. Yan hit a pair of free throws late in the contest. Steve Bush led Antelope Valley with 17.

UP UP AND AWAY
The Wolverines have played nine of their 14 games on the road this season. During those seven road games, UVU has traveled an estimated 10,000 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 six of its nine games this season by just six points or less. UVU has dropped four of its last six games by five points or less, including a three point loss at Mount St. Mary's, a five point loss to Weber State, a one point loss at Southern Utah, and a three point loss at Long Beach State.

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 RANKS SECOND NATIONALLY IN BLOCKS
As of Dec. 27, Utah Valley ranks second in the nation in blocks with 82 swats. The Wolverines also rank 13th nationally in blocks per game at 5.9 a contest. Individually, Emmanuel Olojakpoke ranks seventh nationally with 39 blocks. He also ranks tied for 18th in blocks per game at 2.7. With 39 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.