UTAH VALLEY HOSTS KANSAS CITY ON THURSDAY IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Utah Valley's seniors will be honored as Utah Valley wraps up regular season play against Kansas City on Thursday night at the UCCU Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Thursday's game will be the final regular season contest of the year for the Wolverines as Saturday's game against Chicago State has been cancelled due to CSU's travel concerns related to COVID-19, known as the coronavirus.

Utah Valley's four seniors (Bradley Kitchen, Brandon Morley, Emmanuel Olojakpoke, TJ Washington) will be honored in a ceremony prior to Thursday's game.

Utah Valley couldn't overcome a late cold spell as the Wolverines dropped a 73-66 decision at California Baptist on last week in Riverside, Calif. The Wolverines shot 43.9 percent from the field but finished just 3-15 from beyond the arc.  Washington led four Wolverines in double figures with 14 points, on 6-7 from the foul line, to go along with four rebounds. Washington's six assists extends his streak of games with at least five assists to seven games, bringing him into a tie for the second-longest streak in school history. Averette and Woodbury each chipped in 13 points and White added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Emmanuel Olojakpoke swatted five more shots to bring his total to 79 on the season.

TJ Washington dished out a career-high 13 assists in the win over Grand Canyon on Feb. 22. The 13 assists are the second most ever recorded in a single game in UVU history. During WAC play, Washington ranks second in the league in assists per game at 5.9. He has tallied seven straight games of five or more assists. The seven straight games with five or more assists is the longest streak since Brandon Randolph had seven straight games with 5 or more assists in 2016. Marcel Davis holds the longest consecutive streak of 5 ore more assists as he had 10 straight game with five-plus assists during the 2015-16 season.

Emmanuel Olojakpoke became UVU's single season record holder in total blocks on Feb. 20 in a win over CSU Bakersfield. The senior center had three blocks in the game to push his season blocks total to 72. The 72 swats breaks the UVU single season record of 71 set by Akolda Manyang during the 2017-18 season. Olojakpoke currently has 79 blocks this season.
 
As of March 3, Utah Valley ranks 11th in the nation in total blocks with 152 swats. The Wolverines also rank 11th nationally in blocks per game at 5.2 a contest. Individually, Emmanuel Olojakpoke is ranked tied for 10th nationally with 79 blocks. He also ranks 13th in blocks per game at 2.72.

Utah Valley has played 15 games this season that have been decided by six points or less and seven games decided by three points or less. The Wolverines have lost six games by three points or less and 11 games by six points or less.

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
Thursday night's game against Kansas City will be broadcast live on the WAC Digital Network, which is available at WACsports.com/Watch. Brandon Crow will be handling the play-by-play duties. 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 KANSAS CITY
Kansas City enters Thursday night's game with a 15-14 overall record and a 7-7 mark in WAC play. The Roos have won three straight games dating back to a 759-53 win at CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 15. The team's last loss was a 71-66 setback in overtime at Grand Canyon on Feb. 13. The Roos have also won six of their last nine contests. Kansas City holds a 4-8 road record this season. Kansas City most recently defeated Chicago State, 80-58, at home on Feb. 29. The Roos' forced CSU into 19 turnovers, which led to 31 Kansas City points. Javan White led the Roos with 16 points in the win. Kansas City has four players averaging double figures led by Brandon McKissic's 10.7 a game. Jordan Giles averages 10.4 points a contest, followed by Javan White at 10.2 and Rob Whitfield at 10.0. As a team, Kansas City shoots a 46 percent clip from the field and a 36.2 percent mark from three. The team holds a 68.6 percent mark from the charity stripe. The Roos average 70.1 points a game while limiting opponents to a 66.4 points per game average.

SERIES HISTORY VS. KC
Utah Valley and Kansas City will meet up on the basketball hardwood for the 23rd time on Thursday night. The Wolverines hold an all-time 13-9 advantage in the series, including an 8-2 record against the Roos in Orem. Utah Valley has won four of the last six games between the two teams, including a 79-67 win the last time the two teams met at the UCCU Center on Feb. 23, 2019. Kansas City won the first game of this season's series in Kansas City, 68-63. The last time UVU lost to the Roos in Orem was on Jan. 31, 2015 with Kansas City taking a 66-59 win.

Last 10 Results vs. Kansas City (UVU leads 13-9)
Jan. 4, 2020    Kansas City def. Utah Valley, 68-63    Kansas City, Mo.
March 14, 2019    Utah Valley def. Kansas City, 71-64    Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb. 23, 2019    Utah Valley def. Kansas City, 79-67    Orem, Utah
Jan. 24, 2019    Utah Valley def. Kansas City, 75-67    Kansas City, Mo.
Feb. 10, 2018    Kansas City def. Utah Valley, 77-70    Kansas City, Mo.
Jan. 11, 2018    Utah Valley def. Kansas City, 95-59    Orem, Utah
Feb. 9, 2017    Kansas City def. Utah Valley, 84-76    Kansas City, Mo.
Jan. 14, 2017    Utah Valley def. Kansas City, 86-76    Orem, Utah
March 10, 2016    Kansas City def. Utah Valley, 80-78    Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb. 20 ,2016    Utah Valley def. Kansas City, 79-70    Orem, Utah

SATURDAY'S GAME AGAINST CHICAGO STATE CANCELLED
Utah Valley's game against Chicago State scheduled for Saturday at the UCCU Center been canceled as a result of CSU's travel concerns related to COVID-19, known as the coronavirus.

The Utah Valley men's basketball game on Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center has been canceled and will not be rescheduled. Saturday's tickets will be honored for Thursday night's game against Kansas City. For more information on tickets, contact the UVU ticket office at 801-863-7469.

While the canceled game is officially a no contest per NCAA guidelines, the WAC has awarded a win to Utah Valley for WAC standings and tournament seeding purposes.