• Utah Valley returns home from a four-game road stretch to host Big West Conference foe Long Beach State on Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
   
• Justin Harmon scored a team-high 19 points and Trey Woodbury added 13 to lead Utah Valley in an 87-69 road loss to Boise State last Saturday in Boise. Cam Alford was also in double figures with 11 points.
   
• Utah Valley went 1-1 at the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic in Montego, Bay, Jamaica. The Wolverines dropped a 73-72 overtime decision to Morgan State before defeating Green Bay, 79-56. Justin Harmon scored a game-high 18 points and Aziz Bandaogo had a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double in the win over Green Bay. Aziz Bandaogo and Trey Woodbury were named to the Jamaica Classic All-Tournament team.
   
• Two of Utah Valley's four losses this season have come in overtime. The Wolverines dropped a 68-65 overtime decision at Wake Forest before falling 73-72 in overtime to Morgan State.
   
• Justin Harmon leads Utah Valley in scoring at 13.4 points a game, while Aziz Bandaogo leads the team on the boards, pulling down 10.0 rebounds a game.
   
• Bandaogo ranks 11th in the nation in blocks (19) and 14th in blocks per game (2.71). He also ranks 13th with three double-doubles and 18th in rebounds per game (10.0).

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's game against Long Beach State will be broadcast live on ESPN+, which is available on the ESPN+ App and at ESPNplus.com. Brandon Crow and Josh Kallunki will be on the call for the game. The game will also be broadcast over the Utah County airwaves on ESPN 960 AM with Jim McCulloch on the call.

ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE
Long Beach State enters Saturday's game against the Wolverines with a 4-3 overall record. The team finished third at the Baha Mar Hoops tournament in Nassau, Bahamas. The team wrapped up the event with a 78-58 win over Vermont on Nov. 27. Marcus Tsohonis and Joel Murray led the team with 23 and 20 points, respectively, against Vermont. The team also picked up a 78-70 win over Oakland and took a 68-47 loss to North Texas in the Bahamas. Long Beach State's game at UVU on Saturday will be the fourth of six straight games on the road for the team. Murray leads the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game, while Tsohonis is also averaging double figures at 12.5 points a contest. Aboubacar Traore leads the team on the boards, pulling down 8.0 rebounds a game. As a team, Long Beach State is averaging 70.3 points on a 47.1 percent clip from the field and a 27.5 percent mark from three-point range. The team averages 14.3 turnovers per game while forcing teams into an average of 16.3 turnovers a game. The Beach averages 9.0 steals a game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. LONG BEACH STATE
Utah Valley and Long Beach State will meet on the basketball hardwood for the fourth time. Utah Valley holds an all-time 2-1 advantage in the series. Saturday's game will mark the first time UVU has hosted the Beach in Orem. The Wolverines won the last meeting last season in Long Beach in overtime, 84-78. Long Beach State won the 2019 meeting, while UVU took an 87-72 win over Long Beach State in the championship game of the MGM Main Event in Las Vegas in 2918.

All-Time Results vs. Long Beach State (UVU leads 3-2)
Nov. 17, 2021    Utah Valley def. Long Beach State, 84-78 (OT)        Long Beach, California
Dec. 21, 2019    Long Beach State def. Utah Valley, 68-65                Long Beach, California
Nov. 21, 2018    Utah Valley def. Long Beach State, 87-72                Las Vegas, Nevada

BLOCK PARTY
Newcomer Aziz Bandaogo has already established himself as one of the top shot blockers in the nation. Bandaogo leads the team with 19 blocks, which ranks him 11th in the nation. He also ranks 14th nationally at 2.71 blocks per game. 

SEEING DOUBLE
Aziz Bandaogo is averaging a double-double this season at 11.9 points and 10.0 rebounds a game. Bandaogo ranks 13th in the country with three double-doubles this year. 

OVERTIME
Utah Valley has already played two overtime games this season. The team has dropped both of those game by a combined four points. The Wolverines dropped a 68-65 decision at Wake Forest in OT before falling to Morgan State, 73-72, in the team's very next game. 

DUNK VALLEY
Utah Valley has 27 dunks over its seven games this season and Aziz Bandaogo is responsible for 17 of them. Justin Harmon and Trey Woodbury have three dunks apiece. Tim Fuller has two, while  Tim Ceaser and Ethan Potter each have one. 

DA DA DA... DA DA DA! HARMON TAKES NO. 9 SPOT ON SPORTSCENTER'S TOP-10
Utah Valley has now been featured on ESPN's SporsCenter for six of the last seven seasons after Justin Harmon threw down a dunk against Wake Forest that landed him the No. 9 spot on SportsCenter's Top Plays. 

UTAH VALLEY RECEIVING VOTES IN COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR TOP-25 POLL
For the first time this season, Utah Valley is receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Top-25 Mid-Major poll. The Wolverines are receiving six votes in the latest poll released on Monday. Three WAC teams are in the top-25, including Sam Houston at No. 6, Grand Canyon at No. 14, and Seattle U at No. 25. There are seven teams that are in the top-25 or receiving votes that are on UVU's schedule this season.

THREE-POINT STREAKING
Utah Valley has now hit a three-point field goal in 223 straight games. The last time UVU played in a game without hitting a shot from beyond the arc was on Feb. 7, 2015 at Seattle U.

UTAH VALLEY GOES 2-1 AT JERSEY MIKE'S JAMAICA CLASSIC
Utah Valley competed in the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic, Nov. 18-20, at the Montego Bay Convention Center in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Utah Valley went 1-1 at the 2022 Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic with a 73-72 overtime decision to Morgan State and a 79-56 win over Green Bay.

UTAH VALLEY HAS WON 58 OF ITS LAST 73 GAMES AT HOME
UVU holds an impressive 58-15 (79.4 percent) record at home since a win over Seattle U on March 4, 2017. Utah Valley holds an all-time 208-61 (77.3 percent) record in its 20th season this year at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines are averaging 10.8 wins a season on their home hardwood. UVU finished the 2018-19 season with a school-record 16-1 mark. The team went 14-1 at home during the 2017-18 season and was 6-7 at home in 2019-20. UVU went 8-4 at home in 2020-21 and had an 11-2 mark at home last season.

MARK MADSEN IS ONE OF JUST ONE OF FIVE DIVISION I HEAD COACHES THAT PLAYED IN THE NBA AND WON AN NBA TITLE
Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen is one of 24 Division I collegiate head coaches that played in the NBA. He is one of just five head coaches that played in the NBA and won an NBA title. He is the only head coach in college basketball that played in NBA and won two NBA titles.