• Utah Valley heads out on the road for the first time this season as the team travels to The Lone Star State to take on former WAC foe Sam Houston on Thursday night at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. (MT)
   
• Tanner Toolson scored a game-high 25 points and Drake Allen added 20 to lead Utah Valley to a season-opening 81-73 win over Carroll College on Monday night at the UCCU Center. The win marks the first-ever win for first-year head coach Todd Phillips at the Division I level.
   
• Utah Valley returns two letterwinners from last year's team that won a school-record 28 games, won a WAC regular season title, and made a run to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Ethan Potter (1.8 ppg., 2.5 rpg.) and Jaden McClanahan (2.2 ppg., 0.9 apg.) are the lone returning players that saw action last season. Head coach Todd Phillips welcomes 11 newcomers to the team, including seven transfers and four true freshmen.
   
• Utah Valley University guard Drake Allen has been named to the Preseason All-WAC team as voted on by the league's head coaches.  Allen, a transfer from Southern Utah, heads into his junior season after a stellar sophomore campaign for the Thunderbirds during the 2022-23 season. He played all 37 games while averaging 11.0 points, 3.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals a game last year. He shot nearly 50 percent from the field (151-of-303) and knocked down 27 threes during the season. Allen was named to the WAC All-Newcomer team for his efforts during the 2022-23 season.
   
• Utah Valley welcomes 11 new players to the squad, including seven transfers in K'mani Doughty (New Orleans), Drake Allen (Southern Utah), Tanner Toolson (BYU), Simon Akena (McCook CC), Nate Tshimanga (Troy), Caleb Stone-Carrawell (Austin Peay), and Trevin Dorius (Utah State). UVU also welcomes true freshmen Jackson Holcombe, Osiris Grady (4-star), Peter Amakasu, and McCaden Adams.
   
• Utah Valley was picked to finish fourth by the coaches and eighth by the media in the WAC preseason polls.
   
• Todd Phillips enters his first season as the head coach of the Utah Valley basketball team.  Phillips is no stranger to UVU as he spent the past four seasons as an associate head coach/assistant coach under previous head coach Mark Madsen. Phillips helped UVU to two WAC regular season titles (2020-21, 2022-23) and an impressive 70-51 record, including 48 wins over the last two seasons.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Thursday night's game at Sam Houston will be broadcast live on the ESPN+, which is available at ESPNplus.com or on the ESPN app.  The game will also be broadcast over the air waves in Utah County with Jim McCulloch on the call. The radio broadcast will be aired live on ESPN 960 AM radio with a live stream available at ESPN960sports.com. Brice Larson will host the pregame/halftime/postgame show  for the game on ESPN 960 AM. 

ABOUT SAM HOUSTON
Sam Houston is a perfect 1-0 on the season after picking up a 64-57 road win at Pacific on Monday night in Stockton, California. Lamar Wilkerson led four Sam Houston players in double figure scoring with 15 points. Davon Barnes finished with 13 while Jaden Ray and Souleymayne Doumbia each had 10. The game at Pacific was the first game under new head coach Chris Mudge. Sam Houston returns three players from last year's squad that finished 26-8 and finished second in the WAC with a 14-4 record. The Bearkats welcome in 12 new players, including 10 transfers. Sam Houston is in its first season in Conference USA after spending the past two seasons in the WAC.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BEARKATS
Utah Valley and Sam Houston will meet up on the basketball hardwood for just the fifth time on Thursday night. It will also be just the third time that the two teams have played in Huntsville. Utah Valley owns a perfect 4-0 record against the Bearkats in the series. The Wolverines took an 80-64 win over Sam Houston the last time the two teams played on Dec. 29, 2022 in Texas. UVU is a perfect 2-0 against the Bearkats in Huntsville.

All-Time Results vs. Sam Houston (4-0)
Dec. 29, 2022    Utah Valley def. Sam Houston, 80-64        Orem, Utah
Feb. 05, 2022    Utah Valley def. Sam Houston, 57-54        Huntsville, Texas
Dec. 22, 2018    Utah Valley def. Sam Houston, 85-79        Orem, Utah
Dec. 22, 2017    Utah Valley def. Sam Houston, 75-64        Huntsville, Texas