• Utah Valley hosts in-state foe Southern Utah on Saturday night in a matchup between the top two teams in the Western Athletic Conference standings. Tip-off at the UCCU Center is set for 6 p.m. There are a very limited number tickets still available HERE.
   
• Utah Valley sits atop the WAC standings with a 10-2 record. The Wolverines also hold the top spot in the WAC resume seeding system. If the season ended today, UVU would take the No. 1 seed into the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas.
   
• Trey Woodbury scored a game-high 16 points and Blaze Nield matched a season high with 14 points off the bench to lead Utah Valley to a 71-55 win over California Baptist on Wednesday night at the UCCU Center. Aziz Bandaogo recorded his 14th double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also had a game-high five blocks to go along with two assists. Le'Tre Darthard had eight points and six rebounds. Tahj Small also had eight points, while Ethan Potter scored a season-high six points with six rebounds. Utah Valley got 29 points from its bench.
   
• The Wolverines committed a season-low five turnovers in its 71-55 win over California Baptist on Wednesday night. The five turnovers are the fewest turnovers in a game since 2014 when UVU had five against Seattle U (2/13/14) and three against Grand Canyon (1/11/14). The five turnovers are the fewest of the Madsen era.
   
• Utah Valley has won 16 of its last 18 games over a two-month period. During that stretch, Utah Valley rattled off 11 straight wins that began with an 88-78 win over Long Beach State on Dec. 3 and ended in an 85-80 loss to Seattle U on Jan. 14. The 11-game streak is the second longest streak in program history behind the 2011-12 team, which won 13 straight.
   
• Utah Valley is the top shot blocking team in the nation with 160 blocks and a 6.4 blocks per game average. The Wolverines sit ahead of Iona (6.3), Florida (5.9), and Illinois (5.9). Utah Valley also ranks third nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.56) and eighth in rebounds per game (40.00). Utah Valley's 160 blocks are the most swats ever recorded in a single season in program history, breaking the previous record of 157 set during the 2019-20 season.
   
• Aziz Bandaogo ranks in the top-10 nationally in six statistical categories. He ranks third in blocks (73), fifth in double-doubles (14), fifth in rebounds (269), sixth in blocks per game (2.92), sixth in defensive rebounds per game (7.80), and 10th in rebounds per game (10.8).
   
• With its 77-72 win at Oregon on Dec. 20, Utah Valley became one of four WAC teams to pick up a win over a team from a Power 5 Conference. Utah Valley (Oregon) joins Sam Houston (Oklahoma, Utah), California Baptist (Washington), and Tarleton (Boston College) to pick up wins over teams from a Power 5 league.

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

ABOUT SOUTHERN UTAH
Southern Utah enters Saturday's game with a 17-8 overall record and a 9-3 mark in WAC play. The team sits just a game behind Utah Valley for the top spot in the WAC standings. The T-Birds are one of the top scoring teams in the nation, averaging 84.3 points a game, which ranks fifth in the nation. The team gets to the free throw line a lot, averaging 24.4 shots at the stripe per game, which also ranks fifth in the country. The T-Birds have a veteran team with two grad students and three seniors. Maizen Fausett (1,421), Harrison Butler (1,348), and Tevian Jones (1,254) are all 1,000 point scorers and are three of the top-10 scorers in SUU history. Fausett (876) and Butler (824) are the top two rebounders in SUU history. Jones leads the team in scoring this season at 18.3 points a game, followed by Fausett at 12.0 points and Butler at 11.6 points a contest. Butler leads the team on the boards this season, pulling down 7.0 rebounds a game. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE THUNDERBIRDS
Utah Valley and Southern Utah will meet for the 11th time on the basketball hardwood. The game will mark the first game in Orem between the two teams as conference foes. SUU has won five straight over the Wolverines and holds a slight edge in the overall series, 6-4. UVU's last win in the series was an 85-75 win in Cedar City on Nov. 22, 2014. UVU holds an all-time 2-2 record against the Thunderbirds in Orem.

All-Time Results vs. Southern Utah (SUU leads 6-4)
Jan. 26, 2023    Southern Utah def. Utah Valley, 79-67    Cedar City, Utah
Dec. 08, 2021    Southern Utah def. Utah Valley, 60-56    Cedar City, Utah
Dec. 09, 2020    Southern Utah def. Utah Valley, 81-71    Orem, Utah
Dec. 07, 2019    Southern Utah def. Utah Valley, 73-72    Cedar City, Utah
Dec. 05, 2015    Southern Utah def. Utah Valley, 68-54    Orem, Utah
Nov. 22, 2014    Utah Valley def. Southern Utah, 85-75    Cedar City, Utah
Dec. 20, 2008    Utah Valley def. Southern Utah, 78-72    Orem, Utah
Dec. 15, 2007    Utah Valley def. Southern Utah, 91-88 (2OT)    Cedar City, Utah
Dec. 22, 2006    Utah Valley def. Southern Utah, 64-55    Orem, Utah
Nov. 29, 2006    Southern Utah def. Utah Valley, 68-60    Cedar City, Utah

LAST TIME vs. SUU: Southern Utah 79, Utah Valley 69 (January 26, 2023 - Cedar City)
Justin Harmon scored 16 points and Aziz Bandaogo recorded a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double to lead Utah Valley in a 79-67 setback to Southern Utah on Jan. 26 at the America First Event Center in Cedar City.