• Utah Valley has earned a bid to play in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) and will travel to Albuquerque to take on New Mexico in the first round on Wednesday night at The Pit. The game will tip-off at 8 p.m. (MT)
   
• Trey Woodbury scored a season-high 29 points and became the ninth player in Utah Valley history to reach the 1,000-point mark to lead Utah Valley in an 89-88 setback to in-state foe Southern Utah in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas last week.
   
• Utah Valley secured its third WAC regular season title this season. It marks the third overall WAC regular season championship for UVU (2014, 2021, 2023) and its second in the last three years under head coach Mark Madsen. Utah Valley finished atop the WAC standings with an 15-3 record.
   
• Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen has been named a finalist for the 2022-23 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year award. The Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.
   
• Aziz Bandaogo has been named one of 15 finalists for the 2023 Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award. He ranks in the top-15 nationally in six statistical categories. He ranks third in blocks (98), fifth in blocks per game (2.97), seventh in rebounds (337), 11th in defensive rebounds per game (7.36), 11th in rebounds per game (10.2), and 14th double-doubles (15).
   
• UVU earned numerous postseason WAC honors highlighted by Aziz Bandaogo earning WAC Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and head coach Mark Madsen being named the WAC Coach of the Year. Bandaogo, Le'Tre Darthard, and Trey Woodbury earned First Team All-WAC honors.
   
• Utah Valley has hit the 20-win mark for a second straight season. This year's team made it to 20 wins faster than any team in UVU history in the program's full Division I status era. It's only the second time that the Wolverines have won 20-plus games in back-to-back seasons. With 25 wins, UVU has tied the program record for wins in a season.
   
• Aziz Bandaogo's 98 swats are the most blocks in UVU single season history. The 98 blocks breaks Emanuel Olojakpoke's previous single season record of 81 blocks set during the 2019-20 season.
   
• Utah Valley is the top shot blocking team in the nation with 225 blocks and a 6.8 blocks per game average. The Wolverines are the only team in the country with 200 or more blocks this season. Utah Valley's 225 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.
   
• Mark Madsen is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Wolverines. The two-time NBA champion, former Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, and former Stanford basketball star led his team to back-to-back 20-win seasons. He guided the UVU to just its second WAC regular season title in 2021--the team's first championship since 2014. He is just the third head coach in UVU's Division I history. He was a two-time NBA champion as a player with the Lakers (2001 and 2002) before spending six seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

UVU MAKES SIXTH APPEARANCE IN A NATIONAL POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT
Utah Valley's selection to play in the National Invitational Tournament marks the team's sixth appearance in a postseason national tournament and first since 2019. It marks the second time that the Wolverines have played in the NIT. UVU's lone appearance in the NIT was in 2014 when the team dropped a 77-64 decision to the Bears in the first round. UVU's first-ever appearance in a national postseason tournament was in the CollegeInisder.com Tournament was a 72-69 loss to Weber State in Ogden. UVU picked up its first-ever national postseason wins in 2017 with victories over Georgia Southern and Rice en route to a loss at eventual champion Wyoming in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Final Four. Last year's first round CBI game against Eastern Washington was the first national postseason tournament home game in UVU history. The game will mark the first national postseason appearance for the Wolverines under head coach Mark Madsen.

UVU Overall Record in Postseason National Tournaments: 4-5
National Invitational Tournament Record: 0-1
CollegeInsider.com Tournament Record: 0-1
College Basketball Invitational Record: 4-3
Mark Madsen National Postseason Tournament Record: 0-0

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Wednesday night's WAC Tournament semifinal game New Mexico will be broadcast live on the ESPN+, which is available on the ESPN+ app and at ESPNplus.com. James Westling and Richie Schueler will be on the call. The game will also be broadcast over the Utah County airwaves on ESPN 960 AM and 92.1 FM and 96.3 FM - HD 3 in Salt Lake City with Jim McCulloch will on the call. Brice Larson will host the pregame/halftime/postgame shows.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO
New Mexico enters Wednesday night's game with an 22-11 overall record. The Lobos finished sixth in the Mountain West Conference this season with an 8-10 league record. UNM is making its first postseason appearance since the 2013-14 season. New Mexico went 1-1 at the MWC Tournament last week in Las Vegas. The Lobos picked up an 87-76 win over Wyoming before falling to Utah State, 91-76. Junior guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. led New Mexico with 20 points in the loss to Utah State on Friday. Graduate forward Morris Udeze picked up his 14th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Mashburn Jr. leads the team in scoring this season at 19.5 points a game. Senior guard Jaelen House and Udeze also average double figures at 17.0 and 16.4 points per game, respectively. Udeze leads the Lobos on the boards, pulling down 9.3 rebounds a game. New Mexico has the 13th-best scoring offense in the nation at 81.2 points a game. The team ranks fourth nationally in free throws made per game (17.6), fifth in fastbreak points (15.42), and sixth in free throw attempts per game (23.7). The Lobos are coached by Richard Pitino who is in his second season (35-30) with the team. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. NEW MEXICO, MWC
Utah Valley and New Mexico will meet for first time on the basketball hardwood on Wednesday night. Utah Valley holds an all-time 1-14 record against teams from the Mountain West Conference. UVU's lone win over a MWC team was a 64-60 win at Fresno State on Dec. 29, 2018. The win came during the same season as UVU's last national postseason tournament appearance. 

UTAH VALLEY SECURES THIRD WAC TITLE IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Utah Valley claimed its third WAC regular season title in program history after finishing league play with a 15-3 record to finish a full game ahead of Sam Houston for the top spot in the WAC standings. The title is the third regular season WAC championship in program history. Utah Valley won its first WAC regular season title in 2014 and its second in 2021 under Mark Madsen. UVU has won two WAC regular season titles over the past three years under head coach Mark Madsen. It is the second outright regular season title in school history.