• Utah Valley opens the Hercules Tires Western Athletic Conference Tournament against No. 7 Tarleton State on Thursday night at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. PT

• The Wolverines make their ninth appearance at the WAC Tournament this week in Las Vegas. Utah Valley holds an all-time 5-8 record at the event. UVU heads into the tournament with the No. 2 seed for the fourth time (2018, 2019, 2021, 2023) in UVU's WAC Tournament history. As the No. 2 seed, UVU holds an all-time 2-3 record. Under head coach Mark Madsen, Utah Valley holds a 1-2 record in WAC Tournament play. Utah Valley has made it to the semifinals in four of the previous five tournaments. UVU has never made it to the championship game.

• 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, which is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.
   
• UVU earned numerous postseason WAC awards 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 24 wins, UVU is closing in on the UVU record of 25 wins set during the 2018-19 season.
   
• Aziz Bandaogo's 89 swats are the most blocks in UVU single season history. The 89 blocks breaks Emanuel Olojakpoke's previous single season record of 81 blocks set during the 2019-20 season.
   
• Utah Valley has won 21 of its last 24 games over a three-month stretch. 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. UVU also had a streak of five straight wins come to an end at Tarleton last week.
   
• Utah Valley is the top shot blocking team in the nation with 208 blocks and a 6.7 blocks per game average. The Wolverines sit ahead of Iona (5.8), Illinois (5.7), Milwaukee (5.6), and Oral Roberts (5.4). Utah Valley also ranks second nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.84) and sixth in rebounds per game (40.16). Utah Valley's 208 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 (89), fifth in blocks per game (2.87), eighth in rebounds (324), eighth in defensive rebounds per game (7.61), 10th in rebounds per game (10.5), and 11th double-doubles (15).
   

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Thursday night's WAC Tournament quarterfinal game against Tarleton will be broadcast live on the ESPN+, which is available on the ESPN+ app and at ESPNplus.com.  Ben Wilson and Scott Williams 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 and Josh Kallunki on the call.

UTAH VALLEY'S WAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Utah Valley makes its ninth appearance at the WAC Tournament this week. Coach Mark Madsen makes his third appearance at the tournament. The Wolverines hold an all-time 5-8 record at the tournament. UVU's five wins at the tournament were a 83-63 win over UTRGV in the quarterfinals of the 2013 tournament, a 65-53 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Seattle U in the 2017 tournament, an 81-74 victory over CSU Bakersfield in the quarterfinals of the 2018 tourney, a 71-64 win over Kansas City in the quarterfinals of 2019 tournament, and a 69-47 win over Chicago State in the opening round of the 2022 tournament. UVU heads into this year's tournament with the No. 2 seed for the fourth time and holds a 2-3 record when it holds the No. 2 seed at the tourney. Utah Valley has made it to the semifinals of the tournament in four of the previous five tournaments. UVU has never made it to the tournament's championship game.

UTAH VALLEY'S ALL-TIME WAC TOURNAMENT RESULTS
March 13, 2014    #1 Utah Valley 83, #8 UTRGV 63    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas 
March 14, 2014    #5 Idaho 74, #1 Utah Valley 69    Semifinals - Las Vegas
March 12, 2015    #4 Bakersfield 55, #5 Utah Valley 40    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas
March 10, 2016    #5 UMKC 80, #4 Utah Valley 78    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas
March 09, 2017    #4 Utah Valley 65, #5 Seattle U 53    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas
March 10, 2017    #1 CSU Bakersfield 81, #4 UVU 80 (4OT)    Semifinals - Las Vegas
March 08, 2018    #2 Utah Valley 81, #7 CSU Bakersfield 74    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas
March 09, 2018    #3 Grand Canyon 75, #2 Utah Valley 60    Semifinals - Las Vega
March 14, 2019    #2 Utah Valley 71, #7 Kansas City 64    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas
March 15, 2019    #3 Grand Canyon 78, #2 Utah Valley 74    Semifinals - Las Vegas
March 12, 2021    #3 NM State 78, #2 Utah Valley 62    Semifinals - Las Vegas
March 08, 2022    #7 Utah Valley 69, #10 Chicago State 47    Opening Round - Las Vegas
March 09, 2022    #6 Abilene Christian 82, #7 Utah Valley 74    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas

ABOUT TARLETON
Tarleton enters Thursday's game with an 17-15 overall record. The Texans finished seventh in the WAC this season with a 9-9 league record. The Texans defeated UTRGV 74-70 in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Tuesday night. Tarleton is making its first-ever trip to the WAC Tournament. Junior forward Jakorie Smith scored a game-high 26 points with eight rebounds in the win over UTRGV on Tuesday night. Sophomore guard/forward Freddy Hicks and sophomore guard Shamir Bogues were also in double figures with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Hicks leads the Texans in scoring at 15.8 points per game. He also leads the team on the boards, pulling down 5.7 rebounds per game. Lue Williams also averages double figures at 10.8 points a contest. Bogues nearly averages double figures at 9.8 points per game. The Texans average nearly 10 steals a game and force opponents into 18.1 turnovers a game this season. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE TEXANS
Utah Valley and Tarleton will meet for the sixth time on the basketball hardwood. The two teams will meet on the WAC Tournament stage for the first time. UVU holds an all-time 3-2 advantage over the Texans. Tarleton won the last meeting between the two teams, taking a 77-58 win over the Wolverines in the lone meeting this season on Feb. 23 in Stephenville. Utah Valley has won two of the last three meetings against the Texans. Thursday night's game will be the first time the two teams have met on a neutral floor.

All-Time Results vs. Tarleton (3-2)
Feb. 23, 2023    Tarleton def. Utah Valley, 77-58    Stephenville, Texas
Feb. 16, 2022    Utah Valley def. Tarleton, 69-56    Stephenville, Texas
Jan. 01, 2022    Utah Valley def. Tarleton, 77-55    Orem, Utah
Jan. 30, 2021    Tarleton def. Utah Valley, 70-62    Orem, Utah
Jan. 29, 2021    Utah Valley def. Tarleton, 73-60    Orem, Utah

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.

BANDAOGO NAMED WAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, WAC NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Utah Valley sophomore center Aziz Bandaogo has been named the Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and WAC Newcomer of the Year. Bandaogo , from Senegal, is one of the top shot blockers and rebounders in the country, ranking third nationally in blocks (89), fifth in blocks per game (2.87), eighth in total rebounds (324), ninth in defensive rebounds per game (7.61), and 10th in rebounds per game (10.5). Bandaogo's 89 blocks are the most swats ever recorded in a single season in UVU history. He is just the second player in UVU history to average a double-double at 11.4 points and 10.5 rebounds a game. His 15 double-doubles are the 11th-most recorded in the nation this season. He is only the third player in UVU history to average double digit rebounds.

MADSEN NAMED WAC COACH OF THE YEAR
Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen has been named the 2023 WAC Coach of the Year. Madsen earns his first WAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Wolverines the 2022-23 WAC regular season championship. It is his second WAC title in his past three seasons at UVU. Madsen led Utah Valley to a second straight 20-win season with a 24-7 overall record. His team hit the 20-win mark faster than any team in UVU history during the program's full Division I status ear. His 24 wins are just one win away from tying the UVU record for wins in a season at 25.

BANDAOGO, DARTHARD, WOODBURY NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-WAC
Utah Valley's Aziz Bandaogo, Le'Tre Darthard, and Trey Woodbury earned spots on the First Team All-WAC squad. It marks the first time in program history that three players have been named to the All-WAC First Team. 

MADSEN NAMED FINALIST FOR HUGH DURHAM COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD
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, which is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.

UTAH VALLEY SETS NEW UCCU CENTER SINGLE GAME RECORD FOR POINTS SCORED
Utah Valley's 113 points in a 113-69 win over Stephen F. Austin in the regular season finale are most points ever scored in the UCCU Center. The 113 points are also the third-most points ever scored in program history. It is the 12th time in UVU history that a team has scored 100 or more points.