OREM, Utah — Utah Valley (25-8) makes its third appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on Wednesday, March 19, when the Wolverines travel to take on San Francisco (24-9) at War Memorial at The Sobrato Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT, with the game broadcast live on ESPNU. The game will also be broadcast over the air waves on the Wolverine Sports Network and ESPN The Fan (960 AM/103.9 FM Utah County, 98.3 FM/105.1 HD2 Salt Lake City).

UVU MAKES THIRD NIT APPEARANCE
UVU earned its automatic bid to the NIT after capturing the outright WAC regular-season championship with a dominant 15-1 league record. The Wolverines went 2-1 at the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, securing wins over Utah Tech (74-57) and Seattle U (68-55) before their championship game setback to Grand Canyon (89-82). The Wolverines previously appeared in the NIT in 2014 and again in 2023, when they advanced to the semifinals.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SAN FRANCISCO
Utah Valley and San Francisco will meet for the fourth time, with the Dons holding a 2-1 series advantage. UVU's lone win was a 73-61 victory in Orem on Dec. 31, 2007. The last meeting came in 2018, with USF defeating UVU 78-73 in the second round of the College Basketball Invitational.

SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco enters the NIT with a 24-9 overall record and finished third in the West Coast Conference with a 13-5 mark. The Dons are making their second consecutive NIT appearance under third-year head coach Chris Gerlufsen. San Francisco is led offensively by Malik Thomas, who averages 19.3 points per game while shooting 45.4% from the field and 39.4% from three. Marcus Williams adds 15.1 points per game and shoots a team-best 41.4% from beyond the arc. The Dons are 16-2 at home this season and are one of the top three-point defensive teams in the nation, ranking fifth nationally, holding teams to just a 28.4% clip. Wednesday's matchup will mark San Francisco's first on-campus NIT home game since the 2013-14 season.

WOLVERINES AMONG NATIONAL STAT LEADERS
Utah Valley ranks fourth nationally in blocks per game (5.8) and 29th in defensive rebounds per game (27.3). Individually, Trevan Leonhardt ranks fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.44), Carter Welling ranks 33rd in blocks per game (1.84), and Dominick Nelson ranks 12th in free throw attempts (232) and 23rd in free throws made (162).

NELSON AND PHILLIPS EARN NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Dominick Nelson is a finalist for both the Lou Henson Award (top mid-major player) and the Riley Wallace Award (top Division I transfer). Head coach Todd Phillips is a finalist for the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award after guiding UVU to the outright WAC regular-season championship.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Wednesday's NIT game will be broadcast live on ESPNU with Chris Sylvester and Jared Haase on the call. Radio coverage is available on the Wolverine Sports Network with Jim McCulloch on ESPN 960 AM/103.9 FM in Utah County and 98.3 FM/105.1 HD2 in Salt Lake City. Brice Larson hosts pregame and postgame coverage, with Martin Kelly providing halftime analysis.