UTAH VALLEY TRAVELS DOWN I-15 TO TAKE ON SOUTHERN UTAH ON THURSDAY NIGHT
Utah Valley continues WAC road play on Thursday as the team travels down I-15 to play in-state foe Southern Utah at the America First Events Center in Cedar City. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Le’Tre Darthard matched a season high with 25 points and Trey Woodbury scored 19 to lead Utah Valley to a 76-74 road win at Grand Canyon on Saturday night at GCU Arena in Phoenix. Fuller was also in double figures with 10 points to go along with seven rebounds with two steals. Aziz Bandaogo had seven points and seven rebounds, while Blaze Nield had five points off the bench.
Utah Valley has won 13 of its last 14 games over a nearly two-month period. During that stretch, Utah Valley rattled off 11 straight wins. The 11-game streak began with an 88-78 win over Long Beach State on Dec. 3 and came to an end in an 85-80 loss to Seattle U on Jan. 14. UVU’s 11-game streak is the second longest streak in school history. The 2011-12 team holds the longest streak in team history at 13 games.
Utah Valley’s seven straight road wins is tied for the third-longest road win streak in the nation. The Wolverines have not lost a road game since falling at Boise State on Nov. 26. UVU’s seven-game road win streak includes wins at BYU, Northern Arizona, Oregon, UT Arlington, UTRGV, California Baptist, and Grand Canyon.
Utah Valley is the top shot blocking team in the nation with 137 blocks and a 6.5 blocks per game average. The Wolverines sit ahead of Iona (6.2 bpg.), Illinois (6.1 bpg.), Washington (6.0 bpg.), Auburn (5.9), and Florida (5.9). Utah Valley also ranks fourth nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.62) and ninth in rebounds per game (40.10).
Aziz Bandaogo ranks in the top-8 nationally in six statistical categories. He ranks fourth in blocks (58), sixth in rebounds (219), seventh in blocks per game (2.76), ninth in double doubles (10), 10th in rebounds per game (10.4), and 10th in defensive rebounds per game (7.62).
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Thursday night’s game at Southern Utah will be broadcast live on the ESPN+, which is available on the ESPN+ app and at ESPNplus.com. 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 Thursday’s game with 14-7 overall record and a 6-2 record in WAC play. SUU holds a 9-1 record at home this season with its only blemish an 86-83 setback to Montana State on Nov. 30. The team is a perfect 4-0 at home in WAC play this season. SUU’s two WAC losses came on the road at Tarleton and Seattle U. The Thunderbirds dropped an 81-60 decision at league leading Seattle U on Saturday night. Senior guard Tevian Jones recorded a double-double in the loss to Seattle with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Senior forward Maizen Fauseet was also in double figures with 16 points against the Redhawks. Jones leads the team in scoring at 19.6 points a game, which ranks 27th nationally. He also leads the team from long range with a 55-of-143 mark this season (38.5 percent) and fronts the squad with 32 steals. Senior guard Harrison Butler (11.6), Fausett (11.5), and sophomore center Jason Spurgin also average double figure scoring. Butler leads the team on the boards, pulling down 6.5 rebounds a game. As a team, SUU holds the second-best scoring offense in the nation, averaging 86.0 points a game. The team gets to the free throw line a lot, ranking eighth in the country in free throw attempts per game (24.4) and 10th in free throws made per game (39.33).
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE THUNDERBIRDS
Utah Valley and Southern Utah will meet for the 12th time on the basketball hardwood. The game will mark the first meeting between the two teams as conference foes. SUU has won four straight over the Wolverines and holds a slight edge in the overall series, 5-4. UVU’s last win in the series was an 85-75 win in Cedar City on Nov. 22, 2014. UVU holds an all-time 2-3 record against the Thunderbirds in Cedar City.
