OREM, Utah-As the BBN Showcase ensues, Utah Valley men’s basketball (3-2) returns home to face the Lamar Cardinals (3-1) of the Southland Conference at the UCCU Center Thursday.

With new Wolverines head coach Mark Madsen having won three of his first four games as a collegiate head coach, his squad leads the nation in blocked shots (39).

Utah Valley ranks fourth nationally in blocked shots per game at 7.8 swats per contest.

Wolverines senior forward Emmanuel Olojakpoke is tied for sixth nationally in blocked shots (16) with George Conditt of Iowa State and Penn State’s Mike Watkins. Furthermore, senior forward/center Brandon Morley is tied for 27th nationally with 11 block shots. Morley shares this ranking with Abdul Ado of Mississippi State, Harvard’s Robert Baker, James Banks III of Georgia Tech, Seton Hall’s Romaro Gill, Sean Good of Lafayette, Utah State’s Kuba Karowski, Shamarkus Kennedy of McNeese, UNLV’s Cheikh Mbacke Diong, Filip Rebraca of North Dakota, Drake’s Liam Robbins, Kevin Samuel of Texas Christian and Xeyrius Williams of Akron.

The Wolverines also have the 11th-longest winning streak in the nation, having won their last 8 home games.

Utah Valley scores 75 points per game, ranking them 142nd nationally as they are tied with Abilene Christian, Virginia Tech and UC Santa Barbara in this category.

Senior guard TJ Washington leads the Wolverines in points (16.3) and assists (3.7) per game.

Redshirt junior guard Brandon Averette (15.2 points per game), junior guard Isaiah White (14 points, a team-best 10 rebounds per game) and sophomore guard Trey Woodbury (10 points per game) all score in double figures on-average for the Utah Valley. Averette also has a team-best 5 steals for the Wolverines.

Utah Valley ranks 163rd nationally in scoring defense, giving up 67.5 points per game.

The Cardinals are coached by veteran college basketball coach Tic Price. In his seventh season at Lamar, he is 88-81 (.521).

Price also has coaching stints at New Orleans (1994-1997), Memphis (1997-1999) and McNeese (2001-2006).

In his overall collegiate coaching career, Price is 255-203 (.557).

The Cardinals score 81 points per game. They are tied for 68th nationally in scoring offense with Eastern Illinois, Tulane and Portland State.

Senior guard/forward T.J. Atwood (19.3 points, 6.5 rebounds per game) leads Lamar statistically.

Sophomore guard Davion Buster (16.5 points, 4.8 rebounds per game) also scores in double figures on-average to bolster the Cardinals’ offense.

Senior guard V.J. Holmes leads the Cardinals in assists (20) and is tied for the team leads in steals (12) with Buster.

Junior forward/center Avery Sullivan leads Lamar with 6.8 rebounds per game.

Defensively, the Cardinals give up 57 points per game, ranking them 25th nationally in scoring defense.

Freshman forward Corey Nickerson has 5 blocked shots on the season to lead the Cardinals in that category.

This series is tied 1-1 all-time.