PHOENIX-Saturday evening, Utah Valley men’s basketball (8-13, 2-4 in WAC play) visits Grand Canyon (8-11, 3-2 in WAC play) as the conference season ensues for both squads at GCU Arena.
Under first-year head coach Mark Madsen (8-13, .381) the Wolverines are 2-5 in games decided by three points or less, including a 58-57 defeat at Cal State Bakersfield Thursday.
The Wolverines presently score 69.1 points per game as UVU ranks 242nd nationally in scoring offense.
Junior guard Isaiah White leads UVU in scoring (14.3 points per game) and rebounding (9.4 boards per contest).
Senior guard TJ Washington (13.3 points per game, tied for a team-best 19 steals with redshirt junior guard Brandon Averette, a team-best 61 assists), Averette (12 points per game) and redshirt junior guard/forward Casdon Jardine (10.4 points per game) also score in double figures on-average for the Wolverines.
Senior forward Emmanuel Olojakpoke ranks sixth nationally with 59 blocked shots on the season. His 2.81 blocked shots per game rank him 13th in the nation in blocked shots per game.
By virtue of his talents, UVU has 115 blocked shots on the season, ranking the Wolverines 8th in the nation. They post 5.5 blocked shots per game, ranking them 19th nationally.
The Wolverines surrender 70.2 points per game as they rank 207th nationally in that statistic.
The Antelopes are coached by Dan Majerle, who is 131-83 (.612) in his seventh season at the helm of the program.
Grand Canyon scores 68.3 points per game as the Antelopes rank 262nd nationally in scoring offense.
Junior center, Italian national Alessandro Lever leads Grand Canyon in scoring (15.5 points per game) and rebounding (5.6 boards per game).
Senior guard Carlos Johnson (14.7 points, 5.5 rebounds per game, a team-best 10 blocked shots) also scores in double figures on-average for the Antelopes.
Freshman guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. leads Grand Canyon in assists (64) and steals (33).
The Antelopes surrender 71.2 points per game as they are tied for 231st nationally in scoring defense with Canisius.
The Antelopes lead the Wolverines 10-5 all-time and 5-1 all-time at Phoenix although UVU won the last meeting there, 79-68.
