Jan. 11, 2013

OREM, Utah -- Returning home after a non-conference road win at UMKC, Utah Valley University hosts Houston Baptist University in a Great West Conference matchup on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. MT in the UCCU Center.

In the Wolverines' (8-10, 0-1 GWC) 78-66 win in Kansas City over UMKC, UVU got 18 points apiece from Ben Aird, Alfonzo Hubbard and Nick Thompson. Thompson did his scoring on 8-of-9 shooting while also pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out six assists.

Two other players, Holton Hunsaker and Jason Johnson, scored 11 and 10 points, respectively; marking the third time this season UVU has had five players reach double figures in scoring. The Wolverines hit a blistering 77.3 percent from the floor in the second half and 60.8 percent for the game.

The Huskies (4-11, 0-1 GWC) fell in their GWC opener on Tuesday at home against Texas-Pan American. HBU, led by long-time head coach Ron Cottrell, will move into the Southland Conference next season.

"HBU is a young, athletic group. They play with great energy and aggression," Wolverine coach Dick Hunsakersaid. "We are going to be challenged to maintain the pace that they like to play at."

Art Bernardi's 13.0 points and 5.3 rebounds lead Houston Baptist. Tyler Russell averages 11.4 per game and Marcus Davis also averages 5.3 boards. UVU leads the all-time series 6-2 and has won four straight over Houston Baptist.

Next week, Utah Valley continues Great West play with just one game, at Texas-Pan American on Saturday, Jan. 19.