Feb. 17, 2008

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THE GAME: North Carolina Central University hosts Utah Valley University in the Eagles' sixth home game of the season... This will be the second meeting between NCCU and Utah Valley, as the Wolverines won the first meeting on Jan. 22 in Orem, Utah, by a score of 68-52... The Eagles have won consecutive games for the first time this season, their first as a Division I program... Utah Valley had its six-game win streak snapped by Savannah State in a 61-46 road loss on Saturday... The Wolverines boast one of the top scorers in the nation as 6-4 junior guard Ryan Toolson averages 23.5 points per game.

THE SERIES: This will be the second meeting between NCCU and Utah Valley. The Wolverines won the first meeting 68-52 earlier this season in Orem, Utah, on Jan. 22.

UP NEXT: NCCU hosts its seventh and final home game of the season when Lenoir- Rhyne College comes to Durham on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

HOME SWEET HOME: NCCU senior forward Charles Futrell has made the most of his team's five home games this season. Inside McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium, Futrell is averaging 20.8 points per contest. He is shooting 54.2 percent from the field, including 41.2 percent from three-point range, and 79.2 from the free throw line.

RECORDS WATCH: AYALA CLIMBING NCCU CAREER RANKS: NCCU junior guard Bryan Ayala continues to climb up the ranks as one of the school's all-time career leaders in steals and assists. Ayala currently ranks fourth in career steals with 143 and seventh in career assists with 274. He needs five assists to pass current NCCU assistant coach LeVelle Moton (278 assists from 1992-96) for the fifth spot.

LAST MEETING BETWEEN NCCU AND UTAH VALLEY: (Jan. 22, 2008 - Orem, Utah) NCCU could not recover from a slow start as Utah Valley cruised to a 68-52 victory over the first-year Division I Eagles inside The McKay Center in Orem, Utah. UVU scored the first eight points of the game, while the visiting Eagles struggled to find the mark from the field. NCCU's first points came on a layup by Tremain Holloway at the 15:15 mark. The Wolverines extended the lead to 23-2 on a basket by Jordan Brady at 11:02, marking their largest advantage of the first half. NCCU junior guard Philip Branch provided a lift off the bench with nine points on three long-range triples, including one at the first half buzzer to narrow the deficit to 36-21 at the break. UVU blistered the nets in the opening 20 minutes, connecting on 51.7 percent (15-for-29) of its field goal attempts. NCCU connected on only eight of its 26 field goals (30.8 percent) in the first half. The second stanza was more of the same, with NCCU hitting just 37.0 percent from the field (10-of-27), including 3-for-13 shooting from three-point land (23.1 percent). The Eagles did manage to battle back from a 28-point deficit (64-36 at 8:34) to make the final score a 16-point margin by turning up the defensive pressure and making shots down the stretch. UVU junior Ryan Toolson scored a game-high 24 points, while senior Jordan Brady contributed 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Wolverines. Branch topped the Eagles with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting from beyond the arch. Senior forward Charles Futrell collected 14 points and a team-best seven boards, while Bryan Ayala added 10 points for NCCU.