Utah Valley here Tuesday night

The most important thing you need to know is that Utah Valley's Ryan Toolson scored 63 points against Chicago State on January 29 in a 123-121 four overtime victory. The 6-4 Toolson had 42 points in regulation and played all 60 minutes of the game. He shot 18-31 overall, 7-11 on his three-point attempts and 20-21 at the foul line. By the way, his uncle is Danny Ainge so shooting and scoring runs in the family.

Speaking of relatives, UVU backcourter Jordan Swarbrick is the son of Steve Swarbrick, a former Spartan basketballer.

To provide an example of a mutual team both San Jose State and Utah Valley have played: UVU took on Utah State at home on December 13 and lost 69-50 but Toolson scored 25 points despite being double-teamed often.


Season To Date For UVU

11/14/08 Northern Arizona University W, 68-62
11/18/08 University of Montana-Western W, 90-80
11/22/08 University of Louisiana-Lafayette W, 71-41
11/25/08 University of Montana W, 82-75
11/29/08 @ Binghamton University L, 73-66
12/04/08 University of California Santa Barbara L, 62-57
12/06/08 @ Northern Arizona University L, 63-64
12/09/08 @ Sacramento State University W, 64-40
12/13/08 Utah State University L, 69-50
12/20/08 Southern Utah University W, 78-72

6th Man Club Tournament
12/28/08 Norfolk State Bozeman, Montana W, 75-68
12/29/08 @ Montana State Bozeman, Montana L, 67-70 (OT)

01/03/09 University of Texas at Arlington L, 75-64
01/10/09 Binghamton University W, 80-70
01/13/09 @ Houston Baptist University L, 71-64
01/20/09 @ North Dakota State University L, 98-71
01/24/09 Savannah State University W, 55-39
01/29/09 @ Chicago State University W, 123-121
01/31/09 @ California State University-Bakersfield L, 60-69
02/05/09 Academy of Art University W, 81-43
02/09/09 Lamar University W, 71-55
02/12/09 @ NJIT W, 61-40


The UVU Starting Five

Brett Ravenberg 6-8 center -- he's not much of an offensive threat -- 3.8 ppg. -- and somewhat undersized for playing in the paint.

Jourdan Scourbes 6-7 forward -- the anomaly with Scourbes is that he is shooting better from long distance (.393%) than he is overall (.392%). He has attempted but 10 free throws all year so he'll definitely be positioned away from the basket despite his height.

Tyray Petty 6-1 guard -- a decent shooter who will take the three when presented with the opportunity, Petty is also second on the UVS squad in rebounding with 4.3 boards a contest.

Josh Olsen 6-1 guard -- he's the second double-figures scorer on the team at 10.8 points a contest and another sharpshooter with 46% accuracy from the floor, 44% on his trey attempts and 85% from the foul line. Olsen is tops in assists for UVU with 69

Ryan Toolson 6-4 guard -- he averages 37.6 minutes a game so making him work defensively should at least theoretically take some energy and focus away from his offensive play. Toolson is shooting 47% from the floor, 41% on his three pointers (162 of them) and 93% from the foul line while averaging 24.8 points per game. His 177 free throw attempts are an astounding number -- indicating he doesn't simply reside far away from the basket. He also has 68 assists (second on the team) and is tops in steals with 25.


Off The Bench

Jordan Swarbrick 6-6 guard -- he's a decent shooter but mostly in front of the three-point line, a good passer (60 assists) and the top rebounder at 4.7 a game.

Justin Baker 6-7 forward -- Baker is shooting 65% on 85 attempts -- almost exclusively in the paint

Solomon Jensen 6-8 forward -- he's a 15-minute-a-night reserve with no standout statistics.

Taylor Brown 6-5 forward -- like Scourbes, he is the UVU condundrum #2 as 41 of his 47 shots this season have been from three-point range yet he is only a 55% shooter from the foul line.


The Utah Valley Roster (alphabetical, by position)

Dick Hunsaker, head coach

Josh Olsen 6-1 G SR
Tyray Petty 6-3 G JR
Jordan Swarbrick 6-6 G
Ryan Toolson 6-4 G SR
Kevin Woods II 6-1 G FR

Justin Baker 6-7 F SO
Taylor Brown 6-5 F FR
Solomon Jensen 6-8 F FR
Jourdain Scoubes 6-7 F

Rory Fannon 6-9 C
Brett Ravenberg 6-8 C SR

What Else

*** Here's some trivia: Coach Hunsaker's son, Holton, graduated from high school last year and signed with Coach Kerry Rupp and Louisiana Tech. But the 6-0 point guard is completing his two-year LDS mission first.

*** As a team, UVU shoots 40% from three-point range so look for one of San Jose State's smaller starting lineups to be in place.

*** Despite a diminutive team size, Utah Valley is out-rebounding opponents on the season by three a game.

*** UVU has 80 more assists on the season than its collective opponents but also about 50 more turnovers. Opponents have also nabbed about 50 more steals.