OREM—Fardaws Aimaq recorded a 24-point, 18-rebound double-double in his Utah Valley debut to lead the Wolverines to a 100-75 win over Adams State in the team's season opener on Thanksgiving Day at the UCCU Center. Trey Woodbury and Jamison Overton each tallied career highs with 22 points apiece.  
 
"We've been really excited to get out on the floor and play," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen. "Our guys have been through three or four quarantines and so just to be able to finally get out and play is great. I'm proud of our players. They played hard and executed the game plan and that was a good Adams State team we played today. I still expect much more from our guys. That being said, we did a lot of good things. We had 32 assists on 43 made buckets. That right there tells you that the ball is moving and that there is a lot of unselfishness going on."
 
After taking a 12-11 lead eight minutes into the game, Aimaq put in back-to-back buckets and Woodbury knocked down a three before throwing one down to lead the Wolverines on an 11-3 run as UVU jumped out to a 23-14 lead with 9:47 remaining in the half.
 
Adams State cut the UVU lead to four points, 27-23, with seven minutes left in the half, but Utah Valley countered with a 10-0 run sparked by a pair of Jordan Brinson buckets to extend its lead to 14 points, 37-23, with five minutes to go. The Wolverines outscored the Grizzlies 12-10 over the final five minutes to take a 49-33 lead into the break.
 
The Wolverines continue to build on its lead early in the second half as Le'Tre Darthard knocked down a three to spark a 10-3 UVU run to extend its lead to 25 points, 65-40, with 13:45 to play. UVU continue to build upon its lead the remainder of the half to secure the 100-75 win.  
 
Aimaq scored his career-high 24 points on 11 of 18 shooting from the field and 2 of 2 shots from the charity stripe. He also pulled down 18 rebounds, which is just one rebound shy of tying the UVU single game record of 19 boards by Baylee Steel at BYU on Nov. 9, 2018. The redshirt sophomore also dished out a pair of assists and had a block in 28 minutes of play.
 
Woodbury knocked down 9 of 13 shots from the field, including 4 of 5 from long range for his 22 points. The junior guard also tallied four rebounds and four assists. Overton tallied his 22 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the floor. He also had five assists, four steals, and three rebounds on the day.  Brinson also reached double figures with 12 points, while Blaze Nield and Darthard each added four.
 
"Fardaws was cleaning up the glass today," said Madsen. "He had 18 rebounds and probably could have had 22 rebounds. Every one of our guys contributed today and was excellent with what they did. I thought Jordan Brinson did a nice job running the show and making other guys better. JJ Overton was great from the floor and had five assists and Trey (Woodbury) hit some big threes. There were a lot of positives today."
 
 
As a team, UVU shot a blistering 61.4 percent from the floor (43-70), including a 36 percent mark from long range (5-14). UVU held Adams State to 41 percent shooting. The Wolverines outrebounded ASU, 40-30.
 
Trace Dimeff led Adams State with a team-high 17 points.
 
Utah Valley will continue play on Saturday at crosstown rival BYU. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and ESPN 960 AM radio.