OREM—
Fardaws Aimaq scored a career-high 27 points with a school-record 20 rebounds to lead Utah Valley in a 93-88 setback to Wyoming on Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center. Utah Valley falls to 2-3 overall on the season with the loss. Wyoming improves to 5-1 and has now won four straight.
Tied 85-85 with 1:44 to play, Wyoming scored a layup, made a stop, and then knocked down a three to take a 90-85 lead with 45 seconds to play. UVU's
Trey Woodbury responded with a three of his own to cut the Pokes' lead to just two points, 90-88, with 38 seconds on the clock. Wyoming's Hunter Maldonado was fouled on his drive to the basket and knocked down his free throws to help Wyoming secure the win.
UVU and Wyoming played to a 12-12 tie over the first five minutes of the game. The two teams then played through two ties and five lead changes before the Pokes used a short 7-2 run to take a 27-21 lead with 9:00 remaining in the first half. Wyoming held onto a six-point lead, 34-28, with 6:09 to go, but an 11-4 UVU run highlighted by a Brinson three and an Aimaq putback slam, gave UVU the lead, 39-38, with 2:41 remaining in the half. Wyoming then outscored the Wolverines 10-2 to take a 48-41 lead into the break.
The Wolverines were able to battle through and cut the Wyoming lead to just one point, 62-61, with 11:18 remaining and again, 64-63, with 10:04 to play. The Pokes then built their lead to a 74-69 advantage with 6:28 to play before UVU went on a 7-2 run with back-to-back makes by Woodbury to tie the game, 76-76, with five minutes to play. The two teams then went through three ties and five lead changes to play to an 85-85 tie with 1:44 to go. Wyoming then knocked down its free throws in the final seconds to secure the win.
Aimaq's 20 rebounds breaks the previous UVU single game record of 19 rebounds set by
Baylee Steele against BYU on Nov. 9, 2018. Aimaq has now recorded 15 or more rebounds in four of his five games this season. The redshirt sophomore scored his 27 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the floor and an 11 of 16 mark at the free throw line. He also had three assists and a pair of blocks.
As a team, Utah Valley shot 48.4 percent from the field compared to Wyoming's 53.3 percent mark. The Cowboys knocked down 13 threes in the game, while UVU hit five. The
Utah Valley now travels to Salt Lake to play in-state foe Utah on Tuesday. Tip-off at the Huntsman Center is set for 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network and ESPN 960 AM radio.
