UTAH VALLEY OPENS WAC PLAY AGAINST CBU ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AT UCCU CENTER
Utah Valley opens Western Athletic Conference play on Friday at home against California Baptist. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines will also host the Lancers on Saturday at 6 p.m. as part of the new WAC format for this season, which features games on back-to-back days.

Jamison Overton scored a game-high 19 points and Fardaws Aimaq recorded an 18-point, 20-rebound double-double to lead Utah Valley in a 70-62 loss at in-state rival Weber State on Saturday afternoon at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. The game, which  featured 16 lead changes and 10 ties, marked the first time that UVU played with a full roster.

Fardaws Aimaq tied his own UVU single-game rebound record with 20 boards at Weber State on Jan. 2. He also pulled down 20 rebounds against Wyoming on Dec. 12, which broke the previous UVU single game record of 19 rebounds set by Baylee Steele against BYU on Nov. 9, 2018. Aimaq has recorded 15 or more rebounds in five of UVU's seven games this season.

As of Jan. 6, Aimaq leads the nation in rebounds per game at 15.3 a contest. He also leads the country in offensive rebounds per game (5.00) and ranks second in defensive boards per game (10.29). Aimaq ranks eighth in the nation in total rebounds with 107 this season. With 107 total rebounds, Aimaq is already just 132 rebounds shy of breaking into the top-10 all-time UVU single season rebounds chart.

Utah Valley ranks 11th in the nation in assists per game, dishing out 18.9 a contest. The Wolverines also rank 45th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.33 and 63rd in field goal percentage (47.5 percent).

Mark Madsen enters his second season as the head coach of the Wolverines. The two-time NBA champion, former Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, and former Stanford basketball star went 11-19 during his first season with UVU. He is just the third head coach in UVU's Division I history. Madsen took  over the Utah Valley program last season after serving the past six seasons as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a two-time NBA champion as a player with the Lakers (2001 and 2002), and played for the Minnesota Timberwolves for six seasons.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday's game against California Baptist will be broadcast live on ESPN+, which is available at ESPNplus.com. Brandon Crow will be handling the play-by-play duties and former Wolverine Ben Aird will be on the color commentary. Saturday's game against the Lancers will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network. The games will also be broadcast over the radio waves with Jim McCulloch calling the action. Josh Kallunki will be handling the color commentary duties on the radio. The radio broadcast will be aired live on ESPN 960 AM radio. A live stream of the radio broadcast will also be available at ESPN960Sports.com.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
California Baptist enters the week with a 3-2 overall record. After dropping a pair of games to USC and Southeastern Louisiana to open the season, CBU has won three straight. However, the Lancers have had some time off as the team's last three games have been canceled (at Arizona, vs. Long Beach State, at LMU). CBU's last game was a 110-71 win over Division II Fresno Pacific on Dec. 12. The Lancers have played just one game on the road this season--a 95-87 setback in overtime at USC to open the season on Nov. 25. Sophomore guard Reed Nottage leads the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game. Redshirt junior guard Ty Rowell follows closely behind at 17.0 points a contest. Sophomore guard Tre Armstrong and graduate center Gorjok Gak also average double figures at 11.6 and 11.2 points per game, respectively. Gak leads the team on the boards, averaging 10.0 rebounds a game. CBU is the eighth-highest scoring team in the nation at 90.6 points per game. The team is limiting opponents to a 72.0 points per game average.

SERIES HISTORY VS. CBU
Utah Valley and California Baptist will meet up on the basketball hardwood for just the fifth time on Friday night. The game marks the third time the two teams have met in Orem. UVU won the first two games in the series in 2019 before CBU returned the favor with a series sweep over the Wolverines last season.

All-time Results vs. CBU (Series tied, 2-2)
Feb. 26, 2020    California Baptist def. Utah Valley, 73-66        Riverside, California
Jan. 29, 2020    California Baptist def. Utah Valley, 65-61        Orem, Utah
Jan. 30, 2019    Utah Valley def. California Baptist, 79-62        Orem, Utah
March 2, 2019    Utah Valley def. California Baptist, 64-63        Riverside, California
 
AIMAQ BREAKS UVU SINGLE GAME REBOUND RECORD TWICE
Aimaq's 20 rebounds on Dec. 12 against Wyoming breaks the previous UVU single game record of 19 rebounds set by Baylee Steele against BYU on Nov. 9, 2018. He then matched his own school record with 20 rebounds on the road at Weber State on Jan. 2.  Aimaq has now recorded 15 or more rebounds in five of UVU's seven games this season. He now holds four of the top five marks on the UVU single game rebounds record chart.

AIMAQ LEADS THE NATION ON THE BOARDS
As of Jan. 6, Aimaq leads the nation in rebounds per game at 15.3 a contest. He also leads the country in offensive rebounds per game (5.00) and ranks second in defensive boards per game (10.29). Aimaq ranks eighth in the nation in total rebounds with 107 this season. With 107 total rebounds, Aimaq is already just 132 rebounds shy of breaking into the top-10 all-time UVU single season rebounds chart.