UTAH VALLEY OPENS SOCAL CHALLENGE AGAINST IDAHO ON MONDAY AFTERNOON

• After winning a pair of games last week in the Golden State, Utah Valley returns to Southern California to play in the inaugural SoCal Challange. The Wolverines will open SoCal Challenge play against Idaho on Monday, Nov. 22 at the Pavilion at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Tip off is set for 3:30 p.m. (MT). UVU will also play either Cal Poly or Nichols State on Wednesday, Nov. 24 at the event.
   
• Both games at the SoCal Challenge will be streamed live on FloSports.tv. Fans can also listen to the games live on ESPN 960 AM radio, which is also streamed at ESPN960Sports.com.
   
• Utah Valley picked up a pair road wins last week at Pepperdine and Long Beach State. Utah Valley erased a 12-point deficit and Connor Harding knocked down a game-tying three-pointer with 1.2 seconds to play in regulation to send the game into overtime at Pepperdine. The Wolverines then outscored the Waves 15-3 in overtime to claim an 86-74 win. Fardaws Aimaq scored a career-high 34 points with 14 rebounds, while Connor Harding added a career-high 18 points in the win. Blaze Nield helped the Wolverines to an 84-78 overtime win at Long Beach State on Wednesday night as he hit a game-tying shot and a pair of go-ahead threes in overtime. Aimaq notched another big double-double with 25 points and 16 rebounds. Nield finished with a career-high 19 points and Harding chipped in 16.
   
• Fardaws Aimaq leads the Wolverines in both scoring (24.8 ppg.) and rebounding (12.5 rpg.) through three games. Big Maple ranks eighth nationally in scoring and seventh in rebounding. He is connecting on an impressive 60.6 percent clip from the floor. Connor Harding and Justin Harmon also average double figures at 11.3 and 11.0 points per game. Blaze Nield leads the team in assists at 4.7 a game.
   
• The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced that Utah Valley center Fardaws Aimaq has been named to the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Watch List. Named after Class of 1995 Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its eighth year recognizes the top centers in men's college basketball.
   
• Utah Valley returns 10 players, including three starters from last year's squad that won a share of the WAC regular season title. Utah Valley went 11-11 overall and 9-4 in WAC play to claim just the second WAC title in team history. The team welcomes six new players to the team, including four transfers.
   
• Fardaws Aimaq was named the Western Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year by the media and Utah Valley was picked to finish fourth by the coaches and fifth by the media in the league's preseason polls. Aimaq was named to the preseason All-WAC first team and Trey Woodbury was selected to the preseason All-WAC second team in both the media and the coaches.
   
• Mark Madsen enters his third 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 11-11 during his second season with UVU and helped the team to just its second WAC regular season title, and its first championship since 2014. 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. Madsen received a five-year extension on his contract in the offseason.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Utah Valley's games in Southern California at the SoCal Challenge will be streamed live on FloSports, which is available at FloSports.tv. Alex Del Barrio will be on the call, while Bill Herenda will handle the analyst duties. The game will also be broadcast over the air waves in Utah County game as Jim McCulloch, the radio Voice of the Wolverines, is in his 12th season with the team. The radio broadcast will be aired live on ESPN 960AM radio. A live stream of the radio broadcast will also be available at ESPN960sports.com.

ABOUT IDAHO
Idaho enters Monday's game with a 1-3 overall record. The team dropped a 95-89 overtime decision at home to Long Beach State in the season opener. The team then picked up a 95-85 win over George Fox at home. The Vandals then went on the road where they took a 69-62 loss at Fresno State on Nov. 15. Idaho heads into Monday's game against Utah Valley fresh off a 109-61 loss to Washington State at home on Thursday. Against WSU, senior Mikey Dixon tallied his fourth consecutive double-digit performance with 12 points while forward Tanner Christensen added seven points in his first action of the season. Dixon and Trevante Anderson lead the team in scoring with each averaging 14.8 points a game. Philip Pepple Jr. leads the team on the boards, pulling down 6.8 rebounds a game. As a team, Idaho is averaging 76.8 points a game while allowing opponents an 89.5 points per game average. The team averages 10 threes a game and shoots a 43 percent clip from long range.

SERIES HISTORY VS. IDAHO
Utah Valley and Idaho will meet up on the basketball hardwood for the fourth time on Monday afternoon. Utah Valley owns a 2-1 advantage in the series. The two teams most recently played on March 14, 2014 in Idaho's last season in the WAC. The Vandals took a 74-69 over the top-seeded Wolverines in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas. Monday's game marks the second time the two teams have played on a neutral floor.

All-Time Results vs. Idaho (2-1)
March 14, 2014    Idaho def. Utah Valley, 74-69    Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb. 15, 2014    Utah Valley def. Idaho, 89-88    Orem, Utah
Jan. 16, 2014    Utah Valley def. Idaho, 71-66    Moscow, Idaho

THREE-POINT STREAKING
Utah Valley has now hit a three-point field goal in 188 straight games. The last time UVU played in a game without hitting a shot from beyond the arc was on Feb. 7, 2015 at Seattle U.

UTAH VALLEY TO PLAY IN INAUGURAL SOCAL CHALLENGE
Utah Valley will be competing in the inaugural SoCal Challenge, which will feature a matchup in Malibu against Pepperdine on Nov. 15 and games in the state-of-the-art JSerra Pavilion in San Juan Capistrano, California on Nov. 22 against Idaho and Nov. 24 against either Cal Poly or Nicholls State.

DAWS RANKS IN THE TOP-10 NATIONALLY IN EIGHT STATISTICAL CATEGORIES
As of Nov. 19, Fardaws Aimaq already ranks in the top-10 in eight different statistical categories. Daws leads the nation in total field goals made (40) and ranks second in double-doubles (3). He also ranks third in total points (99), third in total rebounds (50), sixth in defensive rebounds per game (9.00), sixth in free throw attempts (29), seventh in rebounds per game (12.5), eighth in points per game (24.8), 17th in total field goals attempts (66), and 27th in free throws made (18). Blaze Nield ranks 33rd in total assists with 19.