BOISE, Idaho – Utah Valley's comeback attempt fell short as the Utah Valley dropped its season opener against Boise State, 76-56, on the road. With the loss, UVU falls to 0-1 on the season as the Broncos improve to 1-0 on the year.
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Fardaws Aimaq and
Tim Fuller got the Wolverines going early as Utah Valley opened up an 11-6 lead with 16:35 to go in the first half. A 7-4 run by the Broncos trimmed the lead down to 15-13 but a Fuller alley-oop dunk and a bucket by
Justin Harmon gave UVU its biggest lead of the game, 19-13, with 11:21 remaining in the opening half. Boise State rattled off a 12-0 run to retake the lead, 25-19, and would never give it back. BSU used a 13-2 surge to take control of the game, 38-25, before a
Blaze Nield layup at the buzzer cut the deficit to 38-27 going into the break.
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Both teams exchanged baskets before a 15-2 run by Boise State extended its lead to 56-34 with 12:09 to go in the second half. Aimaq and Harmon led a 10-2 Wolverine run to trim the lead down to 58-44 with 9:14 to go, but the Broncos countered with a 6-1 run to push its lead back out to 64-45. Utah Valley made one final push, using an 11-3 surge to bring the Wolverines back to within 11 with 4:40, but Boise State scored the final nine points to pick up the win, 76-56.
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Aimaq led the Wolverines with 15 points to go along with five rebounds. Harmon scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting off the bench to go along with five rebounds.
Le'Tre Darthard added eight points on 2-5 shooting from deep while Nield chipped in five points and four rebounds and
Tim Ceaser collected five rebounds.
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Utah Valley shot 46 percent from the field, including 27 percent from downtown and 64 percent from the foul line. The Wolverines held Boise State to just 4 of 20 from three the Broncos won the battle on the boards 31-28, including a 9-5 advantage on the offensive glass. BSU took advantage of 18 UVU turnovers, converting those takeaways into 21 points. Boise State also outgained the Wolverines 44-30 in the pain and 10-3 in second chance points.
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The Wolverines return home for its home opener against Antelope Valley on Friday, Nov. 12, at 6:00 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and ESPN 960 AM. Utah Valley then heads west for the SoCal Challenge, starting with a matchup with Pepperdine on Mon. Nov. 15, at 8:00 p.m. MT, in Malibu, Calif. Tickets for all home games are available at GoUVU.com/MBBtix.
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