UTAH VALLEY CONTINUES WAC PLAY AT HOME AGAINST TARLETON ON SATURDAY

• Utah Valley continues Western Athletic Conference play at home on New Year's Day against Tarleton. Tipoff on Saturday at the UCCU Center is set for 2 p.m. MT
   
• Blaze Nield nearly recorded a triple-double with career highs of 27 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds to lead Utah Valley in an 80-76 setback to Abilene Christian in the team's Western Athletic Conference opener on Thursday night at the UCCU Center. Fardaws Aimaq recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Le'Tre Darthard was also in double figures with 13 points.
   
• Fardaws Aimaq has earned multiple honors already this season. He already has three WAC Player of the Week honors and two Lute Olson National Player of the Week wards. He has also earned an ESPN Player of the Week award this year.
   
• Utah Valley moved up one spot from No. 21 to No. 20 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll. The Wolverines received 125 points and sit just one spot behind Southern Utah.
   
• Utah Valley's 68-52 road win over Pac-12 foe Washington on Dec. 21 marks the program's third win over a team from a Power 6 conference. All three of UVU's Power 6 wins are road wins over Pac-12 conference opponents. UVU's previous P6 wins included at 75-71 win at Arizona State (12/10/05) and a 70-68 win at Oregon State (12/1/10).
   
• As of Dec. 31, Fardaws Big Maple Aimaq leads the nation in double-doubles (11) and defensive rebounds per game (10.15). Aimaq also ranks second in total rebounds (174) and rebounds per game (13.4). Aimaq is also 14th in field goals made (96), 15th in free throw attempts (80), 21st in total points (254), 25th in offensive rebounds per game (3.23), 26th in free throws made (56), 27th in field goal attempts (188), and 30th in points per game (19.5).
   
• 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.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's game against Tarleton will be broadcast live on ESPN+, which is available on the ESPN app and at ESPNplus.com. Matthew Baiamonte and Ryan Pickens will be on the call for the broadcast.  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 TARLETON
Tarleton enters its second season in the Western Athletic Conference. The team holds a 6-8 overall record and opened WAC play on Thursday night with an 83-69 win at Dixie State with a shorthanded team of just 10 players. The Texans have now won three straight and five of its last six games. Tarleton led for all but 46 seconds in a close win at Dixie State on Thursday night. It did so despite missing five players and two coaches due to COVID-19 protocols. The program was also without senior Shakur Daniel, a two-year starter due to an injury he sustained in the team's 67-45 win over Air Force on Dec. 21. Tarleton only used six of those players against Dixie State with four of the five playing all 40 minutes. The Texans have now won four straight WAC games dating back to last season. Sophomore guard/forward Freddy Hicks led the team in the win over the Trailblazers with a career-high 27 points. Freshman guard Noah McDavid added 17 points and senior guard Montre Gipson helped with 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Gipson leads the team in scoring this season at 14.7 points a game, followed by Tahj Small, who did not make the trip with the team. As a team, Tarleton is averaging 63.8 points a game while limiting opponents to an average of 62.4 points.

SERIES HISTORY VS. TARLETON
Utah Valley and Tarleton will meet for just the third time on the basketball hardwood on Saturday. The two teams split their first-ever matchups last season with Utah Valley taking a 73-60 win (1/30/21) before falling 70-62 on back-to-back nights in Orem last year.

All-Time Results vs. Tarleton (1-1)
Jan. 29, 2021    Utah Valley def. Tarleton, 73-60        Orem, Utah
Jan. 30, 2021    Tarleton def. Utah Valley, 70-62        Orem, Utah