UTAH VALLEY TAKES ON NEW MEXICO STATE IN WAC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL

• Utah Valley heads into WAC Tournament play this week as the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 3 New Mexico State in the semifinals on Friday night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. MT
   
• The Wolverines make their seventh appearance at the WAC Tournament this week. Utah Valley holds an all-time 4-6 record at the tournament. UVU heads into this year's tournament with the No. 2 seed for the third time in its tourney history. UVU is making its fifth appearance in the WAC Tournament semifinals (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019). The Wolverines hold an all-time 0-4 record in its semifinal appearances at the tournament.
   
• Utah Valley claimed just the second WAC regular season title in school history this season after finishing league play with a 9-4 record. Utah Valley's 59-55 win on Friday night clinched the Wolverines a share of the title, marking the first time since 2014 (UVU's first year in the league) that the team has claimed a WAC Basketball Championship.
   
• Utah Valley returned just two players who played on last year's team (Jamison Overton and Trey Woodbury) and welcomed in 16 newcomers (including walk-ons) to this year's squad. The Wolverines were picked to finish the season seventh in the preseason WAC Coaches' poll and sixth in the preseason WAC Media poll.
   
• Utah Valley redshirt sophomore center Fardaws Aimaq has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He also was selected to the All-WAC First Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Newcomer Team league officials announced on Tuesday. Jamison Overton was named Second Team All-WAC, while Evan Cole and Trey Woodbury received Honorable Mention All-WAC honors.
   
• Fardaws Aimaq is on the 2020-21 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award watch list. The Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I college basketball, honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. He has also been named to the 2020-21 Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team and a finalist for the Left Driesell Defensive Player of the Year award.
   
• Aimaq continues to lead the nation in rebounds per game at 15.1 a contest. He also leads the nation in defensive rebounds per game (10.81) and ranks second in offensive boards per game (4.29). The Vancouver, B.C. native also ranks sixth nationally with 14 double-doubles.  With 317 total rebounds, Aimaq ranks second on the UVU single season rebounds chart and needs just 28 more boards to break the UVU single season record of 344 set by Geddes Robinson during the 2011-12 season. If Aimaq stays above 15 rebounds per game, he would become the first players since Alcorn State's Larry Smith (1979-80 season) to post 15 or more rebounds per game in a single season.
   
• Aimaq broke his own school record with a career-high 25 rebounds against Dixie State on Feb. 13. The 25 rebounds are the most boards pulled down in a single game this season nationally. The 25 boards are the 10th most rebounds by a Division I men's player since 1973.
   
• Mark Madsen is in 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 night's WAC Tournament semifinal game against New Mexico State will be broadcast live on ESPN+, which is available at ESPNplus.com. Michael Potter and Joan Bonvicini will be on the call. Rachel Vigil will handle the sideline reporting duties. The game will also be broadcast over the radio waves as Jim McCulloch, the Voice of the Wolverines, is in his 10th season with the team. Josh Kallunki will be handling the color commentary duties on the radio. 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.

WAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Utah Valley makes its seventh appearance at the WAC Tournament this week. Coach Mark Madsen makes his first appearance at the tournament after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. The Wolverines hold an all-time 4-6 record at the tournament. UVU's four wins at the tournament were a 83-63 win over UTRGV in the quarterfinals of the 2013 tournament, a 65-53 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Seattle U in the 2017 tournament, an 81-74 victory over CSU Bakersfield in the quarterfinals of the 2018 tourney, and a 71-64 win over Kansas City in the quarterfinals of last season's tournament . UVU heads into this year's tournament with the No. 2 seed for the third time in its seven appearances. UVU has made it to the semifinals of the tournament in both 2018 and 2019. The Wolverines hold an all-time 0-4 record in semifinals of the tournament.

All-Time Results at WAC Tournament (4-6)
March 13, 2014    #1 Utah Valley 83, #8 UTRGV 63    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 14, 2014    #5 Idaho 74, #1 Utah Valley 69    Semifinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 12, 2015    #4 Bakersfield 55, #5 Utah Valley 40    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 10, 2016    #5 UMKC 80, #4 Utah Valley 78    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 09, 2017    #4 Utah Valley 65, #5 Seattle U 53    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 10, 2017    #1 CSU Bakersfield 81, #4 Utah Valley 80 (4OT)    Semifinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 08, 2018    #2 Utah Valley 81, #7 CSU Bakersfield 74    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 09, 2018    #3 Grand Canyon 75, #2 Utah Valley 60    Semifinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 14, 2019    #2 Utah Valley 71, #7 Kansas City 64    Quarterfinals - Las Vegas, Nevada
March 15, 2019    #3 Grand Canyon 78, #2 Utah Valley 74    Semifinals - Las Vegas, Nevada

UTAH VALLEY WINS A SHARE OF THE REGULAR SEASON WAC TITLE
Utah Valley claimed just the second WAC regular season title in school history this past season as the Wolverines claimed a share of the WAC title with Grand Canyon.
 
Utah Valley's 59-55 win at Grand Canyon on March 6 night clinched the Wolverines the title, marking the first time since 2014 (UVU's first year in the league) that the team has claimed a WAC Basketball Championship. UVU finished WAC regular season play with a 9-4 mark in WAC play.
 
The Wolverines are the only team in the WAC this season to defeat every team in the league (Chicago State opted out of the season). UVU defeated California Baptist, Seattle U, Tarleton, Dixie State, New Mexico State, UT Rio Grande Valley, and Grand Canyon. No other team in the league achieved that feat.
 
The Wolverines were only one of two WAC teams in the league (CBU being the other) to defeat Grand Canyon on its home floor at GCU Arena. The Lopes only lost three games at home this season, falling to No. 23 Arizona State, California Baptist, and Utah Valley.
 
UVU is also the only team in the WAC this season to complete a two-game series sweep over California Baptist and UT Rio Grande Valley.

AIMAQ'S WAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD HIGHLIGHTS UVU ALL-WAC HONORS
Utah Valley redshirt sophomore center Fardaws Aimaq has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He also was selected to the All-WAC First Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Newcomer Team league officials announced on Tuesday. Jamison Overton was named Second Team All-WAC, while Evan Cole and Trey Woodbury received Honorable Mention All-WAC honors. The All-Conference honors are voted on by the WAC's head coaches.

Aimaq is the NCAA Division I lead in rebounds this season, averaging 15.2 per game. He is the first player since 1980 to average more than 15 rebounds per game. He is also the first player since 1980 to average at least 14 points and 15 rebounds per game Aimaq also leads the nation in total rebounds (317) and defensive rebounds per game (10.81). He ranks second nationally in offensive rebounds per game (4.29) and fifth in double-doubles (14). Aimaq is a three-time WAC Player of the Week and is on the Lou Henson Award watch list.
 
Aimaq is the second player in UVU history to receive WAC Player of the Year honors and is the first-ever WAC Defensive Player of the Year honoree. He is just the fifth player in UVU history to be named First Team All-WAC.

Overton earns Second Team All-WAC honors after leading UVU in scoring at 15.9 points per game, which rank him third in the WAC. He ranks in the top-10 in the WAC in five statistical categories, including points (9th-286), points per game (3rd-15.9), blocks (6th-18), steals (8th-25), and field goal percentage (10th-51.4).
 
Cole was named to the Honorable Mention All-WAC team after averaging 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game this season. He ranks sixth in the league in rebounding (6.3), sixth in offensive rebounds per game (2.0), eighth in blocks per game (0.8), eighth in defensive rebounds per game (4.3), and 10th in field goal percentage (51.3).
 
Woodbury also received Honorable Mention All-WAC honors after averaging 14.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and ­3.9 assists per game. The junior guard ranks sixth in the WAC in scoring (14.7), fourth in assists per game (3.9), fifth in free throw percentage (80.8), ninth in three-point field goal percentage (37.6), and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4). He is a two-time College Sports Madness WAC Player of the Week honoree this season.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO STATE
New Mexico State enters its semifinal matchup against the Wolverines with an 11-7 overall record. The team has won four straight, including a 77-61 win over UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the tournament. New Mexico State has now won 10 straight WAC Tournament games dating back to the 2017 tourney. The Aggies have captured the league's championship tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on nine occasions in the program's history - 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. UVU looks to become the first team to defeat the Aggies at the WAC Tournament since CSU Bakersfield did it at the buzzer of the championship game in 2016. CSUB won that game 57-54 to advance to the NCAA Tournament. NMSU holds a 32-5 overall record at the tournament. Jabari Rice leads the team in scoring this season at 13.5 points per game. Donnie Tillman and Johnny McCants also average double figures at 10.9 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. As a team, NM State is averaging 71.4 points a contest while limiting opponents to a 63.9 points per game average. NMSU is led by head coach Chris Jans, who holds a perfect 7-0 record in WAC Tournament games.

SERIES HISTORY VS. NM STATE
Utah Valley and New Mexico State meet up on the basketball hardwood for the 17th time on Friday night. Utah Valley split a two-game series this season with the Aggies in El Paso, defeating NMSU 69-66 before falling 67-60 the following night. Prior to this season's 69-66 win over NM State, UVU's last win over the Aggies was an 86-79 victory in Orem on Feb. 15, 2018. UVU is only one of three WAC teams to have defeated NM State three or more times since the 2016-17 season. Friday night's matchup will mark the first time the two teams have ever met in the WAC Tournament.

All-Time Results vs. NM State (NMSU leads series, 12-4)
02/20/2021    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 67-60        El Paso, Texas
02/19/2021    Utah Valley def. New Mexico State, 69-66        El Paso, Texas
02/15/2020    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 84-82        Las Cruces, N.M.
01/16/2020    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 70-56        Orem, Utah
02/14/2019    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 84-77        Las Cruces, N.M.
01/19/2019    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 83-78        Orem, Utah
02/15/2018    Utah Valley def. New Mexico State, 86-79        Orem, Utah
01/20/2018    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 86-59        Las Cruces, N.M.
02/23/2017    Utah Valley def. New Mexico State, 84-72        Las Cruces, N.M.
01/28/2017    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 74-69        Orem, Utah
02/06/2016    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 98-74        Las Cruces, N.M.
01/07/2016    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 78-66        Orem, Utah
02/19/2015    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 51-38        Orem, Utah
01/24/2015    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 69-44        Las Cruces, N.M.
02/27/2014    Utah Valley def. New Mexico State, 66-61 (OT)    Orem, Utah
02/01/2014    New Mexico State def. Utah Valley, 72-49        Las Cruces, N.M.