UTAH VALLEY CONTINUES WAC ROAD PLAY AT CALIFORNIA BAPTIST ON SATURDAY NIGHT

• Utah Valley looks to bounce back from a loss at Seattle U on Wednesday night as the Wolverines continue WAC road play at California Baptist on Saturday, Jan. 15 at the CBU Events Center in Riverside, Calif. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. (MT).
   
• The Wolverines were unable to overcome a late cold spell as Utah Valley dropped a heartbreaker, 71-65, on the road at Seattle U on Wednesday night. Aimaq fell a rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds. Darthard added 15 points and tied a career-high with seven rebounds. Ceaser collected a career-high 15 rebounds to go along with six points and three assists. Harding chipped in 13 points while Nield and McClanahan each added three assists as every Wolverine that played scored at least two points.
   
• Fardaws Aimaq has earned multiple honors already this season. He already has three WAC Player of the Week honors, two Lute Olson National Player of the Week wards, and an ESPN Player of the Week award.
   
• As of Jan. 14, Utah Valley ranks No. 99 in the  NCAA NET ranking. The Wolverines hold the third-best ranking in the WAC just behind Grand Canyon at No. 66 and New Mexico State at No. 77. UVU is one of only three WAC teams with a ranking better than 100.
   
• 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 Jan. 14, Fardaws Big Maple Aimaq leads the nation in double-doubles (14) and defensive rebounds per game (10.68). Aimaq also ranks second in total rebounds (220) and rebounds per game (13.8). Aimaq is also 12th nationally in free throw attempts (100), 13th in field goals made (117), 18th in total points (311), 27th in free throws made (69), 28th in field goal attempts (235), and 41st in offensive rebounds per game (3.06). Blaze Nield is 25th in the country in assist turnover ratio (2.67), 44th in assists per game (5.0), and 29th in total assists (80).
   
• 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 night's game at California Baptist will be broadcast live on ESPN+, which is available on the ESPN app and at ESPNplus.com. 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 CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
California Baptist enters Saturday's game with a 10-5 overall record and a 0-2 mark in WAC play. The Lancers have dropped two straight to open league play, falling 58-56 at Chicago State before dropping a 79-76 decision on Wednesday night to Dixie State at home. Dan Akin has recorded double-doubles in each of his two WAC games, scoring 15 points with 12 rebound at Chicago State before recording 23 points with 11 rebounds in the loss to Dixie State. Atkin leads the team in both scoring (13.5 ppg.) and rebounding (8.0 rpg) this season. As a team, CBU averages 73.9 points a game while limiting opponents to a 64.2 points per game average. The team leads the WAC in assists per game (18.8 apg.) and second behind UVU in defensive rebounds per game (29.3 drpg.).

SERIES HISTORY VS. CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
Utah Valley and California Baptist meet up on the basketball hardwood for the seventh time on Saturday night. The Wolverines hold an all-time 4-2 advantage in the series. UVU swept the two-game series last season in Orem, winning 81-77 and 77-50. The two teams are split 1-1 in games played in Riverside. CBU won the last game in Riverside, taking a 73-66 win on Feb. 26, 2020. Three of the six games in the series have been decided by four points or less and four of the six games have been decided by seven or less points.

UTAH VALLEY HAS MADE ONE OF THE BIGGEST JUMPS IN THE NATION IN THE KENPOM RANKINGS THIS SEASON
Utah Valley started the season with a KenPom.com ranking of 221. Since then, the Wolverines have climbed 94 spots to 127 as of Jan. 14--a staggering 174 percent increase. It is the seventh-biggest jump in the country this season. It is the biggest jump in the WAC and biggest jump among Division I teams in the state of Utah.

DAWS LEADS NATION IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES AND DEFENSIVE BOARDS PER GAME
As of Jan. 14, Fardaws Big Maple Aimaq leads the nation in double-doubles (14) and defensive rebounds per game (10.68). Aimaq also ranks second in total rebounds (220) and rebounds per game (13.8). Aimaq is also 12th nationally in free throw attempts (100), 13th in field goals made (117), 18th in total points (311), 27th in free throws made (69), 28th in field goal attempts (235), and 41st in offensive rebounds per game (3.06). Blaze Nield is 25th in the country in assist turnover ratio (2.67), 44th in assists per game (5.0), and 29th in total assists (80).

NIELD ONE OF TOP DISHERS IN THE NATION
As of Jan. 14, Blaze Nield ranks 25th nationally in assist turnover ratio at 2.67. He also ranks 29th in the country with 80 assists this season. He ranks 44th nationally in assists per game at 5.0 a game. The UVU single season record for assists per game is held by Marcel Davis who averaged 5.1 assists per game during the 2015-16 season.

WOLVERINES RANK IN TOP-30 NATIONALLY IN SIX STAT CATEGORIES
As of Jan. 14, Utah Valley ranks in the top-30 in six different statistical categories. The Wolverines rank 9th in defensive rebounds per game (29.94), 14th in rebound margin (8.6), 18th in total rebounds (659), 18th in rebounds per game (41.19), 19th in three-point field goal defense (28.2), and 21st in field goal percentage defense (38.7).