UTAH VALLEY HOSTS UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY ON THURSDAY NIGHT

• Utah Valley looks to bounce back from a pair of road losses last week as the Wolverines return home to continue WAC play against UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, Jan. 20. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
   
• Utah Valley's comeback came up just short as the Wolverines dropped a 75-73 decision on the road at California Baptist on Saturday night at the CBU Events Center in Riverside, Calif. Following a steal by Jaden McClanahan, UVU missed the game-tying shot at the buzzer. Fardaws Aimaq notched his nation-leading 15th double-double, tallying 27 points to go along with 18 rebounds and a team-high four assists. Connor Harding chipped in 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists while Le'Tre Darthard added 12 points. Farrer finished with six points and a season-high five rebounds.
   
• Utah Valley started the season with a KenPom.com ranking of 221. Since then, the Wolverines have climbed 93 spots to 128 as of Jan. 18--a staggering 172 percent increase. It is the eighth-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.
   
• 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. 18, Fardaws Big Maple Aimaq leads the nation in double-doubles (15) and defensive rebounds per game (10.82). Aimaq also ranks second in total rebounds (238) and rebounds per game (14.0). Aimaq is also 10th in field goals made (128), 12th in free throw attempts (106), 14th in total points (338), 23rd in points per game (19.9), 24th in field goal attempts (255), 29th in free throws made (74), and 30th in offensive rebounds per game (3.18). In all, he ranks in the top-30 nationally in 11 different categories.
   
• As a team, Utah Valley ranks 10th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (29.59), 16th in rebound margin (8.2), 20th in rebounds per game (40.8), and 21st in total rebounds (695).
   
• 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
Thursday night's game against UTRGV will be broadcast live on ESPN+, which is available on the ESPN app and at ESPNplus.com. Brandon Crow and Josh Kallunki will be on the call for the ESPN+ 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 UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
UT Rio Grande Valley enters Saturday's game with a 6-11 overall record and a 1-4 mark in WAC play. The Vaqueros snapped a four-game skid last week with an 85-63 win at home over Chicago State. Graduate forward Mike Adewunmi led UTRGV with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win over the Cougars. Graduate guard Xavier Johnson added 16 points, while graduate center Marek Nelson added 13. Junior forward Justin Johnson leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points a game, followed by Nelson at 10.8 points a contest. Adewunmi leads the team on the boards, pulling down 6.7 rebounds a game. As a team, UTRGV averages 73.4 points a game, while allowing opponents a 78.3 points per game average.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UTRGV
Utah Valley and UT Rio Grande Valley meet up on the basketball hardwood for the 33rd time on Thursday night. The Wolverines hold an all-time 28-4 advantage in the series. UVU swept the two-game series last season in Orem, winning 78-74 and 73-64. The Wolverines own a 16-1 all-time record against UTRGV in games played in Orem. UVU's only loss at home to the Vaqueros was a 56-53 setback on March 10, 2010. UTRGV's last win in the series was an 80-72 win in Texas on Feb. 13, 2020.

SHOT AT BUZZER COMES UP SHORT IN 75-73 LOSS AT CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
Utah Valley's comeback came up just short as the Wolverines dropped a 75-73 decision on the road at California Baptist on Saturday night at the CBU Events Center in Riverside, Calif. Following a steal by Jaden McClanahan, UVU missed the game-tying shot at the buzzer. Fardaws Aimaq notched his nation-leading 15th double-double, tallying 27 points, on 11 of 21 shooting and 5 of 6 from the line, to go along with 18 rebounds and a team-high four assists. Harding chipped in 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists while Darthard added 12 points. Farrer finished with six points and a season-high five rebounds.
 
The Wolverines shot 46 percent from the field, including 5-15 from deep, and 16-24 from the charity stripe. UVU limited CBU to just 45 percent from the floor but California Baptist hit 8-15 shots from downtown and 23-34 from the line. Utah Valley won the rebounding battle, 36-33, leading to a 13-8 advantage in second-chance points and a 32-20 advantage in points in the paint.

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 93 spots to 128 as of Jan. 18--a staggering 172 percent increase. It is the eighth-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.

NIELD ONE OF TOP DISHERS IN THE NATION
As of Jan. 18, Blaze Nield ranks 23rd nationally in assist turnover ratio at 2.73. He also ranks 40th in the country with 82 assists this season. He ranks 54th nationally in assists per game at 4.8 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 FOUR STAT CATEGORIES
As a team, Utah Valley ranks 10th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (29.59), 16th in rebound margin (8.2), 20th in rebounds per game (40.8), and 21st in total rebounds (695).