UTAH VALLEY HOSTS DIXIE STATE SATURDAY IN OLD HAMMER RIVALRY GAME

• Utah Valley continues Western Athletic Conference play at home against in-state foe Dixie State in the Old Hammer Rivalry game on Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
   
• Fardaws Aimaq recorded his national-leading 12th double-double of the season with 21 points and 16 rebounds and Connor Harding added 17 points to lead Utah Valley to a 77-55 win over WAC foe Tarleton on Jan. 8 at the UCCU Center. Aimaq scored his game-high 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the field. Aimaq also matched a career high with five blocks to go along with two assists, while Harding had a career-high seven assists with four rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
   
• 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.
   
• Utah Valley holds the second-best NCAA NET ranking in the WAC as the team currently holds the No. 74 spot. Abilene Christian moved ahead of UVU last week at No. 59. Following UVU at 59, NM State is third at No. 83 and Grand Canyon is fourth at No. 85.
   
• 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. 6, Fardaws Big Maple Aimaq leads the nation in double-doubles (12) and defensive rebounds per game (10.36). Aimaq also ranks second in total rebounds (190) and rebounds per game (13.6). Aimaq is also 12th in field goals made (105), 16th in points (275), 20th in free throw attempts (84), 25th in offensive rebounds per game (3.21), 26th in points per game (19.6), 28th in field goal attempts (204), 39th in free throws made (58), and 48th in blocks (25).
   
• 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 Dixie State 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 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 DIXIE STATE
Dixie State enters Saturday's game with a 7-8 overall record and a 0-2 mark in WAC play. The team has dropped three straight dating back to a Dec. 22 loss at Southern Utah. Saturday marks the first of three straight WAC road games for the Trailblazers. The team opened league play last week with an 83-69 loss to Tarleton and a 64-50 setback to Abilene Christian. In the loss to ACU on Jan. 1, DSU had a season-high 27 turnovers and shot just 32.6 percent from the field, which included a 2 of 18 mark from beyond the arc. Dancell Leter led DSU with 15 points, followed by Hunter Schofield with 10. Junior guard Cameron Gooden leads the team in scoring this season at 13.8 points a game. Schofield is the only other Trailblazer to average double figures at 13.4 points a contest. Schofield leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 5.3 boards a game. As a team, Dixie State averages 78.1 points a game while limiting opponents to a 75.2 points per game average.

SERIES HISTORY VS. DIXIE STATE
Utah Valley and Dixie State will meet for just the third time as NCAA Division I programs. The two teams split their first-ever matchups last season with Utah Valley taking an 87-72 win (2/12/21) before falling 93-89 (2/13/21) on back-to-back nights in Orem last year. The two programs first played during the 1972-73 season and played each season in the Scenic West Athletic Conference/NJCAA Region 18 until 2002-03, which was Utah Valley's final season of JUCO before moving into the NCAA Division I ranks during the 2003-04 season.

HAMMER TIME
Utah Valley University and Dixie State University announced last season the renewal of an old rivalry between the two schools that dates back 49 years. The Old Hammer Rivalry will continue the tradition that was formed during their junior college days and now to present day with both schools holding NCAA Division I status and sharing membership in the Western Athletic Conference.

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 95 spots to 126 as of Jan. 5--a staggering 175.40 percent increase. It is the fifth-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. 6, Fardaws Big Maple Aimaq leads the nation in double-doubles (12) and defensive rebounds per game (10.36). Aimaq also ranks second in total rebounds (190) and rebounds per game (13.6). Aimaq is also 12th in field goals made (105), 16th in points (275), 20th in free throw attempts (84), 25th in offensive rebounds per game (3.21), 26th in points per game (19.6), 28th in field goal attempts (204), 39th in free throws made (58), and 48th in blocks (25).

WOLVERINES RANK IN TOP-30 NATIONALLY IN SIX STAT CATEGORIES
As of Jan. 6, Utah Valley ranks in the top-30 in six different statistical categories. The Wolverines rank 14th in rebounds per game (41.6), 14th in defensive rebounds per game (29.5), 16th in rebound margin (9.1), 17th in total rebounds (583), 25th in three-point field goal percentage defense