BOISE, Idaho – Utah Valley’s comeback attempt fell short as the Wolverines dropped its season opener against Boise State, 76-56, on the road. With the loss, UVU falls to 0-1 on the season as the Broncos improve to 1-0 on the year.

Fardaws Aimaq and Tim Fuller got the Wolverines going early as Utah Valley opened up an 11-6 lead with 16:35 to go in the first half. A 7-4 run by the Broncos trimmed the lead down to 15-13 but a Fuller alley-oop dunk and a bucket by Justin Harmon gave UVU its biggest lead of the game, 19-13, with 11:21 remaining in the opening half. Boise State rattled off a 12-0 run to retake the lead, 25-19, and would never give it back. BSU used a 13-2 surge to take control of the game, 38-25, before a Blaze Nield layup at the buzzer cut the deficit to 38-27 going into the break.

Both teams exchanged baskets before a 15-2 run by Boise State extended its lead to 56-34 with 12:09 to go in the second half. Aimaq and Harmon led a 10-2 Wolverine run to trim the lead down to 58-44 with 9:14 to go, but the Broncos countered with a 6-1 run to push its lead back out to 64-45. Utah Valley made one final push, using an 11-3 surge to bring the Wolverines back to within 11 with 4:40, but Boise State scored the final nine points to pick up the win, 76-56.

Aimaq led the Wolverines with 15 points to go along with five rebounds. Harmon scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting off the bench to go along with five rebounds. Le’Tre Darthard added eight points on 2-5 shooting from deep while Nield chipped in five points and four rebounds and Tim Ceaser collected five rebounds.

Utah Valley shot 46 percent from the field, including 27 percent from downtown and 64 percent from the foul line. The Wolverines held Boise State to just 4 of 20 from three the Broncos won the battle on the boards 31-28, including a 9-5 advantage on the offensive glass. BSU took advantage of 18 UVU turnovers, converting those takeaways into 21 points. Boise State also outgained the Wolverines 44-30 in the pain and 10-3 in second chance points.

The Wolverines return home for its home opener against Antelope Valley on Friday, Nov. 12, at 6:00 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and ESPN 960 AM. Utah Valley then heads west for the SoCal Challenge, starting with a matchup with Pepperdine on Mon. Nov. 15, at 8:00 p.m. MT, in Malibu, Calif. Tickets for all home games are available at GoUVU.com/MBBtix.

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