Utah Valley pulls away in OT, stuns No. 12 BYU 72-65

Updated Dec. 1, 2021 11:53 p.m. ET

Associated Press

OREM, Utah (AP) — Fardaws Aimaq had 24 points and 22 rebounds, Justin Harmon also scored 24 points and Utah Valley stunned No. 12 BYU 72-65 in overtime on Wednesday night.

Connor Harding added 10 points for the Wolverines (7-1), who beat the Cougars for the second time in school history.

Alex Barcello led BYU (6-1) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Spencer Johnson added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Seneca Knight and Te'Jon Lucas scored 10 points apiece.

After Johnson sent the game to overtime with a layup just before the buzzer, Utah Valley took control in the extra period. Aimaq hit a 3-pointer with 2:43 left to put the Wolverines ahead to stay, kicking off a 10-0 run over the next 2 minutes. His free throw made it 67-59 with 43 seconds remaining.

Utah Valley went 12 of 16 from the free-throw line in overtime and attempted only five shots.

Lucas hit a pair of free throws to give BYU its largest lead at 50-43 with 4:13 remaining in regulation. Then the Cougars went cold. Harmon, Aimaq and Tim Fuller scored on three consecutive possessions put Utah Valley ahead 54-51 with 16.7 seconds left.

UGLY START

Utah Valley missed its first 13 field-goal attempts before Harmon scored back-to-back fast-break layups off steals eight minutes into the first half.

BYU wasn't much better early. The Cougars missed 14 of their first 18 shots from the field and shot 31% overall in the first half.

BIG PICTURE

Utah Valley: Few shots fell for the Wolverines over 45 minutes, but they hung tough by playing rugged defense and crashing the glass. Utah Valley will be a tough out in the Western Athletic Conference.

BYU: The Cougars started slow on offense for a second straight game. Once again, tough defense gave BYU time to hit a few shots at critical junctures after halftime. The Cougars could not get anything done until Johnson’s tying basket, missing 11 straight shots over an eight-minute stretch, and faltered again in overtime.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

An ugly loss against an underrated Utah Valley team will drop BYU in the AP Top 25.

UP NEXT

Utah Valley hosts Yellowstone Christian on Friday.

BYU visits Missouri State on Saturday.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25