We perform electronic measurements of unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR) in a Permalloy/Pt bilayer, in conjunction with magneto-optical Brillouin light spectroscopy of spin current-driven magnon population. We show that the current dependence of USMR closely follows the dipolar magnon density, and that both dependencies exhibit the same scaling over a large temperature range of 80-400 K. These findings demonstrate a close relationship between spin current-driven magnon generation and USMR, and indicate that the latter is likely dominated by the dipolar magnons.