2025-26 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 7

CBU AND UVU TIED AT 8-3 ENTERING FINAL NONCON WEEK
California Baptist and Utah Valley began the final full week of nonconference play with matching 8-3 records. Both teams were a perfect 4-0 thus far in true home games this season, with Utah Valley adding an impressive 3-0 mark in neutral site matchups. Both Abilene Christian and UT Arlington checked in with identical 7-3 marks against nonconference opposition as of Dec. 15.

THREE STRAIGHT QUALITY WINS FOR UVU
Utah Valley has seen its ranking in the NCAA NET jump over 30 places in the last two weeks following three consecutive quality wins. The Wolverines earned a key road victory over Quad 2 foe Bowling Green (82-71) before adding Q3 wins at home against Idaho State (73-69) and in a neutral site matchup with UC Santa Barbara (68-53) in Salt Lake City. Jackson Holcombe has averaged 14.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting 61.5 percent from the floor during the winning streak, with Isaac Davis adding 14.3 points and 4.3 boards per contest. Trevan Leonhardt has added 9.0 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game in the past three Utah Valley wins, adding seven steals while blocking four shots for the Wolverines.

DANIELS CATCHES FIRE FOR CBU TO WIN SECOND WAC POTW AWARD OF THE SEASON
California Baptist guard and preseason WAC Player of the Year Dominique Daniels has found the scoring touch over his past two starts for the Lancers, scoring in excess of 30 points in each contest. In a hard luck 91-85 defeat at Big 12 foe Utah on Dec. 6, Daniels turned in a game-high 31 points on 13-of-28 shooting while pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds. Daniels kept the momentum rolling on the road at Eastern Washington on Dec. 12, hitting 10-of-21 field goals and connecting on 12-of-14 attempts at the free-throw line for a game-high 34 points in an 88-83 win for CBU. Daniels captured his second WAC Player of the Week honor of the season on Dec. 15 following the outstanding performance at Eastern Washington.

TOUGHEST TEST OF THE SEASON AWAITS ACU THIS WEEK
Winners of three straight games and sitting at 7-3 thus far in nonconference play, Abilene Christian hits the road for a challenging road trip at No. 1/2 Arizona on Dec. 16 and No. 10 BYU on Dec. 19. Arizona was one of seven teams in NCAA Division I who remained undefeated as of Dec. 16 at 9-0, and already had five top-25 victories earned this season. BYU entered the week in the midst of a six-game winning streak and was 9-1 overall.

UTAH VALLEY THE TOP WAC TEAM IN THE LATEST NCAA NET
As of the latest NCAA NET rankings that were posted on Dec. 15, Utah Valley remained in the top spot in the WAC by checking in ranked 56th in the metric. The Wolverines owned a combined five wins in the top three quadrants. California Baptist climbed back into the top 100 and checked in at number 95 in the latest NCAA NET.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
As of the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings that were released on Dec. 15, Tarleton State climbed to second in turnovers forced per game with an 18.73 clip. UT Arlington remained third in 3-point percentage defense against at an even 25.0 percent. Individually, Utah Valley’s Trevan Leonhardt was fourth in total assists with 76 and checked in ninth with 6.9 assists per game. Southern Utah’s Jaiden Feroah was seventh in free-throw percentage with his 96.8 percent showing thus far this season.