2025-26 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 6

ACU ROLLS TO 7-3 WITH THREE STRAIGHT WINS
Abilene Christian continued its surge with a third straight win, downing NM State 77-69 in a Dec. 6 clash at Moody Coliseum. The Wildcats opened last week with a 71-63 at Pepperdine on Dec. 2 in Malibu, California. California Baptist slid back to 7-3 following three road setbacks on the road against Big 12 opponents, although a 91-85 defeat at Utah on Dec. 6 saw 31 points and a career-high 11 rebounds from WAC Preseason Player of the Year Dominique Daniels Jr.

UTAH VALLEY’S HOLCOMBE NAMED WAC POTW
Utah Valley guard Jackson Holcombe has been one of the most complete players in the WAC to begin the 2025- 26 season, and the redshirt sophomore continued his prolific play last week to earn WAC Player of the Week honors. Holcombe averaged 18.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game across two road games, shooting 63.2 percent from the field. Entering games on Dec. 10, Holcombe was the WAC leader with four double-doubles this season, most recently logging 17 points and 10 rebounds at San Diego State on Dec. 3. Holcombe also held the conference lead with four 10-plus rebound outings and ranked in the top 10 in six separate major statistical categories among peers in the WAC.

MCDOWELL’S FIRST 20-POINT GAMES AT TARLETON STATE LEAD TEXANS TO TWO WINS
Tarleton State transfer guard Cam McDowell registered his first two 20-point games in a Texan uniform last week in nonconference play, leading to two home victories. Against Howard Payne on Dec. 3, McDowell poured in a team-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in the Tarleton State win. Later in the week against Cameron, McDowell connected on 10-of-14 field goal attempts on his way to a game-high 26 points and three steals to power the Texans. McDowell was selected as the WAC Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 8.

BALANCED ATTACK FOR ACU PROVING TO BE WINNING FORMULA
Key to the 7-3 start for Abilene Christian has been the program’s balanced scoring attack. Through 10 games a total of seven Wildcats have averaged 5.0 or more points per contest thus far this season, led by the 16.4 points per game of preseason all-conference selection Bradyn Hubbard. Other key scorers in the ACU lineup have included Yaniel Rivera (9.8 PPG), Rich Smith (7.6 PPG), Cbo Newton (7.1 PPG), Zy Wright (6.5 PPG), Joseph Scott (6.1 PPG) and Christian Alston (5.4 PPG).

UTAH VALLEY THE TOP WAC TEAM IN THE LATEST NCAA NET
As of the latest NCAA NET rankings that were posted on Dec. 8, Utah Valley assumed the top spot in the WAC by checking in ranked 62nd in the metric. The Wolverines owned a combined three wins in the top three quadrants. California Baptist slid to 100 in the latest NCAA NET, following back-to-back Quad 1 defeats for the Lancers.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
As of the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings that were released on Dec. 8, UT Arlington was ranked third in 3-point percentage defense by limiting opponents to 24.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Tarleton State ranked fifth in turnovers forced per game at 18.73 per contest, and Utah Valley checked in 10th in assists per game with an even 20.0 per outing. Individually, Utah Valley’s Tyler Hendricks ranked third in 3-point field goal percentage by hitting from long range at a 57.8 percent clip. Southern Utah’s Jaiden Feroah hit 30 of his first 31 attempts at the free-throw line to rank seventh nationally at 96.8 percent, and Tarleton State’s Leroy Kelly IV was 10th in the country in total steals with 27.