2024-25 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 17

UTAH VALLEY INCHES CLOSER TO TOP WAC SEED
Utah Valley continued its march toward earning the top seed in the 2025 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament with another unbeaten week, running its active winning streak to five games with a 79-77 overtime victory at Utah Tech on Feb. 20 and a 61-55 triumph over Seattle U on Feb. 22 in Orem. The Wolverines now have six wins this season by three points or less, including three such victories in conference play, to improve to 12-1 in WAC games and reach 20 wins overall. A win on March 1 against Southern Utah and any Grand Canyon loss this week against either UT Arlington (Feb. 27) or at Seattle U (March 1) would secure Utah Valley at least a share of the regular-season WAC title.

GRAND CANYON KEEPS PACE WITH THIRD STRAIGHT WIN
Grand Canyon remained on the trail of Utah Valley chasing the top seed in the conference tournament with a third straight win of its own, downing California Baptist 66-64 on Feb. 22 to move to 10-2 in league play. The Lopes withstood a late rally from the Lancers in Phoenix to reach 10 or more WAC wins for the fourth straight full season (GCU was 9-3 in the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign). GCU trails Utah Valley by 1.5 games in the conference standings entering Feb. 27, as the Lopes have four games remaining compared to three for the Wolverines. 

COLEMAN MADE A HUGE IMPACT FOR CBU IN DEFEAT AT GCU
After trailing by 11 points at halftime while missing leading scorer Dominique Daniels Jr., California Baptist nearly completed the road comeback in a narrow 66-64 setback at Grand Canyon on Feb. 22. Keying the rally for the Lancers was the play of Kendal Coleman, who led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting (4-of-7 from 3-point range). Coleman added seven rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal to earn WAC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 24.

ACU CONTINUES ITS ROLL WITH A FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN
Arguably the hottest team in the WAC over the past month has been Abilene Christian, who on the strength of five consecutive conference wins has climbed all the way into a tie for third place in the league standings at 6-6. The Wildcats have completed sweeps of both Southern Utah and Utah Tech and added a home victory over Seattle U thus far in February. ACU’s final four games are against fellow top-five teams at Tarleton State (Feb. 27), at UT Arlington (March 1), home against conference leader Utah Valley (March 6) and home against defending champion Grand Canyon (March 8).

NATIONAL RANKINGS IN THE NCAA
Abilene Christian was the top team in turnovers forced per game in NCAA Division I as of Feb. 25, forcing 17.0 turnovers per game. The Wildcats also checked in as the national leader in steals per game (10.8). Tarleton State was second in turnovers forced (16.9) and seventh in steals per game (10.0), Utah Valley was fourth in blocks per game (5.9) and Grand Canyon ranked fifth in free throws made per game (19.0).

THE WAC SHOWED OUT ON ESPNU THIS SEASON
WAC basketball fans were able to catch three regular-season men’s basketball matchups on ESPNU during the 2024-25 conference season. The first WAC in-conference matchup of the season on ESPNU featured unbeaten Utah Valley battling back from a large deficit at California Baptist for a 74-69 win on Jan. 23. Preseason conference favorite and defending WAC champion Grand Canyon defeated Seattle U 83-74 on Jan. 30 on ESPNU in an electric game in Phoenix. The final scheduled WAC league contest on ESPNU saw UT Arlington rally from a 29-23 halftime deficit to defeat Tarleton State 67-57 on Feb. 22.

WAC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS
The 2025 edition of the Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament is slated for March 12-15 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, with the first round of the tournament set to take place on March 11 at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah. All nine WAC teams will qualify for the tournament, with the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the men’s and women’s draws opening the event on the campus of Utah Tech. Hercules Tires has served as the title sponsor of the WAC Basketball Tournament for the past four seasons, a partnership that has featured 65 tournament games contested between both the men’s and women’s championships during that span. The men’s tournament championship game will air live on ESPN2 on March 15 at 8:40 p.m. PT.