2025-26 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 10

UTAH TECH LEADS THE WAC STANDINGS TO OPEN LEAGUE PLAY
Utah Tech was the only WAC team to complete the first week of conference play unbeaten, posting a 2-0 record after defeating rival Southern Utah 80-66 on Dec. 29 and racing past Abilene Christian 79-64 on the road on Jan. 1. The Trailblazers will be tested with road trips to California Baptist on Jan. 8 and Utah Valley on Jan. 10 to continue the WAC schedule. Utah Valley, Tarleton State and UT Arlington each registered matching 2-1 records during the opening week of conference games.

TARLETON STATE’S JOHNSON SWEEPS WAC WEEKLY AWARDS AGAIN
Tarleton State transfer guard Dior Johnson earned WAC Player and Newcomer of the Week honors for the third time this season on Jan. 5 after a dynamic first week of conference play for the 2-1 Texans. Johnson averaged 24.0 points per game on nearly 58 percent shooting, going for 36 points against Utah Valley on Jan. 1 before following that performance up with 34 points in a win over California Baptist on Jan. 3. Johnson’s five 30-point games and 23.1 points per game average across 12 total games played led all WAC players as of Jan. 5, with Johnson’s points per game average tied for the NCAA Division I lead with BYU star freshman AJ Dybantsa.

UTA’S MCCREARY CONTINUES SCORING TEAR FOR THE MAVS
UT Arlington transfer guard Marcell McCreary continued his string of stellar performances to begin league play for the 2-1 Mavericks. McCreary averaged 21.7 points per game over his first three conference starts, pulling down 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting an even 50 percent (11-of-22) from 3-point range. McCreary scored a career-high 39 points for UT Arlington in an 86-77 win at Southern Utah on Jan. 3, hitting 12-of-16 shots that included 8-of-11 made 3-pointers.

UVU’S HOLCOMBE HAS REMAINED ONE OF THE CONFERENCE’S BEST PLAYERS
Utah Valley guard Jackson Holcombe has enjoyed one of the best seasons of any player in the WAC so far in the 2025-26 season, and those performances continued to start conference play. Holcombe averaged 19.7 points and 5.0 assists per game over his first three league starts, shooting 60.6 percent from the field and 72.0 percent in 25 trips to the free-throw line. Holcombe scored 25 points and dished out five assists with four steals in a 73-66 victory over California Baptist on Dec. 29 and 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in a 91-85 shootout win at Tarleton State on Jan. 1.

UTAH VALLEY REMAINED THE TOP WAC TEAM IN THE LATEST NCAA NET
As of the latest NCAA NET rankings that were posted on Jan. 5, Utah Valley remained in the top spot in the WAC by checking in ranked 74th in the metric. The Wolverines owned a combined seven wins in the top three quadrants, including a win on the road at Quad 2 Bowling Green on Dec. 6.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
As of the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings that were released on Jan. 5, Tarleton State remained first in turnovers forced per game with a 19.44 clip. The Texans also moved up to third nationally in steals per contest with 11.4 thefts per game as a team. UT Arlington was second in 3-point percentage defense against at 25.2 percent. Utah Valley checked in eighth in assists per game at 20.0 and in blocks per game at 6.0. Individually, Tarleton State’s Dior Johnson was tied for the national lead with 23.1 points per game, and Utah Valley’s Trevan Leonhardt was seventh in total assists with 103 and was just outside of the top 10 in 15th with 6.4 assists per game.