2025-26 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 17

WAC STANDINGS RACE TIGHTENS WITH TWO WEEKS TO PLAY
Entering the final two weeks of conference play in WAC men’s basketball, three teams are within one game of each other for the top spot in the league standings. Utah Valley assumed a half game lead at 10-4 (.714) following a pair of wins last weekend, just ahead of Utah Tech who checked in at 10-5 (.667) to start the week. Despite a two-game losing streak, California Baptist was just one game out of first place at 9-5 (.643) entering competition on Feb. 26.

UTAH TECH’S POTTER CLAIMS FOURTH WAC POTW HONOR OF THE SEASON
Utah Tech forward Ethan Potter secured WAC Player of the Week for the fourth time during the 2025-26 campaign on Feb. 23. Potter led the way for the Trailblazers during a 1-1 road trip through North Texas that included a double-digit comeback in an 80-72 win at Tarleton State on Feb. 21. Potter averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game over two starts last week, shooting a combined 59.1 percent from the field. Potter registered his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in a setback at UT Arlington on Feb. 19 before going for 17 points and six rebounds in the win at Tarleton State. Entering play on Feb. 26, Potter is the WAC leader with 7.9 rebounds per game and a 58.5 field goal percentage over 22 starts this season.

DUVAL HEATS UP IN THE SCORING COLUMN FOR SOUTHERN UTAH
Over the past month, Southern Utah has unlocked a potent scoring option in freshman guard Elijah Duval. In his past nine starts dating back to Jan. 21, Duval has averaged 19.7 points and 4.4 assists per game for the Thunderbirds. During the run Duval has scored more than 10 points in each game that Southern Utah has played, crossing the 20-point plateau four times in that span. Duval has been named WAC Newcomer of the Week in three of the past four competition weeks.

CBU LOOKS TO BREAK THROUGH SKID AND RECLAIM TOP WAC SPOT
Despite losses in its past two games, California Baptist has won eight of its past 10 starts to remain within one game of the conference’s top spot. Graduate guard Dominique Daniels Jr. remains the leading scorer among all WAC players with 323 points and a 23.1 points per game average across 14 league games. Daniels’ 17 separate 20-point games across all competitions in 2025-26 was also the best in the conference as of Feb. 24.

ACU REGISTERS COMEBACK AGAINST SOUTHERN UTAH TO GET BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN
Abilene Christian bounced back from a heartbreaking overtime loss at Tarleton State last week and responded with a home comeback victory against Southern Utah on Feb. 21. The Wildcats trailed the Thunderbirds by as many 12 points early in the second half before storming back for an 87-83 conference win. Cbo Newton led a balanced ACU offense with 16 points, as five different Wildcats that included Bradyn Hubbard (15), Rich Smith (14), Christian Alston (11) and Cade Hornecker (10) each finished in double figures.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
As of the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings that were released on Feb. 23, Tarleton State remained first in turnovers forced per game with an 18.36 clip. The Texans were also second nationally in steals per contest with 10.8 thefts per game as a team, while Abilene Christian and Utah Valley joined the top 10 tied for fifth with 9.9 steals per game. UT Arlington climbed back to first place in 3-point percentage defense against at 26.8 percent, while Utah Tech moved up to seventh in the category at 28.8 percent. Utah Valley checked in eighth in the NCAA with 18.8 assists per game and ninth with 5.6 blocks per game. Individually, California Baptist’s Dominique Daniels Jr. checked in 10th in points per game nationally with an average of 22.0 points per contest.