2025-26 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 14

CBU JOINS THREE-WAY TIE ATOP THE WAC STANDINGS
California Baptist climbed into a three-way tie atop the WAC standings with a sixth straight win, downing UT Arlington 87-77 in overtime on Jan. 31. CBU’s second straight victory in overtime moved the Lancers to 6-3 (.667) in WAC play. Despite falling to CBU in the overtime thriller, UT Arlington remained in the tie at the top of the standings with a matching 6-3 mark. Utah Tech moved over .500 with a pair of wins, settling in at 6-4 (.600).

DANIELS CONTINUES ROLLING FOR CBU DURING WIN STREAK
Preseason WAC Player of the Year Dominique Daniels Jr. turned in another signature performance for California Baptist in the team’s sixth straight conference win at UT Arlington on Jan. 31. Daniels earned a second straight WAC Player of the Week honor (fourth overall this season) after scoring a game-high 28 points in the 87-77 win for the Lancers in Arlington. Daniels, who crossed the 25-point plateau for the third straight game, also pulled down five rebounds and dished out six assists against the Mavericks. The leading scorer in the WAC this season averaging 22.2 points per game over his first 21 starts, Daniels was named the Oscar Robertson Mid-Major National Player of the Month for January with averages of 25.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game over eight total games, which included seven 20-point outings.

SOUTHERN UTAH’S DUVAL EARNS CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Southern Utah freshman guard Elijah Duval captured WAC Newcomer of the Week for the first time on Feb. 2 after a dynamic weekend for the Thunderbirds during a two-game road swing through the state of Texas. Duval averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 1-1 split at UT Arlington and Abilene Christian. In a 79-76 win at ACU on Jan. 31, Duval was one point from tying his career high by leading all scorers with 27 points in the game while connecting on 11-of-13 field goals. Duval also chipped in seven rebounds and three assists to the winning Southern Utah cause.

UTAH TECH SURGE IN CONFERENCE PLAY CONTINUES
One of the hottest teams in recent weeks in the WAC has been Utah Tech, winners of its past three conference games and four of the last five overall to move to 6-4 in league play this season. The Trailblazers swept both Abilene Christian (76-70 on Jan. 29) and Tarleton State (65-59 on Jan. 31) during a road trip through Texas to roll into the month of February just a half game out of first place in the WAC standings. Transfer forward Ethan Potter has led Utah Tech through the three-game winning streak with a team-high 17.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, shooting 61.8 percent (21-of-34) over his past three starts. Noah Bolanga has also contributed 16.3 points per game to the Utah Tech cause during the win streak.

UT ARLINGTON STILL IN PRIME POSITION DESPITE SETBACK AGAINST CBU
UT Arlington entered its home matchup with California Baptist on Jan. 31 at 6-2 and leading the WAC standings, thanks to wins in six of its previous seven conference matchups. The Mavericks battled back from a 12-point deficit (64-52) at the under-four timeout in the second half against CBU to send the game to overtime at 68-all, before the Lancers pulled away with the 87-77 win. Transfer Marcell McCreary has been the top performer for UTA in nine conference starts thus far this season, averaging 15.7 points and 5.7 rebounds against WAC opponents. Raysean Seamster has remained steady for the Mavericks with averages of 12.6 points and 6.3 boards per contest in league play.

THE WAC IN THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
As of the latest NCAA Division I statistical rankings that were released on Feb. 3, Tarleton State remained first in turnovers forced per game with an 18.68 clip. The Texans also remained first nationally in steals per contest with 11.1 thefts per game as a team. UT Arlington remained in first place in 3-point percentage defense against at 25.5 percent. Individually, California Baptist’s Dominique Daniels Jr. moved up to seventh in points per game nationally with an average of 22.2 points per contest.