Wolverines Look to Clinch Outright WAC Title at Tarleton State

3/7/2025 6:04:00 PM

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Utah Valley wraps up the regular season on Saturday night at Tarleton State with a chance to secure the outright WAC regular-season championship. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. MT at Wisdom Gym, with the game airing live on ESPN+ and the Wolverine Sports Network (ESPN 960 AM/103.9 FM in Utah County and 98.3 FM/101.5 HD2 in Salt Lake City).

Wolverines Look to Close Strong

Utah Valley enters the finale riding a seven-game winning streak after a 73-60 victory at Abilene Christian on Thursday night, a win that clinched at least a share of the WAC title. Dominick Nelson led UVU with 22 points, while Tanner Toolson added 14, as the Wolverines outrebounded ACU 49-36 and outscored the Wildcats 44-38 in the paint.

UVU has now won 17 of its last 18 games, a stretch that included a 10-game winning streak from Dec. 18 to Feb. 1.

Championship Scenarios

UVU can secure the outright WAC regular season championship with a win at Tarleton OR a Grand Canyon loss at Abilene Christian.
A win would mark UVU's first outright WAC title since 2022-23 and extend its winning streak to eight games.
The Wolverines have already locked in a top-two seed for next week's WAC Tournament in Las Vegas.

Series History vs. Tarleton State

Utah Valley leads the all-time series 6-3 after winning the first matchup of the season, 81-56, on Feb. 8 in Orem.
UVU has won three of the last four meetings and holds a 2-1 record in Stephenville.
The teams also met in the 2023 WAC Tournament, where UVU earned a 72-58 win in Las Vegas.

Scouting Tarleton State

Tarleton State comes into Saturday's game off a 68-48 road loss at California Baptist on Thursday. The Texans rank second in the WAC and eighth nationally in steals per game (9.7) but have struggled offensively, averaging just 63.6 points per game and shooting 32.8% from three.

Key Players:

Bubu Benjamin – 14.4 PPG, 38.7% 3PT
Keitenn Bristow – 11.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG
Chris Mpaka – 9.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG

Tarleton is 10-2 at home this season and will be celebrating the final men's basketball game in Wisdom Gym history.

Utah Valley's WAC Legacy Grows

With its fourth WAC regular season championship (2013-14, 2020-21, 2022-23, 2024-25), Utah Valley stands alone as the most decorated current WAC program in regular season championships. The only other active schools with WAC regular season titles are Grand Canyon (2 titles) and Seattle U (1 title).

Since joining the WAC in 2013-14, Utah Valley has finished top three in the conference standings six times, including four first-place finishes, one second-place finish, and one third-place finish.

Top Finishes in WAC Play:

2013-14 – 1st place (13-3 WAC record) 🏆
2018-19 – 2nd place (12-4 WAC record)
2020-21 – 1st place (9-4 WAC record) 🏆
2021-22 – 3rd place (10-8 WAC record)
2022-23 – 1st place (15-3 WAC record) 🏆
2024-25 – 1st place (currently 14-1 WAC record) 🏆

Additionally, Utah Valley ranks fifth all-time in WAC history in percentage of seasons winning a regular-season title (33.33%) among teams with at least four seasons in the league, trailing only Nevada (50.0%), Utah State (50.0%), New Mexico State (41.18%), and Tulsa (33.33%).

UVU Stat Leaders & National Rankings

Blocks per game (6.0) – 4th nationally
Assist-to-turnover ratio (3.53) – 4th (Trevan Leonhardt)
Assists per game (5.2) – 42nd (Leonhardt)
Total assists (152) – 46th (Leonhardt)
Free throw attempts (200) – 24th (Dominick Nelson)

Broadcast Information

TV: ESPN+ (Byron Anderson, Hekma Harrison)
Radio: Wolverine Sports Network (Jim McCulloch)
Stations: ESPN 960 AM / 103.9 FM (Utah County), 98.3 FM / 101.5 HD2 (Salt Lake City)

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