OREM—Utah Valley men's basketball opens its 2026-27 campaign on Saturday night as the Wolverines travel to St. George to take on in-state rival Utah Tech in an Old Hammer Rivalry exhibition game at Burns Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MT.
The exhibition marks the first opportunity for Utah Valley to take the floor as the Wolverines prepare for their inaugural season in The Big West Conference. UVU enters the new campaign following back-to-back outright Western Athletic Conference regular-season championships, consecutive 25-win seasons and two straight appearances in the National Invitation Tournament.
Utah Valley is coming off a 25-9 season that included a 14-4 WAC record, the program's fifth conference regular-season championship and a second consecutive appearance in the WAC Tournament championship game. The Wolverines finished the season ranked No. 17 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll and posted a 15-1 record at the UCCU Center.
Head coach Todd Phillips enters his fourth season at the helm with a 66-34 overall record and a .660 winning percentage, the best among UVU head coaches during the program's Division I era. Phillips, the 2025 WAC Coach of the Year, recently signed a contract extension that will keep him at Utah Valley through the 2029-30 season.
The Wolverines return six letterwinners from last season's championship squad, led by junior forward Isaac Davis (10.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg), who started all 34 games and shot 62.3 percent from the field. Senior forward Isaac Hawkins (7.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.5 bpg) also returns after leading the team with 50 blocked shots while shooting 66.2 percent from the field.
Junior guard Braden Housley (5.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.7 apg) returns after making 19 starts last season, while senior guard Sherman Weatherspoon IV (5.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg) provides a perimeter threat after connecting on 38.0 percent of his three-point attempts. Tyler Weaver (2.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and Tyler Medaris (1.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg) also return, along with AJ Dixon and Jaxson Roberts, who redshirted last season.
Highlighting Utah Valley's newcomers is the return of former WAC Player of the Year Dominick Nelson, who rejoins the Wolverines after spending the 2025-26 season at Iowa State, where he helped the Cyclones reach the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Nelson averaged 14.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during the 2024-25 season at UVU, earning WAC Player of the Year and First Team All-WAC honors while leading the Wolverines to an outright conference championship.
UVU also welcomes Utah State transfer Jordy Barnes, Utah Tech transfer Tanner Davis, and Barton Community College transfer Sebastian Muchitsch. Tanner Davis earned WAC All-Freshman Team honors last season after averaging 7.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game for the Trailblazers. Muchitsch averaged 12.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game at Barton, while Barnes brings two seasons of experience at Utah State. Senior guard Modestas Babraitis joins the program after competing professionally in Lithuania, while Deng Deng, Omar Mowafak and Jovan Nekic enter their first collegiate seasons.
Utah Valley was picked to finish fifth in the 2026-27 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 85 points, just one behind fourth-place CSUN. UC Irvine was selected as the preseason favorite, followed by UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. The Wolverines begin the season ranked No. 113 nationally in the preseason KenPom ratings, the fourth-highest ranking among Big West programs.
The Wolverines will look to carry over the success of a record-setting 2025-26 campaign in which they established school records for scoring average (80.1 points per game), field goal percentage (50.1 percent) and total assists (630). UVU ranked sixth nationally in steals per game (9.4), seventh in assists per game (18.5), ninth in blocks per game (5.4) and 11th in field goal percentage.
Utah Tech also enters a new conference era after making the move from the WAC to the Big Sky Conference. The Trailblazers were picked seventh in both the Big Sky Preseason Coaches' and Media Polls and are led by longtime head coach Jon Judkins.
The Trailblazers return fifth-year senior forward Ethan Potter, a former Utah Valley player who earned First Team All-WAC honors last season. Potter averaged 16.8 points and a conference-leading 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 59.8 percent from the field. He also earned a spot on the 2026-27 Preseason All-Big Sky Team.
Saturday's game will also mark a return to St. George for Tanner Davis, who spent his freshman season at Utah Tech before transferring to Utah Valley during the offseason.
Utah Valley and Utah Tech share a rivalry dating back to the 1972-73 season, when both programs competed at the junior college level. The Wolverines hold a 10-4 advantage in the Division I series and have won eight of the last 10 meetings. The teams last met on March 7, 2026, when Utah Valley claimed a thrilling 104-101 double-overtime victory at Burns Arena to clinch its second straight outright WAC regular-season championship. Sherman Weatherspoon IV scored a career-high 27 points in that contest, connecting on 6-of-7 three-pointers. Saturday's exhibition will not count toward the official series record.
The game will be broadcast live on the Wolverine Sports Network/ESPN The Fan (103.9 FM/98.3 FM/960 AM), with Brice Larson making his debut as the radio play-by-play voice of Utah Valley men's basketball. The broadcast will also be available online at ESPNTheFan.com. There will be no television or video stream of the exhibition.
Utah Valley will officially open its 2026-27 regular season on Monday, Nov. 2, against Western Colorado at the UCCU Center in Orem. The Wolverines will then travel to Weber State on Nov. 7 and Nevada on Nov. 14 before competing in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, Nov. 20-23, in St. Thomas. UVU will make its Big West debut Dec. 3 at Long Beach State before hosting Sacramento State in its conference home opener Dec. 5.
