LAS VEGAS—Top-seeded Utah Valley will begin play at the 2026 Air Force Reserve Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament this week at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Wolverines will face the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal matchup between No. 4 UT Arlington and No. 5 Southern Utah in Friday night's semifinal round.
Tipoff for Friday's semifinal is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and broadcast on the Wolverine Sports Network on ESPN The Fan with Jim McCulloch and Josh Kallunki on the call courtside and Brice Larson hosting the pregame, halftime and postgame coverage live from Orleans Arena.
Utah Valley enters the tournament with a 24-7 overall record after clinching the outright Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship with a 104-101 double overtime road win at Utah Tech in the regular-season finale. The Wolverines finished 14-4 in WAC play and secured the No. 1 seed and a bye directly into the semifinal round.
The Wolverines have won six straight games entering the tournament and are seeking their first WAC Tournament title in program history. Utah Valley reached the WAC Tournament championship game for the first time last season before falling to Grand Canyon.
Utah Valley is led by redshirt sophomore forward Jackson Holcombe, who averages a team-best 15.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while also leading the team with 71 steals and eight double-doubles. Redshirt junior guard Trevan Leonhardt adds 12.3 points, 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds per contest and is the only player in the nation averaging at least 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals per game this season.
The Wolverines also feature a balanced offensive attack that includes Tyler Hendricks (11.8 ppg) and Isaac Davis (11.2 ppg). Utah Valley ranks among the national leaders in several statistical categories, including assists per game (18.9), steals per game (9.6), blocks per game (5.6), and field-goal percentage (50.5).
Thursday's quarterfinal between UT Arlington and Southern Utah will determine Utah Valley's opponent in Friday's semifinal. UT Arlington enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed after finishing 17-13 overall and 9-9 in WAC play, while Southern Utah is the No. 5 seed with a 10-21 overall record and a 6-12 mark in league play.
With a win on Friday night, Utah Valley would advance to Saturday's WAC Tournament championship game, where the Wolverines would look to secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
