United Athletic Conference

 

In the latest WAC Resume Seeding System ranking update on Feb. 27, Utah Valley remained atop the race for the number one seed with a 22-7 overall record and a 13-3 showing in WAC play (6.29 points). Sam Houston remained a close second in the rankings at 22-6 overall and 12-4 in the WAC (6.12 points). Other teams with positive point values included Southern Utah (19-10; 11-5 WAC; 3.30 points), Seattle U (19-10; 10-6 WAC; 3.25 points), Stephen F. Austin (19-10; 11-5 WAC; 1.74 points) and Grand Canyon (18-11; 9-7 WAC; 1.51 points).

 

As of the NCAA NET rankings that were released on Feb. 27, Sam Houston remained the top team in the WAC with a net ranking of 62 with the 124th NET strength of schedule in the country (20th NET nonconference SOS). Utah Valley was the next WAC team in the rankings at 82, still significantly ahead of its initial rank of 200 in the season’s first release of the NET on Dec. 4. Utah Valley has five combined victories against teams in Quadrants 1 and 2 thus far this season.

 

As a conference the WAC was ranked 11th among the 33 Division I men’s basketball leagues in the NET as of Feb. 27, checking in as the number two rated mid-major conference behind only the West Coast Conference. WAC members have combined for a 51.9 percent winning percentage in countable nonconference matchups thus far this season.

 

Entering the final week of the 2022-23 regular season, the top two teams in the WAC standings also held a sizeable lead in the WAC Resume Seeding System. Utah Valley was one game in front of Sam Houston with a 13-3 record in conference play, holding a head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to an 80-64 win on Dec. 29. The Wolverines also posted 6.29 points to the 6.12 points earned by the Bearkats with two games remaining. Utah Valley is set to host UT Arlington on March 1 and Stephen F. Austin on March 3 needing just one win to secure the regular-season conference championship, with Sam Houston traveling to Stephen F. Austin on March 1 and hosting Abilene Chritian on March 3. 

 

Three WAC conference matchups during the past competitive week needed overtime before deciding a winner, beginning with Stephen F. Austin outlasting Abilene Christian 91-87 in double overtime on Feb. 22. UT Arlington and Utah Tech were headed toward a second extra period on Feb. 25 before a tip-in at the buzzer led host UTA to a 71-69 triumph in overtime. In a high-scoring affair on Feb. 25, UTRGV bested Tarleton 99-95 in El Paso in overtime.

 

In the second regular season linear national television game this season in the WAC, Stephen F. Austin tallied 48 points in the second half to defend home court with an 80-58 conference win over California Baptist on Feb. 26 on ESPNU. The Lumberjacks shot an impressive 53.4 percent from the floor in the victory, led by the 21 points and five assists of Nigel Hawkins. Sadaidriene Hall added 15 points to the SFA cause.

 

UTRGV became the first team in the WAC this season to feature two different 30-point scorers during the same conference week. Standout guard Justin Johnson got into the act first on Feb. 23, turning in his conference-high fifth 30-point performance of the year with an even 30 points in a hard-luck 88-81 defeat at the hands of Utah Tech. Just two days later against Tarleton on Feb. 25, Will Johnston registered a season-high 36 points for the Vaqueros in a 99-95 win in overtime against the Texans on Senior Night. UTRGV joined Seattle U (Riley Grigsby and Cameron Tyson) and Tarleton (Freddy Hicks and Lue Williams) as WAC squads with two separate 30-point scorers thus far in 2022-23.

 

Entering games on March 1, UTRGV’s Justin Johnson remained the only player in the WAC still averaging over 20 points per game with a clip of 20.9 points per contest over 29 starts. Johnson’s 605 total points scored and 180 made free throws also paced the conference statistics standings. Seattle U’s Cameron Tyson (18.4 points per game) and Southern Utah’s Tevian Jones (18.3 points per game) were the next players in line chasing Johnson for the full season.

 

In conference-only games, Grand Canyon’s Ray Harrison has set the WAC scoring pace with 20.3 points per game over 15 starts. UTRGV’s Johnson was right behind Harrison with a scoring average of 20.0 points. 

 

The 12-team field for the 2023 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament on March 7-11 in Las Vegas has been set. Abilene Christian, California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Sam Houston, Seattle U, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton, UT Arlington, UTRGV, Utah Tech and Utah Valley have each punched a ticket to the conference tournament. The WAC Resume Seeding System will determine the final seeding of all teams in advance of the tournament, as the top-four seeded teams on both the men’s and women’s side will earn a bye to the quarterfinal round at The Orleans Arena. First-round games will take place at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay.

 

In the latest NCAA DI national statistics rankings that were released on Feb. 28, Utah Valley remained first in the country with 6.4 blocks per game, second in defensive rebounds per game (29.66) and climbed to fifth in field goal percentage defense (.388). UTRGV dropped to second in free throw attempts (25.4 per game) and was in second place in NCAA DI in free throws made (17.8 per game). Sam Houston was second in scoring margin (15.1) and fourth in scoring defense (58.6). Stephen F. Austin ranked third in NCAA DI in turnovers forced per game (18.21) and 3-point percentage (.399). Southern Utah was third nationally in free throws made (17.6) and fourth in free throw attempts (24.1 per game). Abilene Christian checked in fifth in turnover margin per game (5.1). Individually, UTRGV’s Justin Johnson was second in free throw attempts (261) and fifth in free throws made (180). Utah Valley’s Aziz Bandaogo ranked third in total blocks (84) and fifth in blocks per game (2.90).