2024-25 WAC Men's Basketball Release - Week 15

UTAH VALLEY TAKES OVER SOLO WAC LEAD
Utah Valley capitalized on a successful homestand by sweeping the conference competition to claim sole possession of the WAC standings lead. The Wolverines downed UT Arlington 94-73 on Feb. 6 and Tarleton State 81-56 on Feb. 8 to improve to 9-1 in league play this season. Dating back to Dec. 18, Utah Valley has won 12 of 13 games overall, which featured a 10-game winning streak from the 18th until Feb. 1. The Wolverines have climbed into the top 125 teams in the Division I NET on the strength of the run of form.

CBU SCORES IMPRESSIVE HOME VICTORY OVER GCU
California Baptist picked up its most impressive win of the season on Feb. 8, knocking off defending conference champion Grand Canyon 85-71 in Riverside. CBU limited GCU to 41.9 percent shooting in the contest and forced 22 turnovers from the Lopes, converting takeaways directly into 27 points. Tylen Riley erupted as a reserve for CBU with a game-high 25 points that included 13-of-16 made free throws to ice the victory. The defeat dropped GCU one and a half games behind Utah Valley for the top spot in the WAC standings.

RED-HOT MALDONADO WINS WAC POTW
Seattle U guard Brayden Maldonado earned WAC Player and Newcomer of the Week for the first time following a fantastic weekend for the Redhawks that featured two conference wins at home. Maldonado averaged 22.0 points, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game, shooting an impressive 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from 3-point range during the week. Maldonado hit six 3-pointers and dished out six assists in a rout of Tarleton State on Feb. 6 before scoring a career-high 26 points while shooting 7-of-10 from beyond the arc in a last-second win over UT Arlington on Feb. 8.

MADDEN POWERS ACU TO A WEEKEND SWEEP
Abilene Christian enjoyed a successful weekend road trip to the state of Utah last weekend, downing Utah Tech 86-72 on Feb. 6 before traveling to Southern Utah and scoring an 84-70 win on Feb. 8. Hunter Jack Madden keyed the big week for ACU with a 20.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game average, adding in 2.5 steals per contest in the victories. Madden scored 18 points with four boards and three steals in the Utah Tech win before going for 22 points and two thefts at Southern Utah.

NATIONAL RANKINGS IN THE NCAA
Tarleton State was third in turnovers forced per game in NCAA Division I as of Feb. 10, forcing 16.8 turnovers per game. The Texans also checked in eighth in steals per game (9.8). Abilene Christian was third in steals per game (10.3) and fourth in turnovers forced (16.6), Utah Valley was fourth in blocks per game (5.9) and Grand Canyon ranked sixth in free throws made per game (19.4).