MBB: Wolverines, Lopes for a Trip to the Big Dance
The two best teams in the WAC all season take center stage Saturday night at Orleans Arena for a trip to the NCAA Tournament
Two teams have stood apart in the Western Athletic Conference in 2025.
One team was picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches’ poll. The other was a unanimous pick by nearly every media outlet to win the WAC.
Utah Valley took the WAC by storm in the regular season, finishing 15-1, and winning an outright title for the third time since joining the WAC in 2013-14.
GCU, the odds-on favorite to win the regular season crown and the tournament title, hasn’t had quite the season the Lopes faithful envisioned.
But, with all that being said, here we are.
The rubber match between the Wolverines and the Lopes with the stakes much higher than a regular season title.
For the first time in program history, Utah Valley will play in the WAC Tournament Championship Game.
The Wolverines have made it as far as the semifinals before stumbling, most notably in 2023 in the epic meltdown after the under-16 media timeout.
GCU is playing in its third straight WAC title game, the fourth in the last five years.
The two best teams in the WAC all season long, going head-to-head for the right to play in the NCAA Tournament.
This is what we love to see.
Let’s look at both teams.
Utah Valley - 25-7 overall, 15-1 WAC
Coaches around the WAC picked the Wolverines to finish fifth in the preseason poll.
Some question marks were coming into 2024-25.
Who would replace Drake Allen, who left for Utah State? How would the Wolverines replace Trevin Dorius’ size?
Caleb Stone-Carrawell left, too.
But, Todd Phillips got a steal in the transfer portal, bringing the Welling brothers back to their home state.
And Carter Welling has been a gem for the Wolverines. Welling was named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year with his 57 blocks and 20 steals.
His brother Hayden has been a key role player off the bench, too.
Phillips also brought in Dominick Nelson who was named the WAC Player of the Year, along with super quick Kylin Green.
Along with these transfers, Phillips also had Trevan Leonhardt, Tanner Toolson, Osiris Grady, and Ethan Potter returning, as well as redshirt freshman Jackson Holcombe.
Utah Valley started the season 5-6 with some bad losses to Samford and North Dakota State at the Samford Thanksgiving Invitational.
However, something clicked in December following a 70-66 loss at Jacksonville State.
The Wolverines got road wins at Idaho State and Weber State that began a two-and-a-half month run that has been rather impressive.
Utah Valley is 20-1 in its last 21 games. The lone loss came on Feb. 1 at GCU.
The Wolverines swept the season series against every team in the WAC, except GCU.
As part of that run, Utah Valley also snapped a 3-game losing streak at Orleans Arena with a quarterfinal win over Utah Tech on Wednesday.
In two tournament games thus far, Utah Valley has won by 17 and 13. Utah Valley is averaging 71 points per game in the 2025 WAC Tournament.
Tanner Toolson is averaging 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the two tourney games. Carter Welling is averaging 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.
But, Utah Valley’s chances of advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history may come down to WAC Player of the Year Dom Nelson.
Nelson hasn’t looked good in either game this week, averaging 5.0 points and 2.5 rebounds while committing a combined seven turnovers.
If Nelson can get going, the Wolverines will have a chance to dance.
Keep an eye on it as you know the WAC Player of the Year will be the focal point of the GCU defensive game plan.
GCU - 25-7, 13-3 WAC
When Tyon Grant-Foster decided to come back to GCU in the Summer after testing the NBA Draft waters, many around the country thought the Lopes were a top-25 team heading into 2024-25.
Why wouldn’t anyone think that?
Bryce Drew was returning four starters from a 30-win team that won a game in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Along with Grant-Foster, Ray Harrison, Duke Brennan, Collin Moore, and Lök Wur all returned.
Caleb Shaw was back for another run with the Lopes.
And GCU went out and got UT Arlington point guard Makaih Williams and TCU transfer JaKobe Coles to add to an already loaded roster.
Grant-Foster had to miss the first three games, returning ahead of the rivalry game against Arizona State. GCU went on to lose to their crosstown rivals at Footprint Center.
One week later, the Lopes suffered a rare home loss to Big West foe UC Davis.
All talk of being a top-25 team were gone.
The Lopes then reeled off four straight wins before losing back-to-back games against Georgia and at Lousiana Tech. GCU followed up those losses with a 5-game winning streak before heading to Orem, Utah to take on Utah Valley.
The start in Orem was ugly, the comeback run was impressive, but in the end, the Lopes couldn’t get over the hump and fell a game behind in the WAC standings.
GCU got revenge on Feb. 1 at Global Credit Union Arena, making Utah Valley look like a high school team in an 18-point win.
But the Lopes followed that up with a road loss at CBU.
Six straight wins followed and the Lopes were still in the mix for the regular season title and 1-seed.
The problem was that Utah Valley kept winning, as well.
On the final day of the regular season, GCU stumbled at ACU to lock up the 2-seed for the WAC Tournament.
Sure, winning a regular season title was a goal for GCU.
However, the ultimate goal is to win the WAC Tournament since, in the eyes of most people, going to the NCAA Tournament is a bigger deal than the regular season title.
The Lopes are at home at Orleans Arena. GCU is 8-0 in their last eight games, they have never lost to a current member of the WAC, and the only time they get beat is if they have to face New Mexico State. And it’s a certainty that the Aggies are not taking the floor at Orleans Arena on Saturday night
The X-factor for GCU is 2023-24 WAC Player of the Year and WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Tyon Grant-Foster.
Grant-Foster said that he felt the most comfortable he has felt since coming back from a lower-body injury in the last five minutes of the win over CBU on Friday night.
It should be a fun one on ESPN2 to decide who will go dancing.