WAC picture stays murky as race begins Saturday

The mission for Grand Canyon has been clear from the start of summer workouts: repeat as WAC champions and capture the WAC Tournament title to dance big for the fourth time in five years.

The challengers to that quest remain unclear.

Heading into the start of conference play Saturday, GCU has maintained its preseason status as the WAC favorite. A certain threat did not emerge from conference play, with Kenpom.com metrics ranking the WAC 14th among 31 Division I conferences.

Despite the Lopes going 10-4, this was the first time that the WAC accumulated a sub-.500 nonconference record (62-67) since 2019-20. WAC teams have defended their courts well, going 42-14 in home games as they head into 16-game conference slates.

Here is an overview of GCU's conference foes, sorted by record:

Southern Utah (8-6)

The Thunderbirds, picked last by coaches in the WAC preseason poll, are showing improvement in their second season under head coach Rob Jeter, whose debut team in Cedar City, Utah, went 10-21 after he spent 14 years as a head coach at Milwaukee and Western Illinois.

Southern Utah is running with success, averaging a conference-best 13.9 fastbreak points per game (17th nationally).

Senior 6-foot-5 guard Jamir Siimpson, a transfer from Division II Wisconsin Parkside, is averaging 16.8 points per game while 6-foot-8 sophomore power forward Brock Felder contributed 1.9 blocks per game (in 20.3 minutes per game) to the team's 4.7 average. Returning starter Dominique Ford, a 6-5 guard, has averaged 15.4 points in his Southern Utah career.

Utah Valley (8-6)

The Wolverines are emerging as the WAC's best rebounding team, outworking opponents by 6.6 boards per game after their current three-game winning streak.

Utah Valley second-year head coach Todd Phillips boasts four double-digit scorers, WAC assists leader Trevan Leonhardt (5.1 per game) and WAC blocks leader Carter Welling (2.2 per game).

Leonhardt, a sophomore, is a first-time starter while Welling, also a sophomore, transferred from UC Irvine and is a 6-foot-11 power forward who is averaging 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Abilene Christian (8-7)

The Wildcats are enjoying a major uptick in play from Italian 6-foot-8 forward Leonardo Bettiol, who is averaging 15.9 points while leading the WAC with 61% shooting from the field.

Under fourth-year head coach Brette Tanner, Abilene Christian ranks 12th nationally for opponent turnovers per game (16.7) and 20th for steals per game (10.0) with an unsettled starting lineup. The Wildcats make the seventh-least amount of 3-pointers per game (4.9) in the nation.

Quion Williams, a 6-foot-5 guard who started for Oklahoma State last season, gives the Wildcats a second scoring threat at 14.4 points per game on 50% shooting.

California Baptist (7-7)

The Lancers have lost four of their last six games to fall to .500 but showed top-tier ability in an 81-75 road loss to then-No. 23 San Diego State on Dec. 11.

California Baptist is proving to be disciplined with the least fouls per game (16.8) and least turnovers per game (10.8) in the WAC. The Lancers also have a conference-best free throw percentage at 78.6 but are allowing 75.6 points per game.

Dominique Daniels Jr., a CBU 5-foot-10 guard, ranks sixth nationally with 22.1 points per game on 38.7% shooting, taking more than twice as many shots as any teammate. Kendal Coleman, a 6-foot-8 forward, moved into a starting role this season for 12th-year Lancers head coach Rick Croy and is delivering 12.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

UT Arlington (7-7)

The Mavericks return two players from the team that GCU beat for last season's WAC Tournament championship. After a 20-14 debut season, UT Arlington head coach KT Turner brought in 11 transfers and has formed kenpom.com's top-rated WAC offense.

The Mavericks are doing it at a high tempo with four double-digit scorers, the WAC's top scoring bench (28.2 points per game) and the WAC's lowest opponent field goal percentage (41.5%).

Villanova transfer Lance Ware, a 6-foot-10 graduate center who also played three years at Kentucky, posted his first three career double-doubles in the past three games. He is averaging 15.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game after missing the first five games of the season.

Seattle U (5-9)

The Redhawks got off to a slow start in pursuit of recording four consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history. But they made a statement Dec. 23 by winning 79-70 at Washington with emerging star Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe recording 23 points and 16 rebounds.

Moncrieffe, who played two seasons apiece at Oklahoma State and Georgia, is a 6-foot-8 power forward who plays well alongside familiar Seattle U names Paris Dawson, John Christofolis and Kobe Williamson. The Washington game marked Williamson's first appearance of the season, but Seattle U has still averaged 27.2 bench points per game.

Fourth-year head coach Chris Victor (71-44 at Seattle U) has Moncrieffe leading the WAC with 10.7 rebounds per game and increasing his scoring from 1.1 points per game at Georgia to 14.5 points per game this season.

Tarleton State (5-10)

Tarleton State is the conference's biggest enigma at 5-10 against the nation's 28th-strongest schedule.

Freddy Hicks, who returned to Tarleton State after playing a year at Arkansas State, is a Preseason All-WAC pick who has not played this season. The Texans were playing as few as five scholarship players in November, when head coach Billy Gillispie returned to the bench after not coaching games because of health reasons when Tarleton State went 25-10 last season.

Transfers Marty Silvera (Southern Connecticut State) and Dantwan Grimes (Baylor) debuted in the last four games and combined for 15 points per game. Freshman 6-foot-8 forward Keitenn Bristow played his first college games in December and has averaged 14.5 points for the Texans.

Returning guard Bubu Benjamin is the No. 2 WAC scorer at 17.1 points per game with 46% 3-point shooting despite the Tarleton State's conference-low 64.7 points per game. The conference's best 3-point shooting team (37.2%) averages a national-low 12.5 3-point attempts per game.

Utah Tech (4-11)

With two returning starters and 10 newcomers, Utah Tech is only making 11.7 turnovers per game but shooting a WAC-worst 41.7% from the field. The Trailblazers take 24 shots per game from 3-point range but only make 30.3% beyond the arc.

Head coach Jon Judkins, the winningest coach in Utah college basketball history (619-342), has guided his teams to a 50-81 record since the Trailblazers joined Division I.

Guards Beon Riley (14.9 points per game) and Noa Gonzalves (13.7) are Utah Tech's returning starters, and each scored more than 20 points in a 92-87 win against South Dakota on Dec. 19.

Grand Canyon University Athletics