The Wolverines now turn to the WAC tournament, entering play as the No. 1 seed and will tip-off versus the winner of UT Arlington vs. Southern Utah at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Friday.

Phillips ran his team through an intense practice session on Tuesday just prior to leaving for Las Vegas, expecting things to be ironed out regarding the exit-fee payment issue that has arisen yet again in recent days. The WAC Conference issued a statement earlier in the week threatening to bar the Wolverines from tournament play with Utah Valley officials responding to the legal issue earlier on Thursday.

None of what is going on behind the scenes is typical, or even easy to understand, although Phillips is sticking with what he’s come to understand very well over his coaching career, and that’s producing a winning product on the hardwood.

Despite losing its three top players to the transfer portal after last season, Utah Valley again rose to the top of the WAC Conference standings, producing a 24-7 overall record and 14-4 mark in conference play. All involved have accomplished as much by understanding the challenges, focusing on the task at hand, and then rising to the occasion.

“We’re in a good spot and we’re focused knowing trusting that things will work out. We can only control what we can control, and I think we’ve all done a good job understanding that,” Phillips said following Tuesday’s practice. “We’ve had a lot of guys step up and play really well, and even some guys who haven’t played much to close out the season. We got two wins on the road to close out the regular season, which I think is huge for us momentum-wise, and we’re in a good spot entering the tournament.”

Utah Valley proved dominant at home this season, not losing a single game at the UCCU Center, but after securing wins over both Southern Utah and Utah Tech on the road this past weekend, Phillips’ team appears to be in top form no matter where they play. Both games proved to be high-scoring, with the Wolverines proving apt to adjust to the pace in producing 92 and 104 points in each respective game. Sure, yielding 88 and then 101 points isn’t ideal, but according to Phillips, it shows how well his team can adjust its style of play.

“We have some teams in our league who really guard and then others who get up and down,” Phillips said. “So I think we’ve shown that we can morph into becoming a team that handle whatever opposing teams throw at us. So you always want your defense to be better at times, and then for your offense to be better in those low-scoring games, but overall I feel our players know how to rise the occasion and it’s a strength that we can win games playing different styles.”

One player whose style has been in top form all season is Jackson Holcombe, who enters tournament play as the Wolverine’s leading scorer averaging 15.6 points per game and top rebounded (7.3 rpg.)  The former Timpanogos standout has paced UVU all season long with his versatile offensive game that can punish an opposing defense from both the perimeter and inside the paint.

“We’re focused and we want to hold that championship trophy at the end of it all,” Holcombe said. “We pride ourselves on getting better every day. We never looked at this year as a rebuilding year, but that we were reloading after losing some great players. We know we still have great players here and I think we’ve shown that we’re a great group of talented guys.”

Phillips has been at the helm of all of it, and it’s a process he’s become used to overcoming different challenges throughout his coaching career.

“The key is having a strong core, and guys like Jackson Holcombe and Trevan Leonhardt have been here and they’ve both taken leadership roles and helped maintain the culture we have here,” Phillips said. “But adjusting to having new players and reloading is something I’ve grown used to doing over my career. I’d like to take credit, but it’s about the players and we have really talented players here who have embraced our culture.”

As the No. 1 seed entering the tournament, Utah Valley will begin play in the semifinal round versus the winner of Southern Utah vs. UT Arlington at 7 p.m. MST with the winner advancing the WAC championship game which will be held on Saturday at 10 p.m. MST.