Holcombe scored a game-high 25 points in the win while throwing in five assists and four steals in what has been become a fairly typical effort, although UVU Head Coach Todd Phillips made light of the 6-foot-7 forward only hauling in three rebounds.

“He can be successful in a lot of ways. Sometimes he has 15 rebounds for us…and he’s killing it on the glass, but we’ll joke with him tomorrow that he only had three tonight,” Phillips said. “We’ll joke that when he doesn’t score he rebounds harder, but yeah, he can get to the basket. He can hit a 3-pointer, which is huge, and he’s a great passer…So he really does a lot of stuff for us that really makes the offense flow and move.”

Holcombe’s season stats speak for themselves. The Charleston, South Carolina native averages 16.2 points per game, 7.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists while also contributing 32 steals and 21 blocked shots through UVU’s 14 games played so far this season. Holcombe eventually moved to Utah and played for Timpanogos before joining the Wolverine program prior to the 2023-24 season.

On Monday, Holcombe utilized his unique style of play effectively throughout. On the offensive end he was alternately tasked to play on the perimeter or post up down low, while on the other side of the floor he did much the same and was assigned late to defend CBU’s big men inside, all of whom enjoyed a considerable size advantage.

And Holcombe responded well to all of it.

“He’s embraced who he is,” Phillips said. “He’s not going to shoot 10 3s in a game. He’s going to drive and score. He can make plays in transition. He can bully you to the basket. He’s just embraced who he is. … I’m really proud and happy for him. He’s a leader of our team, and he leads by action.”

“It’s just something I’ve been working on playing basketball my whole life,” Holcombe added. “…When I first got to college it was something I had to adjust to because there’s a lot bigger dudes here than in high school, and there’s a lot different angles to get your shot off. But you just have to learn how to play through contact.”

Holcombe has received a lot of good help this season, too, and in Monday’s win it was much of the same. Trevan Leonhardt contributed 14 points and eight assists while Isaac Hawkins added nine points off the bench. The biggest contribution from everyone came on the defensive end, however, and particularly during the game’s final six minutes of play.

Locked in a neck-and-neck battle for most of the game, Cal Baptist cut the lead to just 64-62 with 5:57 remaining. The Lancers got stuck on that score total for the following five and a half minutes as UVU locked down considerably to build its lead to 71-62 with just under a minute remaining.

“Our emphasize is always to defend,” Holcombe said. “Defense always travels in this conference. We thought our first half defense was not great…But we believe we guard one guy with five guys…So it was a team effort slowing (them) down.”

A big key was putting the clamps down on Cal Baptist’s top scorers, Dominique Daniels and Martel Williams.

“I thought our game plan tonight was really spot on, and coach did a good job of having our guys ready to go,” Phillips said.

With the win Utah Valley improves to 11-3 on the season and will next travel to take on Tarleton State and Abilene Christian.

“Now (we) have to take on two tough teams. Tarleton is playing great and Abilene is playing great,” Phillips said. “Now we have to go steal one of those two…We like where we’re at, but these next two are huge.”