UVU Roundup: Men’s basketball gets big win at UT Arlington
Courtesy UVU Athletics
Utah Valley's Jackson Holcombe scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Wolverines to a 66-55 win at UT Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.ARLINGTON, Texas — Jackson Holcombe recorded a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double and Trevan Leonhardt added 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah Valley to a 66-55 road win over UT Arlington on Saturday afternoon at College Park Center.
Utah Valley improves to 20-7 overall and remains alone in first place in the WAC with a 10-4 league record. UT Arlington falls to 15-12 overall and 7-8 in conference play. The Wolverines now hold a one-game lead over California Baptist atop the WAC standings.
“Just a gutty performance from our guys,” said Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips. “Short turnaround, some guys were banged up from the last game, and we just taped them up and went out and played. It was a man’s game down low and I thought we wore them down with our physicality inside.”
UTA maintained a five-point lead early in the second half and held a 38-33 advantage with 15:28 remaining. Holcombe then scored to ignite a 9-0 Utah Valley run, giving the Wolverines a 42-38 lead with 13:07 to play. Utah Valley maintained control from there, leading 52-48 with 6:30 remaining before scoring six straight points to push the lead to 58-48 with just over four minutes left. The Wolverines closed out the game by outscoring the Mavericks 8-7 down the stretch to secure the 66-55 win.
Holcombe finished with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting, adding 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals for his eighth double-double of the season.
Leonhardt scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his double-double, while Isaac Davis added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting with five rebounds. Hawkins chipped in nine points and six rebounds off the bench.
Utah Valley shot 40 percent (26-of-65) from the field and finished just 1-of-14 (7.1 percent) from three-point range — its lowest three-point percentage of the season. UT Arlington shot 34 percent (17-of-50) overall and 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
Despite the struggles from outside, the Wolverines dominated the glass, outrebounding the Mavericks 47-33 and holding a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint. Utah Valley pulled down 23 offensive rebounds — the second-most in a single game in program history — which proved to be a major factor in the win.
“We didn’t shoot it very well, but we had 23 offensive rebounds, which was huge for us,” Phillips said. “Our defense carried us again. We got stops, kept the score low, and just sat down and guarded.”
Utah Valley also forced 17 UT Arlington turnovers while committing just 12 of its own.
“It was just a grimy, tough game,” Phillips said. “They take things away and make you work for everything, and it turned into a battle on the boards.”
Utah Valley returns home to Orem for a pair of games next week, hosting Tarleton State on Thursday and Abilene Christian on Saturday. Thursday’s game is set for a 6 p.m. tip at the UCCU Center. Tickets are available at GoUVU.com/Tickets.
No. 5 Nebraska gets wrestling victory at UVU
A program-record 5,541 fans watched Utah Valley face national power Nebraska on Saturday night at the UCCU Center. The fifth-ranked Cornhuskers won eight of 10 matches to claim a 32-6 victory in the final dual of the regular season for both teams.
The Wolverines (5-8) earned wins from Caleb Uhlenhopp and No. 7 David Evans.
“I’m proud of the fight that our guys displayed against the number five team in the country,” said head coach Adam Hall. “We were in tight matches with several of their returning All-Americans. Kael Bennie was significantly closer this year in a rematch from last year and David Evans got another ranked win at home. Even though we were outclassed in a few weight classes, our future is bright. I’m grateful for the fans who showed out tonight to set a new attendance record. We will spend the next two weeks dialing in to be at our best for the Big 12 Championships.”
Uhlenhopp faced Tyler Eise in the 184-pound match. The bout was tied 1-1 with under a minute remaining when Eise nearly got behind Uhlenhopp. Uhlenhopp rolled through the attempt and secured the decisive takedown with 44 seconds left in the match, riding out Eise for a 4-1 decision.
Evans provided late-match drama for the Wolverines, breaking a 5-5 tie against No. 19 Chance Lamer with a takedown with nine seconds remaining. Lamer scored the first takedown and led 3-1 after one period. Evans trailed 4-1 before tying the match late in the second with a blast double, but Lamer escaped to regain the lead. Evans nearly scored on a head throw in the third but got an escape to tie the match 5-5 with 1:32 remaining. He secured the winning takedown in the final seconds for an 8-5 decision.
Utah Valley will next compete at the Big 12 Championships on March 6-7 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Furnell, Team Horn 11th in four-man bobsled at Cortina
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Utah Valley track and field alum Caleb Furnell finished his first Winter Olympics with an 11th-place finish in the four-man bobsled as the 25th Winter Olympiad came to a close on Sunday in Italy.
Furnell and Team Horn entered the day in ninth after Saturday’s opening heats, but dropped down to 11th after the third heat early on Sunday morning. The Americans stood pat in that position to finish as the top North American sled, edging out their countrymen in Team del Duca who finished 12th and the two Canadian crews that took 14th and 20th.
Team Horn finished with an overall time of 3:39.94. Germany took gold and silver with times of 3:37.57 and 3:38.14, followed by the Swiss at 3:38.64 for bronze.
Furnell is now the fourth former Wolverine to compete at the Olympics, all of whom participated in bobsled or skeleton. Furnell joins his coach with USA Bobsled, Chris Fogt, as well as Noelle Pikus Pace and Akwasi Frimpong.
Women’s basketball comes back to rout UT Arlington
Utah Valley rallied from a halftime deficit to earn a 77-60 win over UT Arlington on Saturday afternoon inside the UCCU Center.
The Wolverines were led by Halle Nelson, who recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds while adding a career-high eight assists, finishing just two shy of UVU’s first triple-double since Julie Smith in 2009.
UVU forced UT Arlington (10-17, 4-11 WAC) into 27 turnovers and converted them into 24 points while adding 17 fast-break points and recording 17 steals in the victory. Amanda Barcello scored a game-high 25 points on 6-of-10 shooting from three-point range and collected five steals. Cambree Blackham added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Kylee Mabry chipped in eight points and three steals.
“I loved our response in the second half after a sluggish start,” said UVU head coach Dan Nielson. “I thought our pressure turned into points, which made the difference in the second half. Halle was fantastic tonight, contributing in every area of the game, and Amanda’s shooting was a difference maker. It was a great week for us, and now we need to keep the momentum heading to Texas next week.”
Utah Valley seized control in the third quarter. The Wolverines opened the half with baskets from Blackham, Barcello and Nelson before Mabry knocked down a three-pointer to give UVU a 42-39 lead. Utah Valley then used a decisive 19-2 run — highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Barcello — to build a 50-39 advantage with 3:10 remaining. Nelson capped the surge with a fast-break layup, and the Wolverines outscored UT Arlington 27-7 in the quarter to take a 58-42 lead into the fourth.
Utah Valley (13-12 overall, 6-8 WAC) travels to Texas next week for two road games, beginning with its only visit to Tarleton State on Thursday, Feb. 26, before closing the trip at Abilene Christian on Saturday, Feb. 28.
Softball finishes strong weekend at Rebel Classic
LAS VEGAS — Lily Riley struck out a career-high nine batters to lead Utah Valley in a 9-0 run-rule victory over the Merrimack Warriors on Saturday as the Wolverines (9-6) wrapped up a 4-1 weekend at the Rebel Classic in Las Vegas.
Utah Valley dropped its lone contest of the weekend earlier in the morning to Valparaiso, 10-7, as the Beacons used some of the Wolverines’ own medicine by scoring in every inning.
The win over the Warriors secures Utah Valley’s best 15-game start to a season since 2020, when the Wolverines went 11-4, and is the third-best overall in the program’s full-status D-I era (since 2010).
Utah Valley posted just its third four-win weekend at a non-conference tournament in the WAC era (since 2014), and the second in the last three seasons. The other two came in 2024 at Fresno State (4-1) and in 2020 at UNLV (5-1).
