2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team

2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball
WAC regular season champions
NIT, Semifinals
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Record28–9 (15–3 WAC)
Head coach
Associate head coachTodd Phillips (4th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Todd Okeson (4th season)
  • Ken Moses (1st season)
Home arenaUCCU Center
(Capacity: 8,500)
Seasons
2022–23 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Utah Valley 15 – 3   .833 28 – 9   .757
Sam Houston 14 – 4   .778 26 – 8   .765
Southern Utah 12 – 6   .667 24 – 13   .649
Grand Canyon † 11 – 7   .611 24 – 12   .667
Seattle 11 – 7   .611 20 – 12   .625
Stephen F. Austin 11 – 7   .611 19 – 13   .594
Tarleton* 9 – 9   .500 17 – 17   .500
California Baptist 8 – 10   .444 17 – 16   .515
Abilene Christian 7 – 11   .389 13 – 17   .433
UT Rio Grande Valley 6 – 12   .333 15 – 17   .469
UT Arlington 6 – 12   .333 11 – 21   .344
Utah Tech* 5 – 13   .278 14 – 19   .424
New Mexico State** 2 – 16   .111 9 – 15   .375
* Ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
** Season cancelled on February 11, 2023.
† Conference tournament winner

The 2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team represented Utah Valley University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wolverines, led by fourth-year head coach Mark Madsen, played their home games at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah, and competed as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They finished with an overall record of 24–7, 15–3 in WAC play, to finish in first place. In the 2023 WAC tournament, they defeated Tarleton in the quarterfinals before losing to Southern Utah in the semifinals the following day. As the conference leader who didn't win their tournament, they were offered an automatic bid to play in the NIT. They defeated New Mexico, Colorado, and Cincinnati to reach the semifinal round (their first time advancing to semifinals), where they finally fell to UAB in overtime, 86–88. With a final record of 28–9, the 2022–23 season marked the Wolverine's most successful season to date as a D-I program.[1]

On March 29, 2023, head coach Mark Madsen announced that he would be departing Utah Valley to become the head coach at California.[2]

Previous season

Main article: 2021–22 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team

The Wolverines finished the 2021–22 season 20–12, 10–8 in Western Athletic Conference play to finish in seventh place. As the Number 7 seed in the WAC Tournament, they defeated number 10 seed Chicago State 69–47 in the first round.[3] In the second round, UVU lost to number 6 seed Abilene Christian 74–82.[4]

Offseason

Departures

Name Position Height Year Reason for departure
Fardaws Aimaq C 6'11" Junior Transfer to Texas Tech[5]
Connor Harding G 6'6" Senior Graduation
Trey Farrer F 6'9" Junior Transfer to Westminster[6]

Incoming transfers

Name Position Height Year Previous school
Tahj Small G 6'5" Senior Tarleton State[7]
Aziz Bandaogo C 7'0" Sophomore Akron[8]
Cam Alford G 6'1" Junior John A. Logan College[9]
Cache Fields G 6'6" Junior Gavilan College[8]

Roster

2022–23 Utah Valley Wolverines men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Justin Harmon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Curie HS
Barton CC 		Chicago, IL
G 1 Le'Tre Darthard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Denton Guyer HS
McCook CC 		Denton, TX
F 2 Tim Ceaser 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Marion HS
Coastal Carolina 		Marion, AR
G 3 Blaze Nield 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr BYU
USU-Eastern 		Lehi, UT
G 4 Trey Woodbury 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Clark HS
UNLV 		Las Vegas, NV
F/C 5 Tim Fuller 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Sr Highland HS
Weber State 		Gilbert, AZ
G 10 Cam Alford 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Brownsburg HS
John A. Logan College 		Indianapolis, IN
C 11 Tahj Small 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Word of God Academy
Tarleton 		Durham, NC
G 12 Raul Freire Del Tio (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr IES Virgen de Valme Seville, Spain
G 13 Jaden McClanahan 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Salesian HS
Independence CC 		Vallejo, CA
G 15 Cache Fields (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Pinewood HS
Gavilan College 		Palo Alto, CA
G 20 Trevan Leonhardt (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Davis HS Kaysville, UT
G 21 Brenden Crowther (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Alamosa HS Alamosa, CO
G 22 Jordan Battle 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Hargrave Military Academy Chesapeake, VA
F 34 Joao Das Chagas 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr NBA Academy Niquelândia, Brazil
F 35 Ethan Potter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Layton HS Layton, UT
C 55 Aziz Bandaogo 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So NBA Academy Africa
Akron 		Dakar, Senegal
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 4, 2022

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 7, 2022*
7:00 pm, MW Network 		at Utah State L 58–75  0–1
 Smith Spectrum (7,430)
Logan, UT
Nov 9, 2022*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Western Colorado W 91–64  1–1
 UCCU Center (1,449)
Orem, UT
Nov 12, 2022*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Northern Arizona
Native American Heritage Game 		W 73–69  2–1
 UCCU Center (2,034)
Orem, UT
Nov 15, 2022*
5:00 pm, ACCN 		at Wake Forest
Jamaica Classic campus site game 		L 65–68 OT 2–2
 LJVM Coliseum (5,694)
Winston-Salem, NC
Nov 18, 2022*
5:00 pm, HBCUgo 		vs. Morgan State
Jamaica Classic 		L 72–73 OT 2–3
 Montego Bay Convention Centre (5,307)
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Nov 20, 2022*
5:30 pm, HBCUgo 		vs. Green Bay
Jamaica Classic 		W 79–56  3–3
 Montego Bay Convention Centre (5,128)
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Nov 26, 2022*
2:00 pm, MW Network 		at Boise State L 69–87  3–4
 ExtraMile Arena (8,544)
Boise, ID
Dec 3, 2022*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Long Beach State W 88–78  4–4
 UCCU Center (1,389)
Orem, UT
Dec 7, 2022*
7:00 pm, BYUtv 		at BYU
UCCU Crosstown Clash 		W 75–60  5–4
 Marriott Center (13,925)
Provo, UT
Dec 10, 2022*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Northern Arizona W 80–75 OT 6–4
 Walkup Skydome (676)
Flagstaff, AZ
Dec 13, 2022*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		SAGU American Indian College W 100–54  7–4
 UCCU Center (1,427)
Orem, UT
Dec 16, 2022*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Antelope Valley W 80–54  8–4
 UCCU Center (1,141)
Orem, UT
Dec 20, 2022*
8:30 pm, P12N 		at Oregon W 77–72  9–4
 Matthew Knight Arena (5,064)
Eugene, OR
WAC regular season
Dec 29, 2022
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Sam Houston W 80–64  10–4
(1–0) 		UCCU Center (1,911)
Orem, UT
Dec 31, 2022
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Utah Tech
Old Hammer Rivalry 		W 71–60  11–4
(2–0) 		UCCU Center (2,463)
Orem, UT
Jan 5, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at UT Arlington W 72–64  12–4
(3–0) 		College Park Center (1,017)
Arlington, TX
Jan 7, 2023
5:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at UTRGV W 75–61  13–4
(4–0) 		UTRGV Fieldhouse (517)
Edinburg, TX
Jan 11, 2023
8:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Cal Baptist W 71–67  14–4
(5–0) 		CBU Events Center (2,611)
Riverside, CA
Jan 14, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Seattle U L 80–85  14–5
(5–1) 		UCCU Center (2,976)
Orem, UT
Jan 18, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Abilene Christian W 84–54  15–5
(6–1) 		UCCU Center (2,827)
Orem, UT
Jan 21, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Grand Canyon W 76–74  16–5
(7–1) 		GCU Arena (7,007)
Phoenix, AZ
Jan 26, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Southern Utah L 67–79  16–6
(7–2) 		America First Event Center (4,013)
Cedar City, UT
Jan 28, 2023
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		New Mexico State W 77–72  17–6
(8–2) 		UCCU Center (2,915)
Orem, UT
Feb 2, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Utah Tech W 76–69  18–6
(9–2) 		Burns Arena (2,424)
St. George, UT
Feb 8, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Cal Baptist W 71–55  19–6
(10–2) 		UCCU Center (1,886)
Orem, UT
Feb 11, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Southern Utah W 90–83  20–6
(11–2) 		UCCU Center (5,168)
Orem, UT
Feb 18, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Seattle U W 67–58  21–6
(12–2) 		Redhawk Center (999)
Seattle, WA
Feb 23, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Tarleton L 58–77  21–7
(12–3) 		Wisdom Gym (2,017)
Stephenville, TX
Feb 25, 2023
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Abilene Christian W 66–62  22–7
(13–3) 		Moody Coliseum (1,951)
Abilene, TX
Mar 1, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		UT Arlington W 78–59  23–7
(14–3) 		UCCU Center (2,574)
Orem, UT
Mar 3, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Stephen F. Austin W 113–69  24–7
(15–3) 		UCCU Center (2,267)
Orem, UT
WAC tournament
Mar 9, 2023
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		(2) vs. (7) Tarleton
Quarterfinals 		W 72–58  25–7
 Orleans Arena 
Paradise, NV
Mar 10, 2023
8:00 pm, ESPN+ 		(2) vs. (3) Southern Utah
Semifinals 		L 88–89  25–8
 Orleans Arena (3,003)
Paradise, NV
NIT
Mar 15, 2023*
8:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at (2) New Mexico
First Round – Rutgers Bracket 		W 83–69  26–8
 The Pit (6,803)
Albuquerque, NM
Mar 19, 2023*
7:30 p.m., ESPNU 		at (3) Colorado
Second Round – Rutgers Bracket 		W 81–69  27–8
 CU Events Center (3,964)
Boulder, CO
Mar 22, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ESPN2 		(4) Cincinnati
Quarterfinals – Rutgers Bracket 		W 74–68  28–8
 UCCU Center (5,289)
Orem, UT
March 28, 2023
7:30 p.m., ESPN2 		vs. (4) UAB
Semifinals 		L 86–88 OT 28–9
 Orleans Arena (2,931)
Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Men's Basketball All-Time Records". UVU Athletics. Utah Valley University Athletics. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  2. ^ "Mark Madsen Departs Utah Valley to Become Head Coach at California". UVU Athletics. Utah Valley University Athletics. March 29, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  3. ^ "Chicago State vs. Utah Valley - Game Summary - March 8, 2022 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  4. ^ Roberts, Garner. "Abilene Christian overcomes bigger Utah Valley in WAC men's basketball tournament opener". Abilene Reporter-News. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  5. ^ "Aimaq, former WAC POY, commits to Texas Tech". ESPN.com. April 29, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  6. ^ "Verbal Commits | Trey Farrer Player Profile, Highlights, Offers, Twitter". www.verbalcommits.com. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  7. ^ Ireland, Kyle (May 25, 2022). "Utah Valley MBB Signs Tarleton Transfer Tahj Small". KSL Sports. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  8. ^ a b McDonald, Kyle (September 30, 2022). "Utah Valley Wolverines Men's Basketball 2022-23 Season Preview". WAC Hoops Digest. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  9. ^ Ireland, Kyle (May 23, 2022). "Utah Valley MBB Signs Junior College Transfer Cam Alford". KSL Sports. Retrieved November 2, 2022.