California Baptist University
Utah Valley University
MBB Preview: CBU Heads to Orem for First Road Conference Game of 2025
1/9/2025 10:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball
RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University men's basketball team will look to move to 2-0 in conference play this week as they head to Orem to take on the Utah Valley Wolverines on Saturday.
Both the Lancers and Wolverines began their Western Athletic Conference schedules 1-0 with home wins over Seattle U and UT Arlington, respectively. CBU went an even 7-7 in its challenging non-conference schedule, posting wins over Kennesaw State, Fresno State, and Eastern Washington.
This will be the 14th meeting between the two programs since the two became conference foes in 2019, with the Wolverines holding the series edge 9-4. In 2023-24, UVU got the better of the Lancers in both regular season meetings, but CBU avenged those losses with an overtime win over the Wolverines in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Las Vegas. The UCCU Center has been a daunting location for the Lancers, with their last win coming in January 2020.
In non-conference play, the Wolverines went 9-6 and a perfect 5-0 at home in Orem. UVU posted wins over UTEP, Weber State, North Dakota, and Murray State during their non-conference slate and were led in scoring by transfers Dominick Nelson and Carter Welling. Nelson, the Polk State transfer, averaged nearly 14 points per contest, while Welling, a UCI transfer, is the reigning WAC Player/Newcomer of the Week, averaging 13 points and 6.5 rebounds per game for the Wolverines. Utah Valley has been one of the best rim-protecting teams in the nation this season, ranking fourth in blocks per game at 6.1 per contest. Welling has been a large part of that ranking, as he leads the WAC with 2.23 per game and is 18th in the country in that department.
For the Lancers, senior guard Dominique Daniels Jr. has been an offensive force this season as he leads the CBU scoring attack. Daniels Jr. is sixth in DI in scoring at 21.7 points per game, 18th in field goals made with 111, 11th in total points with 325, and first in field goal attempts with 285. Daniels Jr. has scored 20+ points in nine games this season and scored a season-high 33 points against UCF. As a team, the Lancers continue to be one of the best teams in college basketball at the charity stripe, where they are 21st in the nation and #1 in the WAC in free-throw percentage at 78.2.
GAME INFORMATION:
CBU at Utah Valley
DATE/TIME: Jan. 11 @1 PM PT
LOCATION: UCCU Center- Orem, UT
WATCH: ESPN+
