Grand Canyon Faces UT Arlington in WAC Title Showdown

Basketball

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament will reach its thrilling conclusion on Saturday night, with the No. 1 seed Grand Canyon Antelopes squaring off against the red-hot UT Arlington Mavericks in the championship game at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

For Grand Canyon, this is familiar territory. The Antelopes (28-4) claimed the regular season WAC title and enter the final as the top seed, having won 11 of their last 13 games. They punched their ticket to the championship by dismissing Seattle 80-72 in the semifinals while covering as 6-point favorites.

But the surging Mavericks will be no easy out. The No. 3 seed UT Arlington (20-13) has reeled off eight consecutive wins, including two impressive victories in the WAC Tournament so far. The Mavericks are averaging a blistering 98 points per game in the event while going an unblemished 2-0 against the spread.

In the head-to-head regular season series, the teams split a pair of tight contests. Grand Canyon protected its home court with a 76-69 win on December 2, though UT Arlington covered as an 11.5-point underdog. The Mavericks then fell 67-61 as 5.5-point home underdogs on January 27.

Oddsmakers appear to be siding with the top seed, listing Grand Canyon as a 6.5-point favorite for the rubber match. But bettors have been riding the Mavericks’ hot hand of late, as they’ve covered the spread in 11 of their last 13 outings overall.

The total has been set at 145.5 points, reflecting the high-scoring nature of both teams’ recent offensive outputs. The Over has cashed in each of UT Arlington’s tournament games, while Grand Canyon has seen seven Overs in its last 11 contests.

When the ball tips off at 11:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, all eyes will be on which team can seize the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Will the Antelopes’ consistency and championship pedigree prevail? Or will the Mavericks’ remarkable late-season run continue with an improbable tournament title?

One thing is for certain – this grudge match between two of the conference’s heavyweights has all the makings of an epic, drama-filled battle from start to finish. The winner will etch their name in the history books and earn a chance to make noise on college basketball’s biggest stage.