Utah News

It’s been reported by multiple outlets now that the Utah Jazz have waived Vince Williams Jr. The news was expected; Williams Jr. tore his left ACL after colliding with Houston Rockets Forward Tari Eason on February 23rd. After being acquired with Jaren Jackson Jr. in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, Williams Jr. only appeared in 6 contests for the Jazz before the injury where he averaged 4.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game in 14 minutes of action a night.

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After spending four years at VCU, Vince spent most of his pro career in Memphis playing sporadic minutes, but found moderate success in the Grizzlies injury riddled 2023-2024 season. That year he was a bit of a utility player averaging 10 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.6 stocks per game. His true “calling card” was his reliable backup ballhandling with occasional playmaking masterclass performances like when he had 17 assists against the Pelicans or 15 assists against the Kings.

The release comes at a time where the Jazz are also battling the injury bug and they will now need to add a player to the roster to finish out the season to be in compliance with the NBA’s minimum roster requirements. The team themselves have not announced the move at the time of writing but I do expect it within the coming hours.

I was certainly a fan of his time in Utah and viewed him as a serviceable bench player that we could have had a role for next year. With the timing of the injury and the recovery time required it is unlikely that we’ll get to see him on the court next year, but I hope that once he is healthy he’s able to get on a roster and prove what he can do.

Now that leaves us with an open roster spot. Who do you think the Jazz should sign for the rest of the year? Who would you like to see the most in a Jazz uniform or who do you think we should give a chance to (potentially for a roster spot next season)? Sound off in the comments with your suggestions! Be kind, tell someone you love them.

The end of Alex Jensen’s first season as Utah basketball head coach has gotten rocky, as the Runnin’ Utes head into the Big 12 tournament on a five-game losing streak.

Worse yet, two of Utah’s most uncompetitive efforts all season came in losses against Colorado and Baylor last week.

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In both of those contests, the Utes gave up more than 50 points in the first half, and against the Bears, Utah gave up more than 100 points for the first time this season.

Expectations are low for Utah (10-21, 2-16) going into the conference tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City when the No. 16 seed Utes play No. 9 seed Cincinnati in the first round Tuesday (1 p.m. MDT, ESPN+).

Jensen still wants to see that fire in his team, after using words like embarrassing, selfish and disappointing to describe their effort in recent contests.

“(It’s) the same message. It’s an opportunity and it’s hard because there’s no excuse to come out and start the games the way we have,” Jensen said. “We’ve done it before and those have been our best games of the year, I think, is when we’ve come out and started well and sustained it for five or 10 minutes and kept fighting instead of getting down.

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“I expect more from the group and I hope they expect more from themselves.”

In the 101-76 loss to Baylor last Saturday, the Bears hit 21 of their first 25 shots and led by as many as 26 points in the first half before taking a 53-33 lead into the break.

In the first half, Baylor converted 10 Utah turnovers into 22 points, and by game’s end, it was 31 points on 16 turnovers.

The Bears also shot 61.5% for the game and dominated most statistical categories.

That loss ensured that Utah had the worst Big 12 conference finish of the past five seasons. The Utes’ two conference wins is the fewest since Iowa State went 0-18 in league play in the 2020-21 season.

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Utah will be a heavy underdog against Cincinnati at the conference tournament — ESPN Analytics only gives the Utes a 19.1% chance of victory.

When the Utes and Bearcats met three weeks ago for the only time during the regular season, it was one of Utah’s best chances to earn a Big 12 win that slipped away.

The Utes overcame a nine-point first-half deficit and had one of their better defensive games of the season, as Utah held a 65-60 lead with under two minutes to play.

Cincinnati scored the game’s final nine points, though, squandering a chance for the Utes to grab a road win.

“I thought we played hard, and it’s a shame, because I told them all along, we’re good enough to win these games and they’ve done a better job,” Jensen said after that loss. “You got to forget yourself and figure out how you fit into the team and do that job, and we’ll be fine.”

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In Kansas City, Utah will face a Cincinnati team that has had its share of ups and downs this season.

While the Bearcats (17-14, 9-9) have wins against Iowa State, Kansas and BYU to bolster their résumé, they are likely on the wrong side of the NCAA bubble going to the Big 12 tournament and need to make a run to enhance their chances.

The winner of Tuesday’s game will face No. 8 seed UCF in the second round, and the winner of that contest is set to face top-seeded Arizona in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.

Jensen would like to have that momentum builder that a win in Kansas City could bring, not only for his program but for his players as well.

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“I think it’d go a long way, just (building) momentum. I think there’s always momentum throughout the year and even going into the offseason,” Jensen said. “I think that one of the disappointing things for our guys is I want it for them, and the problem is I think sometimes I want it more than they want it.”

In watching clips from the previous game against the Bearcats, Jensen noticed a common theme this year for Utah. If the Utes did a bit more improving things they can control, like boxing out or talking on defensive possessions, there were potentially more winnable games this season.

Tuesday, they’ll have another chance to show they can control the controllables.

“It’s another opportunity for our guys and it’s another game because I think as coaches or players, you should learn and grow every game. I truly mean that,” Jensen said. “There’s nothing like a tournament experience. You know, it’d be great to win a game and then see what comes after that.”

The atmosphere within NBA arenas is often intense, with home fans playing a significant role in energizing their team while engaging in verbal exchanges with opposing players. Although passionate fandom is widely accepted, it must remain distinct from disrespectful conduct.

That is where the Utah Jazz fanbase has faced criticism due to incidents involving racial slurs, creating a lasting perception across the league. Nevertheless, Deron Williams has argued that such a reputation does not accurately reflect the character of the majority of the Jazz fanbase.

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Williams defends the Jazz fans

Despite not having an NBA championship even now, the Jazz have cultivated a reputation for having one of the league’s most energetic fanbases. The atmosphere inside the Delta Center has historically remained vibrant and intimidating, irrespective of the team’s performance. At times, however, this heightened passion has led to unfortunate incidents that overshadow all the positive aspects.

A prominent example of this occurred in March 2019 when Russell Westbrook, at the time representing the OKC Thunder, was involved in a confrontation with a fan named Shane Kiesel, who allegedly used a racial remark toward him. Unsurprisingly, the incident was met with heavy criticism, signaling how vile the Jazz fans could be with their words.

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A similar controversy involving Westbrook occurred during the first round series in the 2018 playoffs, when another aggressive fan was captured on video directing a racially insensitive remark towards the former MVP. The intensity and criticism that it followed were so intense and triggering that the Jazz organization imposed a lifetime ban on the individual, almost instantly.

But when D-Will, who spent the first six years of his NBA career in Utah, addressed such speculations, he revealed that his interactions with fans have always been overwhelmingly positive. Although he acknowledged that some incidents can be isolated affairs, the overall environment inside the arena has always been supportive, especially since he had never encountered any racial issues himself.

“Fans are amazing. Everybody talks bout how racist they are tough. It’s crazy because It’s never been anything directed towards me, so I never heard it,” Williams said. “I never experienced it walking down the street, so it baffles me when people say it. Obviously, there’s racism everywhere, let’s be honest.”

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D-Will wasn’t throwing Jazz fans under the bus

Nevertheless, multiple former players have publicly discussed uncomfortable experiences during games in Utah, contributing to a broader perception that has persisted throughout the league. For D-Will, though, his connection to the franchise and the support he received from the community make him hesitant to condemn the fans outright.

Perhaps that is why he chose to defend them, emphasizing that a passionate fan culture should not automatically be equated with racism.

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Utah has undoubtedly developed a reputation as one of the more challenging road environments in the league, perhaps even to this day – both for its intensity and, at times, for the controversies that have accompanied it.

Related: Cavaliers sharpshooter shares a shocking story of getting mugged in the middle of Nicaragua: “There was blood everywhere”

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – On Thursday, the Utah Valley clinched at least a share of its second straight WAC title. But on Saturday, the Wolverines won it outright.

Sherman Weatherspoon IV scored a career-high 27 points, while Jackson Holcombe added 23 and Trevan Leonhardt chipped in 21 to lead Utah Valley to a 104-101 double overtime road win at Utah Tech on Saturday night at Burns Arena.

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Utah Valley improves to 24-7 overall and finishes alone atop the WAC standings with a 14-4 mark. The Wolverines have won six straight heading into next week’s WAC Tournament.

The championship marks the second straight outright WAC regular-season title for Utah Valley and the first time in program history the Wolverines have won back-to-back conference championships.

Utah Valley wins second straight WAC title

“Just so proud of our guys,” said Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips. “They hung in there, hung in there, hung in there and got the win tonight. It felt like four games out there. It was a back-and-forth title fight between two really good teams and we just kept throwing haymakers at each other.”

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Weatherspoon IV knocked down a pair of early threes as Utah Valley jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the opening minutes. Utah Tech answered with a run to tie the game at 17-17 before the two teams battled through multiple lead changes over the remainder of the half. Utah Valley closed the opening period on a 7-3 run, capped by a Weatherspoon IV three with three seconds remaining, to take a 40-36 lead into the locker room.

Weatherspoon IV picked up right where he left off to start the second half, knocking down another three-pointer before Holcombe added a basket to push the lead to nine, 45-36.

Utah Valley extended its lead midway through the second half when Holcombe scored on back-to-back possessions to spark a 16-4 run. The surge was capped by free throws from Isaac Hawkins and back-to-back threes from Weatherspoon IV and Tyler Weaver to give the Wolverines a 61-46 lead with 11:51 to play.

Utah Tech chipped away late, cutting the deficit to four points in the final minute before tying the game at 81-81 on a three-point play by Ethan Potter with eight seconds remaining. Leonhardt’s three-point attempt at the buzzer came up short, sending the game to overtime.

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Utah Tech opened overtime on a 4-0 run before Utah Valley answered with threes from Weaver and Leonhardt to tie the game at 87-87 with three minutes remaining. Leonhardt later drilled another three to give the Wolverines a 90-87 lead, but the Trailblazers answered with free throws to tie the game again at 92-92 and force a second overtime.

In the second extra period, Tyler Medaris, who had checked in after Hayden Welling fouled out, sparked Utah Valley with a layup to start a 6-0 run that gave the Wolverines a 99-92 lead with 2:50 to play.

“Tyler Medaris was huge,” Phillips said. “He’s a worker and brings it every day in practice. When we called his name tonight late in the game, he stepped up and was big for us.”

Utah Tech closed to within one point in the final seconds, but Weaver knocked down two free throws with two seconds left to seal the 104-101 victory as the Trailblazers missed a potential tying three at the buzzer.

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Weatherspoon IV, whose previous career high was 13 points, finished with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including a career-best 6-of-7 from three-point range.

“Sherm was big-time tonight,” Phillips said. “He really shoots it well in practice and the rim got big for him tonight. We needed every one of those threes.”

Holcombe scored 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and went 7-of-10 from the free throw line. He narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds and added seven assists and two steals.

Leonhardt finished with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and hit a career-high five three-pointers. He also dished out nine assists with three rebounds, two steals, and a block.

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Weaver added a career-high 10 points off the bench, while Hawkins chipped in nine.

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Utah Valley shot 50 percent (36-of-72) from the field and 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from three-point range. Utah Tech shot 45.6 percent (31-of-68) overall and 30 percent (9-of-30) from long distance.

Both teams finished with 41 rebounds, while Utah Valley held a 44-34 edge in points in the paint.

The game marked Utah Valley’s first overtime contest of the season.

Utah Valley now prepares for next week’s WAC Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Wolverines will take the No. 1 seed into the tournament and have a bye directly into Friday night’s semifinal against the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal game between Southern Utah and UT-Arlington.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Several Italy 2026 medalists from Utah spoke with the community and future generations of athletes on Saturday as part of The Watch Party’s welcome home, Para Sport showcase kick-off.

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After welcoming the athletes, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall spoke on Utah’s connection to the games.

“Utah loves the games. It’s in our cultural identity. It’s in our hearts, and so when we get to meet athletes, meet these Olympians, and cheer on our Paralympians in the next ten days, it lights us up inside,” Mendenhall said.

One such competitor, gold medalist Hilary Knight of the U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey team, reflected on her career and said that the national team’s ethos is about being part of something bigger than yourself.

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“It’s so incredible to be able to share that journey and that experience with our respective communities, to come back to Utah to be celebrated in such fashion,” she expressed. “It’s just so incredible, and I’m looking forward to the next generation of young hockey players and young Olympians, and the future couldn’t be brighter.”

Chris Lillies, who won a second consecutive gold medal in freestyle skiing, said that he had a lot of expectations placed on him to go back-to-back in 2026.

“I’m just happy we got it done. We got great teammates that helped me get there. I’ve got a great coaching staff, the U.S. Ski Team, and a whole Utah community that supported our team, and there’s a reason we had such success,” he said.

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The showcase also resumed the Italy 2026 watch party for the Paralympic Games, which lasts from March 6 to 17. Decorated Paralympian Nancy Gustafson addressed how adapted programs offer para athletes the chance to represent their country in a team atmosphere.

“I had an accident when I was 20 years old that left my arm paralyzed, so that dream kind of went by the wayside, and so for me, the Paralympics was a second chance,” she said.

One young aspiring athlete said that he learned a lot talking to Team USA. “It helped inspire me for if I could go to the Olympics. It was really fun and made me go like ‘oh, dang! I’m talking with like, Olympic people!”

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

LOGAN, Utah (ABC4) — Utah State men’s basketball clinched an outright Mountain West regular season title on Saturday beating New Mexico 94-90.

With the win, the Aggies earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

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This is Utah State’s third all-time Mountain West championship, and its second outright title since joining the league in 2013. The Aggies had secured at least a share of the title prior to the game, but were able to prevent the second-place Lobos from claiming a share with the victory.

This is the second time USU has won the MW title outright, joining the 2024 squad as the only Aggie teams to do so.

The Aggies conclude the 2025-26 regular season 25-6 overall and 15-5 in conference play. This is the 12th 25-win season in program history, and the first time the team has ever won 25-plus in four-straight seasons.

The senior class showed up in a big way on senior night, combining for 62 of Utah State’s 94 points in the contest. In his final game in the Spectrum, senior guard MJ Collins Jr. led the way as he went for 27 points with a season-best six rebounds, an assist and a steal. This was the second-best scoring performance of the season for Collins Jr.

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“It means a lot. Not too many people are able to say that they won anything, especially not in college. With this group of guys, coaching staff, I’m fortunate to say that I’m a champion. That’s something that nobody will ever forget, and it’s what we live for. This was our goal coming in on June 1st, when we first figured out who everybody was and were seeing each other for the first time, so it’s just an unbelievable achievement to be able to carry it out from June 1st up until today,” said Collins.

Other seniors honored following the game included guards Drake Allen and Kolby King, and forwards Zach Keller and Garry Clark. Allen going for 14 points, Keller for eight, King finishing with seven and Clark going for six.

The Aggies led from nearly start-to-finish in the victory, leading for over 38 minutes while trailing for less than one. Despite holding the lead most of the way, New Mexico was on the Aggies heels throughout thanks in large part to a 32-point performance from Jake Hall.

“First of all, that’s an NCAA tournament team if I’ve seen one. I really think Coach Olen is one of the best in the country. I think Jake Hall, as we all saw tonight, how good of a player he really is, just a tremendous shooter. I haven’t seen anything like it from a freshman in a long time. There’s a reason he set the record,” said Utah state head coach Jerrod Calhoun. “I thought our guys were just resilient, and I thought we got great efforts from a lot of guys. Obviously, MJ carried us in the second half. We shared the ball, made timely plays, and it was just a great college basketball game.”

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Utah State set the tone early with 10 makes in its first 15 shots, opening up a double-digit advantage six minutes in at 17-7. The Aggies remained decisively in front through the rest of the half, until a 7-0 New Mexico run to close the half gave the Lobos their first and only lead of the contest, going into the locker room up 43-42.

The second half started the same as the first, the Aggies pouncing to quickly regain control. USU opened the final 20 minutes with a 12-2 run out of the gates, sparked by back-to-back triples from Collins Jr.

The Aggies will now hit the road for Las Vegas for the Mountain West tournament taking place next week from March 11-14th. The Aggies will be the No. 1-seed and will play their first game at 1 p.m.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The regular season has come to an end for the Lobo men’s basketball team. UNM fell 90-94 to Utah State on Saturday. With the loss, the Lobos will be the 3 seed in the Mountain West tournament.

“I thought we did a nice job for a lot of the season to put us in that situation and felt like we fought and gave a great effort tonight, but just came up short,” said UNM head coach Eric Olen. “We would have liked to have made a few more plays and those guys are disappointed, but it is what it is.”

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Jake Hall continued his stellar freshman campaign by setting a new UNM freshman single-game record with 32 points. Including his total against USU, Hall finished the season with 506 points, which is a new record by a freshman in UNM history. He also set the conference-season scoring record by a freshman.

Tomislav Buljan also finished the regular season with notable accolades. With a double-double against USU, he finished conference play with 10 double-doubles. That mark tied SDSU’s Kahwi Leonard for the most by a freshman in MW history. He also had a nation-leading 14th game this season with at least five offensive rebounds.

The Lobos now head to the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas. With a first-round bye, UNM will play in the quarterfinal round on Thursday night.

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There have been some terrible starts for Utah during a difficult season as first-year coach Alex Jensen tries to turn around his alma mater.

The talent level wasn’t what the Runnin’ Utes needed to compete in the Big 12 Conference after a roster overhaul, and it has led to the team finding itself consistently fighting from behind this season.

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The Utes hit their lowest of lows on Saturday, though, in their regular-season finale, a 101-76 loss at Baylor.

Utah’s defensive effort — or lack thereof — and another porous effort in protecting the ball culminated in the Utes’ most lopsided loss of the year at Foster Pavilion in Waco, Texas.

“I’m fine with losing. Just the effort was frustrating and not what — they owe it to themselves and I think the university,” Jensen said in a postgame interview on ESPN 700 AM.

“… I think the first five minutes we replicated the same mistakes that we’ve had for the last two two weeks or so, unforced turnovers, and it’s hard to win or get better when you make the same mistakes over and over again.”

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Baylor’s offense met little resistance out of the gate, as the Bears made 21 of their first 25 shots and went on runs of 10-0, 12-0 and 10-0 again to go up 51-25 before taking a 20-point lead into the break.

The Utes (10-21, 2-16 Big 12), meanwhile, were careless with the basketball, giving up 10 first-half turnovers that led to 22 Baylor points, helping the Bears go into halftime up 53-33.

“We’ve talked about it all year long, don’t jump the pass, don’t get sped up,” Jensen said. “They had 22 points off our turnovers at halftime.

“Our margin for error’s small, and it’s hard to be in a game, let alone win a game, giving up 22 points off turnovers in a half.”

When Utah gave up more than 50 points to Colorado during the first half of its home finale earlier this week, the Utes at least put together a second-half rally to make things interesting before falling by 14.

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That didn’t happen in Waco, though.

Utah could only pull as close as 17 in the early moments of the second half before Baylor (16-15, 6-12 Big 12) simply had its way and led by as many as 30 points before easing into the victory.

The Bears dominated in most statistical categories — they outscored Utah 58-42 in paint points and also had sizable advantages in total rebounds (26-19), offensive rebounds (12-6), second-chance points (15-10), bench points (30-14), steals (10-3) and assists (22-15).

“It’s hard,” Jensen said. “We try to pressure the pick and roll because we’re not great at guarding the ball one-on-one. That leaves us exposed underneath, and again, winning or losing, I’m just disappointed how we lost because I think we could have had a little more fight in us.”

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The Utes ended up shooting only one percentage point lower than Baylor — at 60.4% to 61.5% — though that’s misleading, as it was greatly impacted by Utah shooting 65.4% in the second half when the game was out of reach.

It was only the ninth loss for Utah since 1996-97 when the Utes have shot 55% or better, per men’s basketball sports information director John Vu.

Turnovers, especially, stood out for a Utah team that has proven to be lackadaisical with the ball. The Utes ended up with 16 turnovers, and Baylor turned those into 31 points.

Utah only forced three Bears turnovers and converted those into five points. That one statistic accounted for the 26-point margin of loss for the Utes.

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Utah didn’t have an answer for Baylor freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou, who finished with 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting. He also had five rebounds, four assists and a career high tying six steals.

Bears guard Cameron Carr also had a standout day, as Baylor had four players in double figures. Carr ended up with 21 points on an efficient 9 of 13 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

All five players in Baylor’s starting lineup ended up with at least three assists, led by Caden Powell with five.

The Bears ended up scoring an average of 1.656 points per possession, and that only went down slightly in the second half after averaging 1.767 points per possession in the first 20 minutes.

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Don McHenry led the Utes with 20 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Terrence Brown (16 points, five assists) and Keanu Dawes (14 points) also finished in double-figures, though Brown and Dawes added most of their points in the second half when it was a blowout.

If there’s a silver lining for the Utes, it’s that the season is nearly over.

Utah will be the No. 16 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament, and if the effort the team has put on the floor recently shows up again, it should be a quick exit. The Utes play No. 9 seed Cincinnati on Tuesday (1 p.m. MST, ESPN+) in the tournament’s first round.

“I truly mean it, it’s another opportunity and challenge. You only get so many. It’s hard to realize when you’re in the middle of it, but like there’s only so many games you have every year and in your career,” Jensen said of facing a Cincinnati team next week that the Utes led by five with under two minutes to play in their first matchup this year before falling 69-65.

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“Cincinnati, I’m kind of glad for that matchup because that was a game I think we could have won at the end. You know, challenge our guys. We’ll find out what they’re made of and if they take that challenge or just kind of have a little pride and come out and fight.”