LAS VEGAS — Despite controlling a 16-point lead, Utah Valley narrowly defeated UT Arlington 67-65 to advance to its second consecutive WAC final appearance Friday.

A late block from Isaac Hawkins on an open 3-point look by UT Arlington after a loose ball secured the win for Utah Valley. He finished with a team-high four blocks in the win.

Junior Trevan Leonhardt contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals in the win. In total, four Wolverines players finished in double figures and had a combined 13 steals and blocks.

Utah Valley will face the winner of Utah Tech and California Baptist on Saturday (10 p.m. MDT, ESPN2).

Braden Housely, who moved into a starting spot after Tyler Hendricks suffered a broken nose three weeks ago, had a quick 5 points to pace the Wolverines to an early lead.

Sherman Weatherspoon, who also found his way to the starting lineup after a 27-point outburst against Utah Tech, had 6 points in the first-half, with all coming from beyond the arc.

Though Utah Valley forced five turnovers in the first half, the Wolverines committed seven of their own, which turned into 9 points for UT Arlington on the offensive end. As such, 22 of UT Arlington’s 29 first-half points came from the bench, with Tyran Mason and Bahsil Laster combining for 19 of the 22 points.

Controlling a two-possession lead to open the second half, Leonhardt caught fire and sparked a personal 10-0 run to build up a game-high 16-point lead for the Wolverines off two 3-pointers in the span.

Shortly after the scoring spurt, UT Arlington went on a 10-0 run of its own in two minutes to trim Utah Valley’s lead to 5 points. With four minutes left to play, Laster converted an and-one to make it a one possession game.

Utah Valley then missed its next two free throws — a total of seven missed free buckets in the second half — to give UT Arlington a chance to tie, of which they managed to do.

With the game locked, Holcombe was fouled with 18 seconds left and sank both free throws to give the Wolverines a narrow lead.

But the Wolverines played stout defense after Hawkins blocked a shot in the paint, and a loose ball fell into the hands of Raysean Seamster who had an open look at a 3-pointer that was short.

PROVO, Utah (AP) — The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus was back in court Friday as a state judge denied some efforts by his attorneys to limit public access to certain documents while not ruling out the possibility of closing portions of an upcoming hearing.

The outcome sets the stage for an April hearing in which attorneys for Tyler Robinson will make their case to exclude TV cameras, microphones and photographers from the courtroom.

Judge Tony Graf has been weighing the public’s right to know details about the case against concerns by defense attorneys that the media attention could undermine Robinson’s right to a fair trial. Prosecutors, Kirk’s widow and attorneys for news organizations have urged Graf to keep the proceedings open.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Robinson, 22, who is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. They have said DNA evidence connects Robinson to the killing.

Robinson has not yet entered a plea.

Attorneys on Friday debated whether the defense’s written request to exclude cameras, which was classified by the court as private, should be made public.
Graf said the defense failed to make its case to keep the motion private but that he will continue “balancing all the factors” when deciding which portions of the upcoming hearing may be closed.

Staci Visser, an attorney for Robinson, told the judge that the defense is not arguing in the court of public opinion.

“There seems to be an idea that flooding the public sphere with information from this courtroom will somehow dispel conspiracy theories or shift public narratives. That, in and of itself, is concerning to the defense,” Visser said. “All we should be worried about is protecting what happens in this courtroom.”

Robinson’s defense team went on to say that the April hearing will involve discussions about prejudicial pretrial publicity — for example, evidence that has yet to be admitted, confessions, personal opinions about guilt or public statements that would otherwise be inadmissible in court.

“We don’t want to be in that position of bringing in front of the court all of this prejudicial information and having the press regurgitate it yet one more time, and reinflicting a wound that we’re seeking to avoid,” defense attorney Michael Burt said.

Christopher Ballard, a prosecutor with the Utah County Attorney’s Office, dismissed those arguments. He said careful questioning during jury selection and tools like expanding the jury pool can ensure a defendant gets a fair trial.

“So just saying that this a content tornado or there’s been a barrage of media coverage doesn’t necessarily mean that there is going to be prejudice to the defendant,” Ballard said.

Ballard noted that most of the evidence that will be discussed at the April 17 hearing is already public, so most of it should be open.

Coalitions of national and local news organizations, including The Associated Press, are fighting to preserve media access in the case.

Media access has been a focal point of several recent hearings, with the judge placing temporary restrictions on local TV stations for showing Robinson’s shackles in violation of a court order and filming close-up shots that might allow viewers to interpret what he was discussing with his attorneys.

The judge also has prevented full video recordings of Kirk’s shooting from being shown in court after defense attorneys argued the graphic footage would interfere with a fair trial. An estimated 3,000 people attended the outdoor rally to hear Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA who helped mobilize young people to vote for President Donald Trump.