Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | NEVADA
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OPENING TIP: Utah Tech (0-0/0-0 WAC) begins the third year of its NCAA Division I era this Monday night as the Trailblazers make the short trip to Reno for a road date at Nevada (0-0). Tip-off inside the Lawlor Events Center (11,536) is slated for 8 p.m. (MT).
 
UTAH TECH VS. NEVADA: Monday night's game at Nevada will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Wolf Pack on the basketball court.
 
HI MY NAME IS...: The Trailblazers will begin the 2022-23 season with a new institutional name - Utah Tech University. 
            This past July 1, the university re-branded to the new moniker, replacing "Dixie State University," while the "Trailblazers" nickname remained in place. 
 
NEW RADIO HOME OF UT ATHLETICS: 
            Along with the new name, Utah Tech University Athletics announced in July a new five-year multimedia agreement with Canyon Media Corporation. 
            Beginning this fall through the 2026-27 season, all Trailblazer football and men's basketball games, including comprehensive pregame and post game coverage, will be broadcast live on The Fan Sports Network (99.5/95.3 FM in St. George; 93.1 FM/1400 AM in Cedar City).
            The agreement will also feature select coverage of several other Trailblazer Athletic events throughout the year.
 
AND A NEW VOICE: In conjunction of the new radio home announcement, longtime Utah sportscaster Rod Zundel was introduced as director of broadcasting and multimedia content for Trailblazer Athletics, and will serve as the new radio voice for football and men's basketball.
            Along with complete radio coverage, Zundel will host "The Jon Judkins Coaches Show" every Tuesday night (starting on Nov. 22) on The Fan Sports Network at 6 p.m. He will also oversee the production of several weekly Trailblazer student-athlete, coach and team online video feature stories, along with other digital content throughout the year. 
            Joining Zundel court side at home and selected road games this season will be former UT assistant coach and current athletic administrator Mike Olson. 
 
TRAILBLAZERS PICKED 12TH THE WAC: Utah Tech was voted to finish 12th by both the coaches and the media as the WAC announced its 2022-23 conference men's basketball preseason polls back on Oct. 17. 
            Grand Canyon swept the top spot in both polls, collecting eight first place votes and 135 points in the coaches' poll. Meanwhile, defending WAC tournament champion New Mexico State garnered three first place nods and 127 points to place second in the coaches' poll, and was the second choice among the media.
            In fact, the top-five spots in both polls were identical as Stephen F. Austin (Coaches' – 111 pts) placed third, while Abilene Christian (Coaches' – 101 pts) and California Baptist (Coaches' – 96 pts) each received one first-place vote to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. 
            The rest of the coaches' poll listed Seattle U (91 pts) in sixth, Utah Valley (85 pts) in seventh, Sam Houston (79 pts) in eighth, WAC newcomer Southern Utah (66 pts) in ninth, Tarleton State (47 pts) in 10th, WAC rookie UT-Arlington (31 pts) in 11th, Utah Tech (29), and UTRGV (16 pts) rounded out the poll in 13th. 
            Sam Houston and Seattle U tied for sixth in the media poll, followed by UVU, SUU, UTA, Tarleton, Utah Tech and UTRGV. 
            No Trailblazer player was voted to either the coaches or media preseason teams. GCU junior guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. was tabbed as the preseason Player of the Year in both polls. 
  
JUDKINS NOW NO. 1 IN UTAH: Head Coach Jon Judkins became the all-time winningest head coach in Utah collegiate basketball history last December with career victory No. 583 in UT's 114-49 home rout of SAGU-AIC (12/15/21).
            Judkins moved past legendary Utah head women's basketball coach Elaine Elliott (582-324) atop the state's all-time coaching victories list (men's and women's). That list also includes a pair of former Utah Tech (then Dixie State) coaches in Dave Rose (1990-97 before moving on to BYU) and Stan Watts (1941-45 before moving on to Utah), along with such names at Stew Morrill (Utah State) and Rick Majerus (Utah). 
            Judkins currently owns a 590-292 (.669) overall record during his time at both Utah Tech and Snow (UT) College (1992-2005; 284-128).
            Coach Judkins became the first men's coach in Utah collegiate basketball history to reach the 500-win plateau when UT defeated Hawai'i Hilo (81-72) back on January 28, 2017.
 
CHALK UP ANOTHER MILESTONE WIN FOR COACH...: Coach Judkins also reached his second career milestone one game later when he won his 300th game as Utah Tech head coach in Blazers' 78-69 victory at North Dakota (12/18). 
            Coach Judkins is currently 306-164 (.651) in 17 years at Utah Tech, including a 286-152 (.653) mark in the program's NCAA era.
 
...AND A NEW CONTRACT EXTENSION: Utah Tech and Coach Judkins agreed to a five-year contract extension in September that will keep the longtime Trailblazer mentor on the Burns Arena sidelines through the 2026-27 season. 
            Along with all the victories, conference championships and NCAA D-II Tournament appearances, Judkins has coached 44 all-conference selections, including 19 first team honorees, and two conference players of the year (Trevor Hill – PacWest 2017-18, Jack Pagenkopf – RMAC, 2019-20). In addition, he has had seven players collect all-region recognition, and two players – Zach Robbins (2014-15 D-II Bulletin Honorable Mention) and Hill (2017-18 NABC First Team) go on to earn All-America honors.  
            Meanwhile in the classroom, Judkins has had a combined 120 student-athletes earn academic all-conference recognition since 2009-10, with three of those student-athletes – Josh Fuller (2016-17 second team), Brandon Simister (2017-18 second team) and Hunter Schofield (2020-21 second team/2021-22 first team) garner CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. 
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE 2022-23 SCHEDULE: Including Monday's season debut at Nevada, the Trailblazers will be road warriors during the first month of the 2022-23 season, which will see UT play eight of its first nine games away from home.
            Utah Tech will play its lone home game next Saturday night, Nov. 12, against CSUN before heading north to Seattle two nights later for a date at PAC-12 member Washington (11/14). That trip to UW will start a seven-game road swing that will include games at PAC-12 power and 2022 NCAA tourney team No. 13/17 Arizona (11/17) and at Big Sky member Idaho (11/19). 
            Utah Tech will then spend Thanksgiving Weekend in North Dakota for an in-season tournament at UND, beginning with a match-up against the host Fighting Hawks (11/25), before taking on 2022 NCAA tourney team Cal State Fullerton (11/26). 
            The Blazers will wrap up their road odyssey with their first-ever trip to Logan to play at Utah State (12/1), followed two nights later with a date at in-state foe Weber State (12/3) in Ogden.
            Utah Tech will return home for four-straight games prior to the Christmas holiday break, starting with a match-up vs. Chapman University on Friday, Dec. 9. UT will also play host to The Master's (CA) University (12/17), Westmont College (12/19), and first-year NCAA Division-I transition school Lindenwood University (12/22).
            The Trailblazers will kick off its third season of WAC play at home vs. UTRGV (12/29) before heading up Interstate 15 to Orem for a New Year's Eve match-up at conference and in-state rival Utah Valley.
            
MEET THE 2022-23 TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech returns four starters and eight letter winners from last year's squad that posted a 13-18 overall record (6-12 WAC - 12th) in the program's second NCAA Division I season. The 13 wins last season were five more than the program's win total from its D-I debut season in 2020-21. 
            UT has 17 players on its 2022-23 roster, headlined by senior point guard Cameron Gooden, who is the team's top returning scorer (11.5 ppg) and assists leader (3.6 apg) from a year ago.
            Gooden started in all 31 games last season and scored in double figures in his 15 of his first 18 starts with three 20-plus point outings, highlighted by a career-high 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting at California Baptist (1/12).
            Senior forward Dancell Leter is UT's top returning rebounder and second leading scorer. He too started in all 31 games and averaged 10.3 points (11.4 in WAC play) on 45.7 percent shooting and 5.2 rebounds a game. Leter scored in double figures in nine of his final 12 starts, including back-to-back 15-point outings at home vs. New Mexico State (2/10) and Grand Canyon (2/12)
            Junior forward Frank Staine is back for his fourth season after he played in all 31 games last year and was in the starting line-up in the final 28 overall, and averaged 8.8 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 41.7 percent (.328 3FG) from the floor. Staine, who is ranked sixth in career 3FGM (103) and ninth in career steals (80), scored in double figures in 15 games, highlighted by a season-high 17 points at USC (11/22), and at home vs. New Mexico State (2/10).
            Fellow junior Isaiah Pope also returns after he started in 15 of 30 games played and averaged 5.6 points on 36.7 percent shooting and 2.8 rebounds in 2021-22. He poured in a season-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers vs. UTRGV (1/22).
            The Blazers also return forwards Jacob Nicolds (4.4 ppg/3.5 rpg), Trevon Allfrey (4.2 ppg/2.3 rpg) and Trey Edmonds (1.8 ppg/2.4 rpg), along with sophomore guard Noa Gonsalves (3.8 ppg/2.3 rpg), and redshirt freshman Isaac Finlinson.
            Utah Tech welcomes seven newcomers this year, highlighted by sophomore Idaho transfer Tanner Christensen, who averaged a solid 8.5 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Vandals last season.
            Sophomore sharp-shooting guard Hagen Wright, who led the Scenic West Athletic Conference in 3-point percentage (.446) and was the league's third-leading scorer (15.5 ppg) as a freshman at Snow (UT) College, joins the Blazer program, as does sophomore transfer Caleb Stearman from Benedictine (AZ) University.
            In addition, five freshmen will also vie for playing time, including guards Asjon Anderson, Stone Hutchings, Kade Madsen, and Trevon Snoddy, and forward Chol Deng. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Despite losing three of its final five home games, Utah Tech finished with a 10-6 record inside the Burns Arena  during the 2021-22 campaign. 
            UT's last home win in that stretch was an 80-75 overtime thriller vs. in-state rival Utah Valley (2/19), which clinched the Trailblazers' ninth 10-plus win home season in its NCAA era, and the first as a newly-minted D-I program.                
            In addition, the UVU win was also the 150th NCAA home win (150-42; .781) in the Jon Judkins era.  
            In the Blazers' Division-I debut season in 2020-21 went 5-7 at home, this after UT posted a 12-2 record in its final D-II year in 2019-20. That 2020-21 record snapped a 13-year streak that saw the Blazers finish above .500 at home. The last time the program did not finish with a home winning record was UT's first NCAA season in 2006-07, when the it finished with a 2-5 home mark.  
            Utah Tech posted a perfect 12-0 record at home in 2009-10, and 11-1 records in consecutive seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17. 
 
HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: Utah Tech played to a 3-12 (3-11 in true road games) away from home last season, which included a five-game skid to close out the campaign. 
            UT finished the 2020-21 campaign with a 3-6 overall road mark, which snapped an 11-year run that saw the program post a winning road record. The last time Utah Tech did not come away with a winning road record was all the way back in the 2007-08 season, when it went 4-11 away from home in the program's second year of Division-II competition. 
            Utah Tech is now 137-111 (.552) in 248 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkins, which includes a 109-89 record (.550) in true road games, and a 28-22 mark (.560) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure. 
            UT has won eight or more games away from home in 11 of its previous 16 NCAA campaigns overall, including a program best 15-5 record (10-2 in road contests) in 2010-11. 
 
AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: Utah Tech won six of its last seven 2021-22 non-conference games to finish the year with a 7-6 mark against non-WAC opponents. That late Blazer kick helped clinched their ninth winning non-conference season overall during its four-year era, which also includes a 4-3 record in their D-I debut in 2020-21. 
            In all, UT is 88-77 (.533) all-time against non-conference opponents in 16 seasons of NCAA competition, highlighted by a program-best nine wins in 2010-11 (9-4), eight wins in 2008-09 (8-7), and seven victories in 2012-13 (7-4).
 
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START....: Utah Tech enters Monday's debut at Nevada having won three of its last four season openers. The Trailblazers claimed victory in their first-ever D-I game, which came at home in a 74-73 triumph over North Dakota (12/2/20). However UT saw its modest three-game win streak halted at then No. 1 Gonzaga last year in "The Kennel" in Spokane (63-97; 11/9/21). 
            UT is 8-8 all-time in season-opening games during the program's NCAA era, but has won six of their last 10, and eight of its previous 14 openers overall.
            In addition, Utah Tech is 12-4 all-time in 16 Burns Arena debuts as a four-year program and has won nine of its last 10 home openers.  
 
WORKING OVERTIME: Utah Tech is 21-13 (.617) all-time in overtime games in its NCAA era, which includes a win in its lone OT affair last season, a thrilling 80-75 WAC victory over Utah Valley (2/19/22). That overtime win came nearly two years to the day of the Trailblazers' last OT game, which did not end as well as UT dropped a 105-97 decision at Colorado Christian (2/22/20) during its final D-II season. 
            Four of those 34 games have gone to double-overtime (2-2), the last was a 79-75 loss at Cal Poly Pomona (11/10/17) in the 2017-18 season opener. 
 
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: Utah Tech has hit at least one 3-pointer in 141-straight games, highlighted by a school-record 21 treys in its 114-49 blowout win over SAGU-American Indian College last season (12/15/21).
            That record was one of five 3FG school records to fall that night as the Blazers also broke records for first half 3FGM (10), second half 3FGM (11), and for 3FG attempted (37). In addition, 11 different Trailblazers hit at least one 3-pointer, which was another school record.
            UT reached double figures in made 3-pointers four times last season, including a three-game stretch in December that culminated with the school record night. UT also made a WAC season-high 12 treys in the home OT win vs. UVU (2/19/22). 
            In all, Utah Tech has hit at least one three pointer in 342 of its last 344 games overall, and in 436 of the program's 440 NCAA-era games, which began in the 2006-07 season, with 25 total games of at least 10 3FGM.
            
RELEASE...ROTATION...SPLASH: Utah Tech attempted 20 or more 3-pointers 23 times last season, including a WAC season-high 31 3FGA (12-of-31; .387) vs. Utah Valley (2/19). In fact, UT broke the school record for attempted 3-pointers with 698 in 31 total games last season, which bested the previous record of 565 set in 30 games during the 2019-20 season. 
            Meanwhile, UT also broke its single season 3FG made record last year with 219 makes (219-of-565; .387), eclipsing the previous record of 205 also set in the 2019-20 campaign. 
 
2021-22 TEAM NOTE RECAP: 
* - For the first time in the program's NCAA era, Utah Tech scored 97 or more points in three-straight games when the Blazers lit the scoreboard for 99 points twice against Bethesda (11/30 and 12/1), and 97 vs. Saint Katherine (12/4). 
* - Then after an 82-point night in the Denver win (12/11), UT erupted for a season-high 114 points in the SAGU-AIC win (12/15), which is the second-most points in the program's NCAA era.
* - Utah Tech is 56-6 all-time when scoring at least 90 points, including a 43-5 mark in games of 90-99 points, and a 13-1 record when the Blazers eclipse the century mark.
* - UT's bench outscored its opponent reserves by a 699-652 margin (22.5 ppg-21.10 ppg), and in 15 of 31 games (with two ties) overall last season.
* - UT's bench combined to outscore the SAGU-AIC reserves by a whopping 64-18 margin (12/15) ... the 64 bench points eclipsed the previous season-high of 57 set in game one vs. Bethesda (11/30), against which the Blazer reserves combined to outscore their Flame counterparts by a 101-55 clip in the two wins.
* - Utah Tech posted a season low four bench points in the season finale loss at Grand Canyon (3/5/22) ... Prior to that, UT tallied eight bench points in the come-from-behind win at California Baptist (1/12), thanks to the five Blazer starters combining to score a season-high 71 of the team's 79 points.
* - UT starters also poured in 71 points (of the 80 points) in the overtime win vs. UVU (2/19). 
* - While the Blazer offense hitting on all cylinders in the sweep of Bethesda, the Utah Tech defense came up just as clutch as the Trailblazers broke the program's NCAA era single-game steals record with 18 in game two win (12/1). 
* - The 18 steals eclipsed the previous record of 17 set twice, most recently at home vs. Dominican more than 10 years ago (2/10/11). UT also had 17 steals at Adams State (11/18/06) in the program's third-ever NCAA game. 
* - Since the 2016-17 season, Utah Tech has shot 50 percent or better in just 49 of its last 162 games overall, and the Blazers have shot better than 50 percent only four times in 31 games last season ... UT shot a season-high 57.6 percent (34-of-59) vs. Saint Katherine (12/4), and 51.9 percent vs. SAGU-AIC (12/15).
* - Also dating back to the 2016-17 season, Utah Tech has had 76 of its last 165 games decided by nine points or less, including 18 of 52 games to this point of the program's Division I transition, with nine of those occasions coming last season (5-4 overall). 
* - Utah Tech won the "Battle of the Boards" in 15 of 31 games this season (10-5), this after the Blazers were outrebounded 12 times in 21 games in their D-1 debut in 2020-21 ... overall, the Blazers have outrebounded an opponent in 90 of its last 138 games going back to the 2017-18 campaign. 
 
ABOUT THE NEVADA "WOLF PACK": Nevada enters Monday's opener with a game already under its belt as the Wolf Pack defeated Cal State East Bay in their exhibition opener, 96-59, back on Oct. 21. 
            The Wolf Pack went 13-18 last season, which included a 6-12 mark in the Mountain West Conference and a quarterfinal appearance in the MWC tournament. Nevada returns junior 7-footer Will Baker (11.5 ppg/4.9 rpg), and brought in Oregon State transfer guard Jarod Lucas (6-4; 10.3 ppg/38 percent 3FG), and Elon transfer guard Hunter McIntosh (6-2; 13.2 ppg/3.0 rpg/2.8 apg). 
            NCAA Champion, All-American, and Olympic Gold Medalist Steve Alford (Indiana, 1987) enters his fourth season leading the Wolf Pack (48-40 at Nevada) in 2022-23, and his 32nd season overall as a head coach, boasting a career record of 635-338 (.653). 
 
UP NEXT: Utah Tech opens the home portion of its 2022-23 schedule next Saturday night, Nov. 12, against CSUN. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is slated for 7 p.m.