Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | WEBER STATE
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OPENING TIP: Utah Tech (3-5/0-0 WAC) concludes its seven-game road odyssey this Saturday night at in-state foe Weber State. Tip-off inside the Dee Events Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
       
UTAH TECH VS. WEBER STATE: Saturday night's game will be the second meeting between the Trailblazers and Wildcats on the basketball court.
          The two sides met for the first time as NCAA opponents last year in St. George, where Weber State came away with an 87-70 road win (11/27/21). That game was the first since both institutions were junior colleges before WSU became as four-year school in 1962. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech went toe-to-toe with undefeated Utah State last Thursday night in Logan, and despite three Trailblazers notching career highs, they could not overcome a late Aggie run in a hard fought 86-81 road loss. 
          In a game that featured 10 ties and 24 total lead changes, the two sides battled to a 36-36 stalemate through the first 20 minutes. UT led by as many as five points early in the second half and held a slim 52-50 lead with 11-plus minutes to play. However USU rattled off a 15-5 run and kept the Blazers at bay the rest of the way to escape with the win.
 
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 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 593-297 (.666) 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 Judkinsalso 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 309-169 (.646) in 17-plus years at Utah Tech, including a 289-157 (.648) mark in the program's NCAA era.
 
...AND A NEW CONTRACT EXTENSION: Utah Tech and Coach Judkinsagreed 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 their season opener at Nevada on Nov. 7, the Trailblazers have been road warriors during the four weeks of the 2022-23 season. Including Saturday night's match-up at Weber State, UT will have played seven-straight and eight of its first nine games away from home.
          Utah Tech started its seven-game road swing two weeks ago with games at Washington (11/14), at current No. 4 Arizona (11/17), and at Idaho (11/19). 
          Then after spending Thanksgiving Weekend in North Dakota, the Trailblazers will wrap up their road odyssey with the two in-state games this weekend. 
          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 their 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 (6-5, Sr.; 4.4 ppg/3.5 rpg), Trevon Allfrey (6-8, R-So.; 4.2 ppg/2.3 rpg) and Trey Edmonds (6-10, So.; 1.8 ppg/2.4 rpg), along with sophomore guard Noa Gonsalves (6-1; 3.8 ppg/2.3 rpg), and redshirt freshman Isaac Finlinson (6-6; St. George, Utah/Dixie HS).
          Utah Tech welcomes seven newcomers this year, highlighted by sophomore Idaho transfer Tanner Christensen (6-10), who averaged a solid 8.5 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Vandals last season.
          Sophomore sharp-shooting guard Hagen Wright (6-5; Payson, Utah), 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 (6-7; Las Vegas, Nev.) from Benedictine (AZ) University.
          In addition, five freshmen will also vie for playing time, including guards Asjon Anderson (6-2; Tacoma, Wash./Mount Tahoma HS), Stone Hutchings (6-5; West Jordan, Utah/Copper Hills HS), Kade Madsen (6-2; Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde HS), and Trevon Snoddy (6-5; Lehi, Utah/Skyridge HS), and forward Chol Deng (6-6; Sydney Australia/Fairmont Prep). 
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Utah Tech has played to a 151-42 (.782) overall record in the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins, which includes the CSUN win last Saturday, along with a 10-6 home mark last season. 
          Prior to the CSUN win, UT's last home win 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.  
          The Blazers went 5-7 in their Division-I debut season in 2020-21, 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 Utah Tech 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 fell to 139-116 (.545) in 255 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkinsafter last Thursday's loss at Utah State. That mark includes a 110-94 record (.542) in true road games, and a 29-22 mark (.568) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure. 
          Utah Tech played to a 3-12 (3-11 in true road games) record away from home last season, which included a five-game skid to close out the year. 
          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. 
          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: Following Thursday's loss at Utah State, Utah Tech is now 91-82 (.526) all-time against non-conference opponents in 16-plus 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).
          Utah Tech won six of its last seven non-conference games last season 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. 
 
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 149-straight games, which includes a season-high 12 treys at Utah State last Thursday, and an 8-of-19 (.421) effort in the win vs. Cal State Fullerton last Saturday in North Dakota. 
          Last season, the Trailblazers nailed a school-record 21 treys in its 114-49 blowout win over SAGU-American Indian College (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 its 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 350 of its last 352 games overall, and in 444 of the program's 448 NCAA-era games, which began in the 2006-07 season, with 27 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. 
 
BLAZING TRAILS:
* - Senior guard Cameron Gooden has picked up right where he left off from last season as he is averaging a team-best 17.8 ppg through his first eight starts.
* - Gooden has led the Blazers in scoring five times and has scored in double figures in seven of eight games overall, highlighted by a career-high 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting (5-of-7 3FG) at Utah State last Thursday night ... Gooden scored 20 of those 29 points in the first half, and he finished with a season-high five assists and pulled down three rebounds ... Meanwhile Gooden's nine made field goals and five 3-pointers also tied career highs.
* - Gooden's career night marked the third time in his last four starts that he tallied 20 or more points, which included his previous career high of 27 in UT's road win at Idaho (11/19).
* - Gooden had the shooting touch going at North Dakota (11/25), pouring in a game-high 22 points on 8-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-6 at the foul line ... the senior guard also tallied a team-high 17 points, five assists and a career-best eight rebounds in the CSUN home win (11/13).
* - Gooden has scored in double figures in 40 of his 60 career games (all starts) with 10 20-plus point outings, and has led the team in scoring 33 times overall ... Gooden has also moved into seventh place on UT's career scoring list (12.9 ppg). 
* - Senior forward Dancell Leter tied a career high with 17 points at USU last Thursday, with 13 of those points coming after halftime ... Leter went 5-of-6 from the floor and 6-of-8 at the foul line, and added four boards, three assists and two steals to his final stat line.
* - Leter's 17 points at USU are the most he has scored on the road in his year-plus as a Trailblazer, and matched his career high of 17 he scored in last year's home game vs. Weber State (11/27/21).
* - Sophomore guard Noa Gonsalves also got into the act as he poured in a career-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting with three made treys, which also tied a career high ... Gonsalves eclipsed his previous season and career high he tied with 13 points at Arizona (11/17) ... the sophomore followed that up with 10 points in the Idaho win (11/19), marking the first time in his brief collegiate career that he has scored in double figures in back-to-back games. 
* - Gonsalves had a great season debut at Nevada (11/7), against which he tallied 13 points and pulled down a career-best eight rebounds in his third career start in the season opener at Nevada (11/7) ... the sophomore hit 5-of-7 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and dished out three assists in a team-high 32 minutes of action. 
* - Sophomore F/C Tanner Christensen put on a show at Washington (11/14), going for a game-high 26 points in nearly 35 minutes against the Huskies ... the sophomore scored UT's first eight points and had 16 of the team's 25 points as Blazers' opened up a 25-17 lead 12-plus minutes into the first half ... Christensen, who hails from Spokane Valley, Wash., finished the night 11-of-17 from the floor with four rebounds and three assists in his return to his home state.
* - Christensen enjoyed another "Homecoming" at Idaho (11/19) as he hit on 4-of-6 from the floor for 10 points and had a game-high eight rebounds in the win ... Christensen played two seasons in Vandals' program from 2020-22 before transferring to Utah Tech ahead of this season. 
* - Christensen posted his first Trailblazer double-double with team highs of 13 points (on 6-of-7 shooting) and 10 rebounds vs. CSUF last Saturday, and dished out a career-high four assists for good measure. 
* - Junior forward Frank Staine tallied a season-high 12 points at Arizona (12/17) ... Staine is currently sixth in career 3FGM (114), fourth in career 3FGA (359) and 10th in 3FG% (.357).
* - Staine has also picked off his sixth steal of the season in the CSUF win, which moved him into sixth on UT's career steals list (87). 
* - After Utah Tech's bench was outscored by the Nevada (11/7) reserves by a 34-23 count in the season opener, the Trailblazer reserves had outscored their next four opponent reserves by a combined 98-31 count, including a 25-3 clip at Idaho (11/19) ... however that number took quite the hit as North Dakota's bench outscored UT's reserves by a whopping 42-5 spread, while the Utah State bench enjoyed a 49-19 scoring edge last Thursday night. 
* - Junior guard Isaiah Pope poured in 13 of the Blazers' 23 reserve points on 5-of-9 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers in the CSUN win (11/13), and accounted for 11 of UT's 25 bench points at Idaho (11/19).
* - Pope was inserted into the starting lineup for both games in North Dakota and responded with 12 points against both UND and CSUF ... Pope has now scored in double figures in five of eight games to this point of the season.
* - Senior forward Jacob Nicolds also got the start in both games last weekend and averaged 7.0 points, highlighted by a season-high 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting vs. CSUF, and had eight points in his third-straight start at USU last Thursday.     
* - Thanks to USU's bench scoring last Thursday night, Utah Tech and its opponent reserves are tied at 159-159, though the Blazer bench has outscored their opponents' reserves in five of eight games overall this season ... last season the Blazer bench posted a 699-652 point margin (22.5 ppg-21.10 ppg), and outscored its opponents bench 15 of 31 games (with two ties) overall last season.
* - Utah Tech has had five players score in double figures in three of its last five games, including back-to-back occasions at both Arizona (11/17) and Idaho (11/19), which marked the fifth time in its NCAA era, and the first time since beginning its Division I transition, that Utah Tech achieved that feat ... the last instance came in the 2016-17 season when the Blazers did it in back-to-back road games at Hawai'i-Hilo (2/16/17) and at BYU-Hawai'i (2/18/17). 
* - Utah Tech shot a season-best 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the floor vs. CSUF last Saturday ... the Blazers followed that up by shooting 48.1 percent (25-of-52) at Utah State, including a season-high 52.2 percent clip (12-of-23) from the perimeter. 
* - Since the 2016-17 season, Utah Tech has shot 50 percent or better in just 51 of its last 170 games overall ... the Blazers 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 (12/4/21), and 51.9 percent vs. SAGU-AIC (12/15/21).
* - Also dating back to the 2016-17 season, Utah Tech has had 79 of its last 173 games decided by nine points or less, including 21 of 60 games to this point of the program's Division I transition.
* - After being outrebounded in its first two games of the season, Utah Tech enjoyed a decisive 38-25 rebounding margin at Washington (11/14), which included a 15-4 edge on the offensive glass ... UT also outrebounded CSUF by a 30-20 count (9-3 offense) last Saturday, and posted a slim 30-29 edge on the glass at Utah State last Thursday night.   
* - Last season the Trailblazers won the "Battle of the Boards" in 15 of 31 games (10-5), this after they were outrebounded 12 times in 21 games in their D-1 debut in 2020-21 ... overall, Utah Tech has outrebounded an opponent in 94 of its last 146 games going back to the 2017-18 campaign. 
 
ABOUT THE WEBER STATE "WILDCATS": Weber State enters Saturday's game with a 2-5 mark, which includes a 75-65 road loss at WAC member Tarleton this past Tuesday night. The Wildcats have lost four of their last five overall, with the lone win in that stretch coming against another WAC opponent in Abilene Christian in a 77-67 win in Las Vegas last week. 
          Weber State boasts two players averaging double figures, led by sophomore forward Dillon Jones (6-6), who is averaging nearly a double-double at 13.0 points and 9.3 rebounds a game. Meanwhile, junior guard Stephen Verplancken Jr. is scoring at a 11.9 ppg clip and is the Wildcats' top 3-point threat (15-of-35).  
 
UP NEXT: Utah Tech finally returns to the Burns Arena to open a four-game, pre-Christmas homestand next Friday night, Dec. 9, vs. Chapman University. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.