Three Trailblazers scored in double figures as Utah Tech opened its 2022-23 WAC slate with an 81-66 victory over UTRGV on Thursday night inside the Burns Arena. With the win, the Blazers closed out a perfect 5-0 homestand and ran their win streak to a season-high six games to move to 9-5 overall.

How it happened 
Utah Tech never trailed, thanks in part to starting the game 3-of-3 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers to jump out to a quick 8-3 advantage.
 
UTRGV (8-5/0-1 WAC) pulled even at 9-9, but the Trailblazers answered with nine-straight points as part of a 15-4 run to open up a 24-13 lead with 7:45 to play in the first half.
 
The Vaqueros managed to keep Utah Tech within striking distance thanks to an 11-3 spurt that trimmed the Blazer lead to 27-24 with just over five minutes to go in the period.
 
However Noa Gonsalves answered with a pair of treys as UT outscored UTRGV 12-7 in the closing minutes to take a 39-31 lead into the halftime break.
 
UTRGV pulled to within six early in the second half, but Utah Tech blew the game open with an 18-5 run to turn a two-possession game into its biggest lead of the night at 59-40 with 11:10 remaining.  
 
The Trailblazers maintained their double-digit advantage the rest of the way to cruise to their first 1-0 start to WAC play. 
 
Numbers to know
Coming on the heels of his career-high 25 points last week vs. Lindenwood (12/22), junior guard Isaiah Pope tallied a team-high 20 points on 5-of-12 from the floor and a perfect 8-of-8 at the foul line. Pope, who scored 14 of his 20 points after halftime, also collected five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
Speaking of near perfect, senior forward Jacob Nicolds hit his first six shots (6-of-7 overall), including two 3-pointers, and went 4-of-4 at the line on his way to a career-high 18 points. The senior also came within one rebound of his second career double-double as he grabbed nine boards and had one assist. Nicold's nine rebounds also vaulted him into 10th place on UT's career rebounds list (351). 
 
Fellow senior Dancell Leter also just missed his second career double-double as he ripped down a career-high 13 rebounds to go with nine points and two blocks off the bench.
 
Sophomore forward Tanner Christensen was the third Blazer to reach double figures as he poured in 10 points and had six rebounds. 
 
Utah Tech shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the floor, including a 9-of-24 clip (.375) from the perimeter, and went 24-of-31 (.774) at the charity stripe. 
 
The Trailblazers pulled down a season high 51 rebounds and posted a season best plus-23 rebounding margin (51-28).
 
Utah Tech's defense held the WAC's leading scorer, UTRGV guard Justin Johnson (21.1 ppg), to just five points on 2-of-12 shooting. UTRGV also came into the game ranked fourth in NCAA Division I in fast-break points (19.6 ppg), but the Blazers held the Vaqueros to just two fast-break points on the night.

Vaquero guard Will Johnston led all scorers with 25 points, with 15 of those coming in the second half to try and keep his side in the game. 
 
UTRGV shot 37.3 percent (25-of-67) from the floor and was just 6-of-26 (.231) from beyond the arc. 
 
Utah Tech's six game win streak matches the longest streak since the program began its NCAA Division I transition in the 2020-21 season. 
 
The Trailblazers have won all six of those game by double digits, which marks the fourth time in the program's NCAA era that UT has won at least six-straight games by 10 or more points. The last occurrence happened during the 2017-18 season (six-straight), while the Blazers rattled off seven-straight double-digit wins in both the 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons. 
 
In addition, Utah Tech has trailed only 2:09 during its current six-game win streak. 
 
Up next
Utah Tech will close out the 2022 calendar year on the road at WAC and in-state rival Utah Valley in a New Year's Eve matinee in Orem this Saturday afternoon. Tip-off inside the UCCU Center is set for 2 p.m.