Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | UTAH VALLEY
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OPENING TIP: Utah Tech (9-5/1-0 WAC) will close out the 2022 calendar year on the road at WAC and in-state rival Utah Valley (10-4/1-0 WAC) in a New Year's Eve matinee in Orem this Saturday afternoon. The men's basketball renewal of the "Old Hammer Rivalry" will tip off inside the UCCU Center at 2 p.m.
 
UTAH TECH VS. UVU: Saturday's game at Utah Valley will be the fifth NCAA meeting between the two former junior college rivals on the basketball court.
          The two sides have split the previous four match-ups, with both teams protecting their home floors last season. UVU drew first blood with a 79-71 victory in Orem (1/8/22), and the Blazers answered with a hard-fought 80-75 overtime win (2/19/22) in the return game one month later.  
          Utah Tech and UVU renewed their JUCO rivalry in 2020-21 with a split of two games played in Orem, with UVU claiming game one, 87-72 (2/12/21), while UT evened the season series with a 93-89 triumph the next night (2/13/21). 
          Both programs first played each other in 1972-73, and met annually in Scenic West Athletic Conference/NJCAA Region 18 until the 2002-03, which was UVU's last season of JUCO play before the program began its transition to NCAA Division-I status (2003-04 season). 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech opened its 2022-23 WAC slate with an 81-66 victory over UTRGV last 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. 
          UT 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 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 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. 
 
HI MY NAME IS...: The Trailblazers began 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 select road games this season will be former UT assistant coach and current athletic administrator Mike Olson. 
 
JUDKINS NOW NO. 1 IN UTAH: Head Coach Jon Judkins became the all-time winningest head coach in Utah collegiate basketball history last season 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 599-297 (.668) 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 (12/18/21). 
          Coach Judkins is currently 315-169 (.651) in 17-plus years at Utah Tech, including a 295-157 (.652) mark in the program's NCAA era.
 
...AND A NEW CONTRACT EXTENSION: Utah Tech and Coach Judkins agreed to a five-year contract extension this past 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. 
 
600/900 NOW IN SIGHT: Coach Judkins is closing in on two more milestones as he now stands just one victory shy of career win No. 600. The longtime Utah Tech mentor is also slated to coach in his 900th-career collegiate game when Trailblazers take to the Burns Arena floor vs. Sam Houston on Saturday, January 14. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Utah Tech has played to a 156-42 (.788) overall record in the Burns Arena under Head CoachJon Judkins, which includes a 6-0 start to the 2022-23 campaign, along with a 10-6 home mark last season. 
          Prior to the home opening win vs. CSUN (11/12), 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.                  
          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 Blazers 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 improved to 140-116 (.547) in 256 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkinsafter the road win at Weber State victory back on Dec. 3. That mark includes a 111-94 record (.541) in true road games, and a 29-22 mark (.568) in neutral site games during Judkins' tenure. 
          Utah Tech has already matched its away from home win total from last season (3-5 overall) after going 3-4 on its just completed seven-game road swing. Last year, UT 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. 
 
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN....BANG: Utah Tech has hit at least one 3-pointer in 155-straight games, which included nine made threes in Thursday's win vs. UTRGV, and a season-high 14 treys vs. Lindenwood (12/22). The 14 treys are the third-most in a single game in the program's NCAA era. 
          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 has reached double figures in made 3-pointers five times though 13 games this season, this after doing it only four times last year.
          In all, Utah Tech has hit at least one three pointer in 356 of its last 358 games overall, and in 450 of the program's 454 NCAA-era games, which began in the 2006-07 season, with 27 total games of at least 10 3FGM.
 
RELEASE...ROTATION...SPLASH: Utah Tech has attempted 20 or more 3-pointers 10 times this season, including a season-high 32 at Arizona (11/17), and 31 more vs. Chapman (12/9).
          UT took 20 for 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. 
 
WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Utah Tech's current six game win streak matches the longest unbeaten streak since the program began its NCAA Division I transition in the 2020-21 season. 
          The Trailblazers have won all six games during this current stretch 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. 
 
          
BLAZING TRAILS:
* - Senior guard Cameron Gooden has picked up right where he left off from last season as he is averaging a team-best 15.6 ppg and 3.8 assists through his first 14 starts this year.
* - Gooden has led or co-led the Blazers in scoring eight times and has scored in double figures in 11 of 14 games overall, highlighted by a career-high 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting (5-of-7 3FG) at Utah State back on Dec. 1 ... Gooden scored 20 of those 29 points in the first half, and he finished with 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 five 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 averaged 14.2 points on 47.9 percent shooting (23-of-48) during UT's just completed homestand, which included game-highs of 19 points in the Chapman win (12/9), and 17 points vs. Westmont (12/19) ... the senior also tallied 13 points and dished out a season-high seven assists (with no turnovers) in the Lindenwood win (12/22). 
* - Gooden has scored in double figures in 44 of his 66 career games (all starts) with 10 20-plus point outings, and has led the team in scoring 36 times overall.
* - Gooden (851 pts) surpassed the 800-point plateau in the win over The Master's (12/17), and now stands seven points shy of moving into 10th place on UT's career points list ... the senior is already in seventh place on UT's career scoring list (12.89 ppg), and is eighth in career assists (233). 
* - Junior guard Isaiah Pope continued his solid play since becoming a starter nine games ago as he tallied a career-high 25 points and tied a career high with five dimes in the Lindenwood win (12/22) ... Pope knocked down eight of his 13 shot attempts, including a 4-of-7 clip from the perimeter, and had three boards in just over 27 minutes of game action. 
* Pope followed that up with a team-high 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half, in Thursday's win vs. UTRGV ... Pope went 8-of-8 at the foul line, all career highs, and tied a career best with five assists. 
* - Pope's career night vs. Lindenwood eclipsed his previous season-high of 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting at Weber State (12/3), while he had 14 points and grabbed a career-best eight caroms vs. The Master's (12/17). 
* - Pope was inserted into the starting lineup for both games in North Dakota and responded with 12 points against both UND (11/25) and CSUF (11/26) ... Pope has now scored in double figures in 10 of 14 games to this point of the season, and is averaging 14.0 ppg since moving into the starting lineup. 
* - Sophomore guard Noa Gonsalves also got into the act vs. Lindenwood (12/22) as tied his career high with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting ... the sharpshooter also knocked down his first five 3-point attempts (5-of-6 3FG) and pulled down four rebounds. 
* - Gonsalves' effort vs. Lindenwood nearly matched his night vs. Chapman (12/9), against which he scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a 5-of-8 effort from the perimeter ... Gonsalves' five 3-pointers that night were a career high, while he became the 16th different Trailblazer in the program's NCAA era to hit at least five 3-pointers in one game. 
* - Gonsalves' previous career high scoring game came earlier this month in a 15-point night at Utah State (12/1), which bested the 13 points he scored at both Nevada (11/7) and at Arizona (11/17), as he has scored in double figures in seven of his 13 starts overall to this point of the season.
* - Not to be outdone, senior forward Jacob Nicolds had a career night in Thursday's win vs. UTRGV as he poured in a career-high 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting ... Nicolds knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and went 4-of-4 at the line, and just missed his second career double-double as he finished with nine rebounds. 
* - Nicolds' nine rebounds also vaulted him into 10th place on Utah Tech's career rebounding list (351), and he is currently seventh in career FG% (.533).
* - Like Pope, Nicolds has also started in UT's last nine games and has averaged 10.2 points on 68.7 percent shooting. 
* - In fact, Nicolds has had the hot shooting touch over his last eight starts, having hit on 32 of his last 42 (.762) shot attempts (10-of-15 3FG; .667) and 14-of-17 (.823) at the foul line, including a perfect 5-of-5 (3-of-3 3FG) from the floor, and he hit his lone FT attempt en route to a season-high 14 points vs. The Master's (12-17) ... Nicolds was also a perfect 5-of-5 with a 3-pointer for 11 points in the CSUF victory (11/26), and went 3-for-3 with a trey and 4-of-4 at the foul line for 11 points in road win at Weber State (12/3). 
* - Sophomore F/C Tanner Christensen filled the stat sheet with a season high 12 rebounds to go with six points, two blocks, one assist and one steal vs. Lindenwood (12/22) ... Christensen's two blocks marked the fourth time this season that the big man had at least two swats in one game.  
* - Christensen flirted with a triple-double at Weber State (12/3) as he finished with a game-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting along with eight rebounds and a UT career high five assists ... Christensen threw down three dunks on the Wildcats and now has 14 dunks on the season.
* - Christensen put on a show at Washington (11/14), going for a game and UT career-high 26 points in nearly 35 minutes ... 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 notched his sixth double-digit point game of the season in Thursday's win vs. UTRGV with 10 points to go with six boards. 
* - Senior forward Dancell Leter came within one point of his second career double-double as he tallied nine points and a career-best 13 rebounds in Thursday's win vs. UTRGV ... Leter's 13 caroms bested his previous career high of 11 set at Chicago State last season (1/29/22), which is where he recorded his first UT double-double (13 pts).
* - Leter's 13 rebounds are also the most by a Trailblazer player in the program's new NCAA D-I era, and are the most since former UT big man Hunter Schofield pulled down 13 boards in a home win over South Dakota Mines (12/6/19). 
* - Leter tied a career high with 17 points off the bench at USU (12/1), 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).
* - Junior forward Frank Staine tied a career high with five steals, which highlighted a 10-point, five-rebound effort vs. Lindenwood (12/22) ... the junior hit a pair of threes and went 3-of-6 from the floor in 15 minutes off the bench.
* - Staine (817 pts), who also reached the 800-point plateau vs. The Master's (12/17), stands fifth in program history in career 3FGM (122), fourth in career 3FGA (338) sixth in steals (93) and ninth in 3FG% (.361). 
* - 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 (11/25), while the Utah State bench enjoyed a 49-19 scoring edge (12/1).    
* - Utah Tech's bench was also outscored by a slim 19-17 count at Weber State (12/3), but came back to outscore the Chapman reserves 35-8 (12/9), and The Master's bench by a 36-17 count ... to date the Blazer bench owns a 319-256 scoring advantage through 14 games, and has outscored their opponents' reserves nine times 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.
* - In fact, all 14 Trailblazers who saw time in the home win over The Master's (12/17) scored at least two points ... sophomore guard Hagen Wright led the Blazer reserves with a career-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, while freshman guard Trevon Snoddy posted career highs of six points and four rebounds ... Wright followed that up with five points and a career-high two steals vs. Westmont (12/19).  
* - Utah Tech shot a season-best 54.1 percent (40-of-74) from the floor in the Chapman win (12/9), which followed up a 52.0 percent (26-of-50) effort a week earlier at Weber State (12/3).
* - UT then made it three-straight games by shooting 53.3 percent (32-of-60 vs. The Master's (12/17), which marked the first time in the program's brief D-I era that the Blazers have shot better than 50 percent in three consecutive games. 
* - The last time Utah Tech shot north of 50 percent in three-straight games was during the 2019-20 season when the Blazers did it in four-straight games (2/22-3/6/20). 
* - Utah Tech posted season highs of 52 points and 64.5 percent shooting (20-of-31) in the first half vs. Lindenwood (12/22) ... UT shot 52.4 percent (33-of-63) for the game, which marked the fourth time in the last five games overall that the Trailblazers had shot better than 50 percent from the floor.
* - Since the 2016-17 season, Utah Tech has shot 50 percent or better in just 55 of its last 176 games overall, though the Trailblazers have done it six times through 14 games this season.
* - In fact, the Blazers shot better than 50 percent only four times in 31 games last season. 
* - Also dating back to the 2016-17 season, Utah Tech has had 79 of its last 179 games decided by nine points or less, including 21 of 66 games to this point of the program's Division I transition.
* - Utah Tech's 42-point victory vs. The Master's (12/17) was the sixth-largest margin of victory in the program's NCAA era, and is the second-largest during its Division-I transition .. that winning margin eclipsed the previous season-best of 41 points, which was set eight days earlier in the home win over Chapman by nearly the exact same score (99-58; 12/9/22). 
* - The Trailblazers' 100 points vs. The Master's were the most this season and marked the first time UT had hit the century mark in points in just over one calendar year ... UT scored 114 points in a home win over SAGU-American Indian College (114-49; 12/15/21). 
* - Utah Tech dished out a season-high 24 assists on its 40 made field goals in the Chapman (12/9), which are the most helpers recorded since UT racked up 25 dimes in game one vs. Bethesda last season (11/30/21) ... UT also collected 22 assists on its 33 made baskets vs. Lindenwood (12/22).
* - The Blazer defense also picked off a season best 16 steals vs. Chapman (12/9), which is the fourth-most in a single game in the program's NCAA era, and two shy of the school record of 18 set in game two vs. Bethesda last season (12/1/21). 
* - After being outrebounded in its first two games of the season, Utah Tech has won the rebounding battle in 10 of its last 12 games, highlighted by a decisive 38-25 rebounding margin at Washington (11/14), which included a 15-4 edge on the offensive glass ... UT also outrebounded Chapman by a 42-28 count (15-5 offense), and posted a season best +23 rebounding margin (51-28) in Thursday's win vs. UTRGV.
* - In fact, Utah Tech's 51 rebounds on Thursday night were a season high and the most since the Blazers pulled down 52 rebounds against, coincidentally, UTRGV last season (1/22/22).
* - 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 100 of its last 152 games going back to the 2017-18 campaign. 
 
ABOUT THE UTAH VALLEY "WOLVERINES": Saturday's "Old Hammer Rivalry" game at Utah Valley will feature two teams with the longest current winning streaks in the WAC. Though Utah Tech's six-game streak is impressive, the Wolverines pushed their win streak to seven straight after a convincing 80-64 home win over conference foe Sam Houston on Thursday night.
          Three of UVU's seven wins during its current stretch have come on the road, highlighted by victories at cross-town rival BYU (75-60; 12/7) and at PAC-12 member Oregon (77-72; 12/20). 
          The Wolverines feature a balanced scoring attack with four starters averaging double figures, led by junior guard Justin Harmon (6-4) at 14.6 ppg on 46.3 percent shooting. Meanwhile, sophomore center Aziz Bandaogo (7-0) is averaging a double-double at 10.9 points and a WAC-best 10.0 rebounds a game (t-13th NCAA), and leads the conference in blocked shots (37 - 4th NCAA). 
 
UP NEXT: Utah Tech continues WAC play next Thursday, Jan. 5, with a road date at California Baptist. Tip-off inside the CBU Events Center in Riverside is set for 7 p.m. (PT).