Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | SHSU - PDF
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OPENING TIP: Utah Tech (9-8/1-3 WAC) will look to halt a three-game WAC skid on Saturday night when the Trailblazers play host to Sam Houston (12-5/2-3 WAC) in a key conference match-up. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.  
 
UTAH TECH VS. SHSU: Saturday's game vs. Sam Houston will be the second-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Bearkats on the hardwood, and is the first match-up played in St. George.
          Last season, SHSU handed Utah Tech a lopsided 77-53 road loss in Huntsville, Texas (2/3/22).
 
TWO MILESTONES WILL BE REACHED SATURDAY: Utah Tech will see two major milestones reached on Saturday night when the Trailblazers take the court against Sam Houston.
          Saturday's game will be UT's 200th NCAA era game played inside the Burns Arena (156-43). In addition, the game will be the 900th career game for Head Coach Jon Judkins (599-300; .666). 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Despite shooting a season-high 54.8 percent from the floor, Utah Tech could not overcome a season-high 25 turnovers and 14 missed free throws in suffering its first home loss of the 2022-23 season at the hands of Stephen F. Austin, 85-72, on Thursday night inside the Burns Arena.  
 
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 599-300 (.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 Judkins also reached another 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 315-172 (.647) in 17-plus years at Utah Tech, including a 295-160 (.648) 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. 
 
300/600/900 NOW IN SIGHT: In addition to coaching in his 900th career college game on Saturday night, 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 five wins away from his 300th NCAA era victory at Utah Tech. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME: Since joining the NCAA ranks in 2006-07, Utah Tech has played to a 156-43 (.784) overall record in the Burns Arena under Head CoachJon Judkins, which includes a 6-1 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 fell to 140-118 (.542) in 258 games away from home in its NCAA era under Coach Judkins after its loss at CBU back on January 5. That mark includes a 111-96 record (.536) 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 (3-7 overall), when UT played to a 3-12 (3-11 in true road games) record away from home in 2021-22, 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 158-straight games, which included seven made threes in last Thursday's loss to SFA, 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 17 games this season, this after doing it only four times last year.
          In all, Utah Tech has hit at least one three pointer in 359 of its last 361 games overall, and in 453 of the program's 457 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 11 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. 
          
BLAZING TRAILS:
* - Senior guard Cameron Gooden missed his first game, and his first start, in his two-plus year Trailblazer career after he did not play at UVU back on Dec. 31 ... Gooden, who was injured in the UTRGV win (12/29), has missed the three games overall, this after he had started in all 66 games prior to his injury since his arrival UT ahead of the 2020-21 season. 
* - Gooden, who is officially listed as day-to-day, is averaging a team-best 15.6 ppg and 3.8 assists through his 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 12 games ago as he tallied 13 points, four assists and four rebounds at CBU (1/5). 
* - Pope is averaging 14.0 ppg through four WAC games this season, highlighted by a team-high 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half, in the UTRGV win (12/29) ... Pope also posted team highs of 14 points and four assists at Utah Valley (12/31). 
* - Pope notched career highs of 25 points and 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'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 Cal State Fullerton (11/26) ... Pope has now scored in double figures in 12 of 17 games to this point of the season, and is averaging 13.5 ppg since moving into the starting lineup. 
* - Sophomore guard Noa Gonsalves tied his WAC-career high with 11 points in last Thursday's loss to SFA ... six of his 11 points came at the foul line, while he recorded team highs of three assists and two steals. 
* - 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 season in a 15-point night at Utah State (12/1), and he has scored in double figures in eight of his 17 starts overall to this point of the season.
* - Not to be outdone, senior forward Jacob Nicolds had a career night in the UTRGV (12/29) as he poured in a career-high 18 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 tallied eight points and seven boards in Thursday's loss to SFA, and in the process vaulted into ninth place on UT's career rebounding list (366) ... in addition, he is currently seventh in career FG% (.529).
* - Like Pope, Nicolds has also started in UT's last 12 games and has averaged 10.5 points in those outings, including 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting at CBU (1/5), which included a career-high four made 3-pointers (4-of-6 3FG). 
* - In fact, Nicolds has had the hot shooting touch over his last 11 starts, having hit on 44 of his 67 (.656) shot attempts (15-of-27 3FG; .555) and 20-of-27 (.740) 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 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 posted his second double-double of the season with game highs of 17 points and 14 rebounds at CBU (1/5) ... his 17 points marked his seventh double-digit point game of the season.
* - Christensen's 14 boards were also a career high and are also the most by a Trailblazer player in the program's new NCAA D-I era ... meanwhile he also collected one blocked shot at CBU, all while not committing a personal foul.   
* - Christensen filled the stat sheet with 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 17 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.
* - Sophomore guard Hagen Wright had a breakout game in Thursday's loss to SFA as he poured in a career-high 14 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting with three 3-pointers, including a big corner three with 5:26 to play that cut the Lumberjack lead to 69-63 ... Wright's night eclipsed his previous career high of nine points vs. The Master's (12/17) last month. 
* - Senior forward Dancell Leter also had the hot hand off the bench in the SFA loss as he hit on 5-of-6 of his attempts en route to a WAC season high 12 points.
* - Leter came within one point of his second career double-double as he tallied nine points and a career-best 13 rebounds in the UTRGV win (12/29) ... 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 tied his career high with 17 points off the bench at Utah State (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 were 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 moved into fifth place on UT's career steals list (97) after he picked off three steals to go with seven points and two rebounds in a start at UVU (12/31) ... Staine also tied a career high with five steals, which highlighted a 10-point, five-rebound effort vs. Lindenwood (12/22).
* - Staine (837 pts), who also reached the 800-point plateau vs. The Master's (12/17), stands fifth in program history in career 3FGM (124), fourth in career 3FGA (346), and ninth in 3FG% (.358). 
* - 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 entered last week's game at CBU with a 333-268 scoring advantage in bench points through 15 games, though the Lancers closed that gap considerably as they outscored the Blazer reserves by a 49-3 count ... the minus-46 bench point differential was the largest in UT's Division-I transition.
* - UT still owns a slim 367-349 bench point margin (21.6 ppg-20.5 ppg) and has outscored their opponents' reserves 10 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.
* - Utah Tech shot a then-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.
* - Since the 2016-17 season, Utah Tech has shot 50 percent or better in just 56 of its last 179 games overall, though the Trailblazers have done it seven times through 17 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 182 games decided by nine points or less, including 21 of 69 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 12 of its last 15 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 the UTRGV win (12/29).
* - In fact, Utah Tech's 51 rebounds vs. UTRGV 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 102 of its last 155 games going back to the 2017-18 campaign. 
 
ABOUT THE SAM HOUSTON "BEARKATS": Sam Houston travels to St. George with a 12-5 overall record in tow, though it has alternated wins and losses over its last six games, including an 86-74 road loss at Southern Utah on Thursday night that dropped the Bearkats to 2-3 in WAC play. 
          The Bearkats opened the year with six-straight wins, including impressive road victories at both Oklahoma (52-51; 11/7) and Utah (W, 65-55; 11/17). 
          Senior guard Qua Grant (6-1) is one of two Bearkats averaging double figures at 13.8 ppg. Grant also leads his team in assists (3.9 apg) and is the WAC's leader in steals (38; 2.24 spg). Fellow senior guard Dante Powers (6-2) is scoring at an 11.4 ppg clip and is Sam Houston's top 3-point threat (38-of-86; .442).
          Sam Houston is currently the WAC's top defensive team, allowing just 58.8 ppg, and owns the conference's top scoring (+19.0 ppg), rebounding (+7.2 rpg), and turnover (+5.9) margins. The Bearkats also lead the WAC in 3FG made (159) and 3FG percentage (.399). 
 
UP NEXT: Utah Tech travels to the desert for a midweek showdown at WAC preseason favorite Grand Canyon this upcoming Wednesday in Phoenix.