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OPENING TIP: Utah Tech (9-9/1-4 WAC) will look to put a halt on its season long four-game skid this Wednesday night when the Trailblazers travel to the desert for a midweek showdown at WAC preseason favorite Grand Canyon (12-6/3-2 WAC). Tip-off inside the GCU Arena (7,000) in Phoenix is set for 7 p.m. (MT).  
 
UTAH TECH VS. GCU: Utah Tech is 13-7 all-time in its series vs. Grand Canyon, which dates back to when both programs were members of the Pacific West Conference.
          The Blazers have won five of their last nine meetings vs. the Lopes overall, including a split of two games last season. UT posted a thrilling 61-60 victory (2/12/22) inside the Burns Arena, which served as the program's first D-I victory over GCU. However, the Lopes returned the favor with a decisive 80-53 home win in the 2021-22 regular season finale (3/5/22). 
          In the 2020-21 campaign, the two sides renewed their old PacWest rivalry with a two-game set in St. George, however it was the eventual WAC champion Lopes who came away with the road sweep.
          Prior to last year, UT and GCU last met in the 2012-13 campaign, which was GCU's final season in the PacWest before its transition to NCAA Division I status and the program's move to the WAC. That season, the Blazers swept the two-game regular season set (at UT 71-66, 1/10/13; 65-64 at GCU, 2/2/13).
          This Wednesday's game at the GCU Arena will mark the second time Trailblazers have played the Lopes in Phoenix since that 2012-13 season, where UT is 5-4 all-time vs. Lopes.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech dropped its fourth-straight WAC game in a tough home setback to Sam Houston, 78-53, last Saturday night inside the Burns Arena.  
          It was a game of runs in the first half, with the Trailblazers opening the game by outscoring Sam Houston 15-6. The Bearkats, who misfired on seven of their first 10 shots, found the shooting touch from the perimeter with three treys as part of an 11-3 spurt that trimmed that Blazer lead to 18-17 with 9:34 to go in the stanza.
          Utah Tech countered with eight-straight points over a two-plus minute span. However SHSU would close the period with a 18-3 run, holding UT to one field goal over the final seven minutes, to take a 35-29 lead into the halftime intermission. 
          SHSU kept the momentum going to begin the second half, scoring 11 of the first 14 points of the frame. The Bearkats then rattled off a decisive 18-6 run to go up 64-41 with 6:31 to go, and cruised from there for the road win.
 
TWO MILESTONES BE REACHED LAST SATURDAY: Utah Tech reached two major milestones on Saturday night vs. SHSU. The game was the program's 200th NCAA era game played inside the Burns Arena (156-44; 780). In addition, the game was the 900th career game for Head Coach Jon Judkins (599-301; .665). 
 
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 599-301 (.665) 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 315-173 (.645) in 17-plus years at Utah Tech, including a 295-161 (.647) 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 NOW IN SIGHT: In addition to coaching in his 900th career college game last 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 Trailblazer 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 156-44 (.780) overall record in the Burns Arena under Head CoachJon Judkins, which includes a 6-2 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 159-straight games, which included eight made threes in last Saturday's loss to Sam Houston, 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 360 of its last 362 games overall, and in 454 of the program's 458 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 12 times this season, including a season-high 32 at Arizona (11/17), and 25 more vs. Sam Houston last Saturday night. 
          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 last four 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 has averaged a team-best 15.6 ppg and 3.8 assists through his 14 starts this year ... he 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 12.2 ppg through five 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 18 games to this point of the season, and is averaging 12.8 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 Stephen F. Austin ... 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 18 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 (370) ... in addition, he is currently seventh in career FG% (.529).
* - Like Pope, Nicolds has also started in UT's last 13 games and has averaged an even 10.0 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 12 starts, having hit on 45 of his 69 (.652) shot attempts (16-of-28 3FG; .571) and 21-of-28 (.750) 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 a career high and also the most by a Trailblazer player in the program's new NCAA D-I era ... meanwhile he also blocked one 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 last 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 (98) 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 was the lone Trailblazer to score in double figures in the Sam Houston loss as he hit a pair of 3-pointers on his way to 10 points. 
* - Staine's 10 points helped the Blazers' avoid doing something the program has done only once in its four-year era overall - not having a double-digit scorer in a game ... UT only instance of not having a double-digit score since joining the NCAA ranks was in a road loss at Seattle Pacific in the 2011-12 season opener (11/11/11).  
* - Staine (847 career points), who also reached the 800-point plateau vs. The Master's (12/17), stands fifth in program history in career 3FGM (126), second in career 3FGA (354), and 10th in 3FG% (.356). 
* - 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 its 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's bench was also outscored 40-18 in last Saturday's loss to Sam Houston, which left the Blazer reserves now trailing their opponent's reserves by a 389-385 count, though the UT bench has outscored their opponents' reserves 10 times in 18 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 shot a season-best 54.8 percent (23-of-42) from the floor in last Thursday's loss to SFA ... that effort eclipsed the previous 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 180 games overall, though the Trailblazers have done it seven times through 18 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 183 games decided by nine points or less, including 21 of 70 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 16 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 156 games going back to the 2017-18 campaign. 
 
ABOUT THE GRAND CANYON "LOPES": Grand Canyon enters play this week winners of five of its last seven, including a 3-2 start to WAC play, though the Lopes are coming off a hard-fought 79-74 road loss at California Baptist last Saturday night in Riverside. 
          GCU was dealt an unfortunate blow earlier this season when WAC Preseason Player of the Year, junior guard Jovan Blackshear Jr. (10.7 ppg/2.4 apg) went down with a season-ending injury this past Jan. 5 at Sam Houston.
          Sophomore guard Ray Harrison (6-4) is one of two Lopes averaging double figures at 15.3 ppg and he leads the team in assists at 2.9 apg. Harrison has stepped up GCU since the loss of Blackshear Jr. as he is averaging nearly 20 points over his last six starts, highlighted by a 28-point night in the Lopes' overtime win at Sam Houston (1/5). 
          Redshirt junior forward Gabe McGlothan (6-7) is GCU's top rebounder at 8.6 rpg to go with his 11.1 ppg average on 49.3 percent shooting. 
 
UP NEXT: Utah Tech returns home for a Saturday night showdown against New Mexico State. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is set for 7 p.m.