Despite Isaiah Pope scoring 19 of his career high 27 points in the second half, Utah Tech could not overcome a 22-point halftime deficit to fall at Tarleton, 74-72, on Thursday night inside Wisdom Gym. 

How it happened 
Utah Tech (10-11/2-6 WAC) enjoyed its only lead of the night at 10-8 with just under four minutes gone in the first half after a pair of Jacob Nicolds free throws.
 
The wheels then came off for the Trailblazers on offense as they went more than 10 minutes without a field goal and committed eight of their 11 first half turnovers during that stretch as Tarleton opened up a 35-19 lead with 6:25 to play in the first half.
 
UT did manage to go 9-of-10 at the foul line during the Texans' run, before Pope broke the Blazers' cold streak with a 3-pointer with 6:04 on the clock.
 
However Tarleton (11-10/4-4 WAC) would go on to score 15 of the final 21 points of the period en route to a commanding 50-28 advantage at the halftime break.

Utah Tech hit on just 6-of-25 (.240) from the floor in the frame (3-of-12 3FG), though the Trailblazers were 13-of-15 (.867) at the line. 
 
The Blazers came out firing to start the second half, outscoring Tarleton 10-2 to quickly make it a 52-38 game. Cameron Gooden and Pope hit consecutive 3-pointers, with Pope's trey coming in transition after a Tanner Christensen steal at the 16:25 mark.
 
Tarleton answered with four-straight points, but Utah Tech countered with an 13-3 spurt to cut the Texan lead to single digits at 59-51 with 11:16 to play.  
 
Down nine with under 40 seconds to go, Pope got free for a deep 3-pointer to pull UT to within six at 73-67.
 
Utah Tech's trapping defense then forced a Texan traveling call on the ensuing inbounds play. The Blazers then drew a foul on their offensive possession and split the two free throws to make it a five-point game.
 
The Trailblazers would again force another Tarleton traveling violation in virtually the exact same spot on the Texans' next inbounds play. 
 
UT would miss a 3-point attempt, but did draw a foul after an offensive rebound. The Blazers would again only hit 1-of-2 at the line, which still kept it a two-possession game at 73-69 with three ticks on the clock.
 
Then after Tarleton guard Tiger Booker was fouled and split a pair of free throws, Pope closed his career night with a half court heave just before the buzzer sounded to provide the game's final margin.  
 
Numbers to know
Pope was 8-of-13 from the floor with a season-high five 3-pointers (5-of-7 3FG) and went 6-of-7 at the foul line. Pope became the fourth different Trailblazer to hit five threes in one game this season (Noa Gonsalves, Gooden, Frank Staine).
 
Pope's 27 points were also game high and marked the third-straight game the junior scored more than 20 points.
 
Nicolds added 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Christensen posted his third double-double of the year with 11 points and 12 rebounds. 
 
Gooden wound up with 10 points in his first start since the UTRGV game back on Dec. 29. However the senior guard drew his fifth foul midway through the second half, marking the first time in his near three-year Trailblazer career (68 games) that he would foul out of a game. 
 
Utah Tech rebounded offensively in the second half, shooting 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the floor, and finished at 37.5 percent (21-of-56) on the night. UT also went 8-of-23 (.328) from beyond the arc, though the Blazers did hit on 5-of-11 from the perimeter in the second half. 
 
The Trailblazers shot 71.0 percent (22-of-31) from the foul line and outrebounded Tarleton by a 42-34 count. UT finished with 21 turnovers for the game, while the Blazer defense forced 13 of Tarleton's 17 turnovers in the second half. 
 
Lue Williams paced the Texans with 25 points on 11-of-23 shooting. Tarleton shot 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from the floor on the night and 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from three-point country. 
 
Up next
Utah Tech will remain in the Lone Star State for a Saturday WAC battle at Abilene Christian. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. (CT), inside the Teague Center in Abilene.