Who | Utah Tech (0-0) at Santa Clara (0-0)
When | Wednesday, Nov. 8 – 8 p.m. MT
Where | Leavey Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UniteTheFamily / #IntoTheStorm
 
Scouting the Broncos:
Head Coach Herb Sendek enters his eighth season on the bench in 2023. Like Utah Tech, Santa Clara lost multiple key contributors from its 2022-23 roster that finished 23-10 and earned an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT); the list of players who left the program includes First Team All-WCC selections Brandin Podziemski (NBA Draft – 1^st round, 28^th overall by the Golden State Warriors) and Carlos Stewart (LSU).
 
Transfers Adama-Alpha Bal (Zarizona), Francisco Caffaro (Virginia), Johnny O'Neil (American Univeristy) joined during the offseason while the team is also bolstered by the return of Carlos Marshall, who averaged 10 points per game before suffering a season-ending injury last year.
 
A Brand-New Team
Utah Tech's offseason was one highlighted by change, with 10 new faces joining the program to replace players lost to graduation and the transfer portal.
 
Beon Riley comes to St. George after playing his first three seasons at Hawaii where he made 65 total appearances; the Chula Vista, Calif., native averaged 4.6 points per game last season while serving as the Rainbow Warriors' sixth man.
 
Jaylen Searles, a 6-8 forward who last played at Southeastern Community College in Burlington, Iowa, also signed the dotted line after posting 11.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season. He led the team with 2.0 steals per game while earning First Team All-Region 11 honors and being named an All-American.
 
Trey Hall (Evansville), Sammy Howlin (Fullerton College), Unisa Turay (Scottsdale Community College), David Elliott (Garden City Community College) and Larry Olayinka (Garden City Community College) all transferred into the program while Aric Demings (Desoto, Texas), Angelo Kambala (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Tennessee Rainwater (Davenport, Wash.) joined from the prep ranks.
 
Bigger Roles
Though Utah Tech lost three starters from last year's team, two remain and will be thrust into even bigger roles.
 
Guard Noa Gonsalves averaged 8.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in the 2022-23 campaign, shooting 42.3% from the field and 41.1% from deep. He finished in double-figures for scoring 13 times, including a career-high 24 points in an 89-76 victory over New Mexico State on Jan. 21.

Forward/center Tanner Christensen was the team's leading rebounder last season after grabbing 7.0 per game, combining that work on the glass with 9.5 points and 1.6 assists while shooting 56.7% from the field. The 6-10 forward/center scored a career-high 26 points against Washington on Nov. 14 while posting four games of 20-plus points.
 
Buddies
Though new to Utah Tech, two Trailblazers have tons of experience playing together. David Elliott and Larry Olayinka first found success on the court at Birmingham Community Charter High School in Los Angeles, Calif. While Elliott was playing his freshman season at Loyola Marymount, Olayinka went on to average 20 points per game as a senior, before the pair rejoined forces at Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kan., where they helped lead the Broncbusters to a 21-9 record last season.
 
990 Days
Trey Hall's college career got off to a hot start in the 2020-21 season, with the 6-9 forward scoring nine points in his collegiate debut on the road at Louisville on Nov. 25, 2020. After adding eight points and eight rebounds against Prairie View the next game, Hall went on to play 19 games in his freshman season at Evansville.
 
After missing the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Wednesday's game is exactly 990 days from his last appearance on the court in a regular season college basketball game.
 
First of Many
With three freshmen joining the program, Wednesday's game signifies the start of the collegiate careers of Angelo Kambala, Tennessee Rainwater and Aric Demings.
 
Kambala had a standout high school career at Liberty High School in Las Vegas, Nev., where the 6-0 guard was a four-time varsity letter winner and averaged 17.4 points as a senior while earning First Team All-Region honors. Rainwater averaged 28.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.1 steals for the Davenport Gorillas (Davenport, Wash.), leading his team to a 27-2 record and a victory in the 2023 WIAA 2B State Championship.
 
Demings ran the point at national powerhouse Duncanville High School (Duncanville, Texas), helping lead the Panthers to three Texas 6A state titles and two national championships while playing alongside the likes of Jackson Prince (Texas) and Ron Holland (G-League Ignite).
 
Junior College
Along with Elliott, Olayinka and Searles, two other Trailblazers joined the program from junior colleges. Unisa Turay started 62 of his 64 appearances at Scottsdale Community College, averaging 13.0 points and 5.0 assists during his second season, while Sammy Howlin anchored a Fullerton College defense that won the CCCAA championship, averaging 5.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
 
Unite The Family
Trailblazer men's basketball was active in the community this offseason, regularly visiting local elementary schools while completing service projects that included picking up trash at a local reservoir and passing out snacks and water during the 2023 St. George Marathon. Though all of these examples are things the team has done in the past, this year's service all centered around the idea of "Uniting the Family," which is the new program mantra that was announced on Sept. 29.
 
"Part of it is about coming together as a team to accomplish the same goals, but it's also about sacrifice, service, humility, those kinds of things," Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "Seeking opportunity to unite and being the best version of yourself in order to improve the strength of your family… What can we do to strengthen our family, strengthen our team and strengthen the community?"
 
A Long Road Trip
Utah Tech opens its 2023-24 campaign by spending the entire month of November out on the road, playing six different teams in six different venues that aren't Burns Arena. After facing Santa Clara on Wednesday, UT heads to Jacksonville, Ala., to play Jacksonville State (Nov. 11, 1 p.m.) before facing Youngstown State (Nov. 17, 4:30 p.m.), Lake Erie College (Nov. 18, 12 p.m.), Washington State (Nov. 24, 2 p.m.) and Lindenwood (Nov. 27, 6 p.m.).
 
The team will open up its home slate with a conference game against Utah Valley on the first weekend of December, hosting the Wolverines at 7 p.m. on Dec. 2.