(Northridge, Calif. – Dec. 11, 2023) Utah Tech men's basketball played Monday night, falling 80-75 to the CSUN Matadors on the road. With the result, Utah Tech's record moves to 5-5 on the season with a home matchup against North Dakota slated for Saturday night.
 
"Our man-to-man defense just was not there tonight. The zone got us back into the game but we just struggled to keep them in front," Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "Late in the game we were aggressive, started getting downhill, kicking it out for open shots… one that I thought we should have won but we've just got to be tougher.
 
"(CSUN) is a good team – they play extremely hard," Judkins added. "They're really physical and it's going to help us for league because that's what the Texas schools do."
 
After a Jaylen Searles layup opened the game's scoring it would be CSUN who struck the first blow, using a 12-3 run to take an early seven-point lead into the first media timeout. Aric Demings connected on a triple with 15:32 on the clock that ignited a period in which Utah Tech would out-score the hosts 14-6, taking back a one-point lead thanks to a Searles triple off an out of bounds play with 9:32 in the first half.
 
Caleb Stearman made some noise just two minutes later, finishing a Searles lob for a two-handed alley-oop jam through contact for his second bucket in as many possessions, before the Matadors went on another 8-0 run to regain the lead with less than four minutes remaining in the half. Noa Gonsalves would then hit four shots at the line down the stretch before a Demings jumper late in the half put Utah Tech ahead by one at the break.
 
The Matadors came out rolling in the second half, opening the period on a 19-3 run while out-rebounding the Trailblazers 15-3, before a Gonsalves triple with 11:31 on the clock settled the offense down at 54-43 in favor of the hosts. That bucket sparked a quick 8-1 run by Utah Tech, with Tanner Christensen connecting on a pair of free throws to bring the game within eight points at the 10:19 mark.
 
That offensive momentum continued as UT continued to chip away at the CSUN lead. Christensen would add more free throws to cut it down to six, before Demings twice brought the game within four with a three-pointer and pair of free throws, the latter of which connected with 4:51 on the clock.
 
Utah Tech's comeback continued off the hands of David Elliott, who splashed home a triple with 3:33 remaining to bring the game within two points. After a defensive stop, the game was tied at 70 when Christensen banked home a right-handed layup just 43 seconds later.
 
The 6-10 center would once again tie the game with two more free throws with 1:50 on the clock but CSUN responded, out-scoring UT 10-2 down the final stretch to seal the 80-75 result.
 
Gonsalves' 18 points led the team, shooting 6-12 from the floor while adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Christensen paired 13 points with eight boards and added three blocks while Searles scored 11; Demings finished his outing with a line of 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists while Olayinka tied a career-high for blocks (five) to go with 10 points and six rebounds on 5-8 shooting.
 
Stearman scored a career-high seven points in seven minutes played while David Elliott scored three points in 12 minutes off the bench as the Trailblazers finished with five double-digit scorers for the first time since a victory over Chapman on Dec. 9, 2023.
 
"Tanner was an animal those final five minutes, but he's got to do that the whole entire game," Coach Judkins said. "David gave us a little spark and I thought Caleb did a really good job for us tonight as well… Larry had a good game for us but he's just got to hit his foul shots."
 
As a team Utah Tech shot 26-62 (41.9%) from the field, hitting 10 three-pointers and 13 shots at the line.  With 13 offensive rebounds the team finished with 21 second chance points and 28 in the paint, using eight blocks and six steals to force 13 Matador turnovers while scoring 15 points off turnovers, also adding eight points in transition.
 
Trailblazer men's basketball returns to action on Saturday, hosting the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Tipoff at Burns Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.