Men's Basketball | 11/1/2024 5:00:00 PM

Who | Utah Tech (0-0) at Oregon State (0-0)
When | Monday, Nov. 4 – 8 p.m. MT
Where | Gill Coliseum – Corvallis, Ore.
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

Scouting the Beavers
Coming off a 13-19 overall season in 2023-24, the Beavers went 5-15 in the final season of the Pac-12 to finish 12th in conference play.

With only starter returning in junior forward Michael Rataj, the Beavers bring back five returners along with adding nine newcomers, including Southern Utah transfer forward Parsa Fallah, Wake Forest transfer center Matthew Marsh and SIUE transfer guard Damarco Minor.

OSU topped MSU Billings, 83-63 in an exhibition at home on Oct. 26 and were led by 18 points from Rataj.

Head coach Wayne Tinkle enters his 11th season leading the Beavers and has led Oregon State to a pair of NCAA Tournaments (2016, 2021) and advanced to the 2021 Elite Eight before falling to Houston in Indianapolis.

Judkins Enters Year 20
Head coach Jon Judkins enters his 20th season at Utah Tech this season sporting a 331-203 (.620) overall record and a 311-191 mark in NCAA play.

Only nine Division I coaches enter the 2024-25 season having been at their schools longer - Greg Kampe (41st season at Oakland), Tom Izzo (30-Michigan St.), Mark Few (26-Gonzaga), James Jones (26-Yale), Randy Bennett (26-Saint Mary's), Leonard Hamilton (23-Florida St.), Scott Drew (22-Baylor), Bill Self (22-Kansas) & Gary Manchel (22-Mercyhurst).

Trailblazers vs. WCC Opponents
Oregon State will be Utah Tech's fourth WCC opponent it will have played joining Gonzaga (0-2), Santa Clara (0-1) and Washington State (0-1).

Quick Glance Back at 2023-24
The Trailblazers are coming off an 11-20 overall record in 2023-24 season and a ninth-place finish in the WAC posting a 7-13 mark.

Senior guard Noa Gonsalves returns this season after being the Blazers' leading scorer a season ago averaging 12.4 points per game while setting a single season program record with 172 three-point field goal attempts and finished second all-time with 66 three-pointers made.

Clocking Back In
In addition to Gonsalves, the Trailblazers also return senior guards Beon Riley (10.7 pts.) and Unisa Turay (4.9 pts.).

Sophomore guard/forward Tennessee Rainwater (3.9 pts.), redshirt sophomore guard Stone Hutchings (1.6 pts.) and senior center Sammy Howlin (redshirted 2023-24) round out the returners.

New Kids on the Block
The Blazers bring in five transfers in sixth-year guard Justin Bieker (San Francisco), fifth-year guard Hakim Byrd (Thomas Jefferson University/UMBC/Marist), redshirt junior forward Samuel Ariyibi (Washington), junior guard Britton Berrett (College of Southern Idaho) and redshirt freshman guard Dallin Grant (Utah State).

Rounding out the newcomers are five freshmen in a pair of guards Hunter Schenck (Pleasant View, Utah) & Madiba Owona (Bordeaux, France), guard/forward Preston Vandermyde (St. George, Utah), forward Bryson Bailey (Lehi, Utah) and center Pavle Misic (Nis, Serbia).

Gonsalves The Sniper
With 94 career games played, including 60 starts, Gonsalves enters his fourth and final season at Utah Tech on Monday night sitting third in program history in both three-pointers made (145) and attempted (381) while ranking seventh in three point percentage (.381).

He is just 22 made three-pointers and 42 three-point attempts shy of reaching the top spot in both categories.

Life of Riley
Senior guard Beon Riley is a big returning piece for the Trailblazers after finishing third on the team with 10.7 points per game and posted 16 double figure scoring contests.

The Chula Vista, Calif. native posted a pair of double-doubles going for 17 points and 13 rebounds against Utah Valley (Dec. 2) and at home against Abilene Christian (15 points, 10 rebounds) on March 2.

Riley's 683 minutes played are the second-most minutes returning behind only 1100 from Gonsalves.

Hip-Hip-Turay
Senior guard Unisa Turay is also a key returner after playing in 28 games a season ago after transferring in from Scottsdale CC.

Turay led the Trailblazers with 73 assists averaging 2.6 assists per contest and became the sixth different Trailblazer to dish out at least 10 assists in a game in the program's NCAA era last season against UTRGV (March 7), and the first to do in the Division I era.

Bringing the Rain
Sophomore guard/forward Tennessee Rainwater returns after playing in 25 games a season ago and notched three double-figure scoring contests with a season-high 11-point scoring performances vs. Tarleton State (Feb. 29) and at UTRGV (March 7).

He played over 20 minutes in three of the final four games of the season with a season-leading 29 minutes at UTRGV on March 7.

A native of Davenport, Wash., Tennessee was recently named to the "First Team All Name Team" by the NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners Twitter Account for his unique name.

What's Next
Utah Tech is back home next Saturday (Nov. 9) for its home opener against New Mexico State at 7 p.m. at Burns Arena for the first of its two WAC-CUSA Alliance games.