(St. George, Utah - Nov. 9, 2024) - Fighting back strong in the second half, the Trailblazers were unable to complete a second-half comeback falling to New Mexico State, 75-63 on Saturday night at Burns Arena.
How It Happened
Utah Tech (0-2) got out to an early lead through the first four-plus minutes of action going ahead 12-10 after a
Noa Gonsalves three-pointer.
Going cold from the field over the ensuing 12-plus minutes, New Mexico State (2-0) ripped off a 22-2 run to take a 32-14 lead with three-and-minutes to play in the opening half.
Coming off the bench,
Hunter Schenck sank a three-pointer to end the run as another Schenk trey got UT within 12, but NMSU took a 39-23 lead into halftime.
Getting the second half ignited with a three-point play from
Beon Riley, the Trailblazers continued to chip away at the Aggies' lead through the opening part of the second half.
A jumper from
Justin Bieker, a pair of free throws from Schenck and a three-pointer from
Hakim Byrd brought the Trailblazers to within one at 48-47 with 10:24 remaining in the second half.
The Aggies responded with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to jump ahead 54-47. A layup by Gonsalves kept UT within five, but an 8-0 run extended NMSU's lead to 66-53 going on to win the contest by 12.
Key Numbers
- Gonsalves led the Trailblazers with 16 points and three steals while Riley was the Blazers second double digit scorer adding 15 points along with seven rebounds.
- Samuel Ariyibi led the Blazers on the boards with 10 rebounds to go along with seven points.
- Schenck was the lone Blazer to score off the bench on the night chipping in eight points in 13 minutes of action sinking two three-pointers along with hitting a pair of free throws.
- Utah Tech shot 31.7 percent (19-60) from the field, 24.2 percent (8-33) from downtown and 58.6 percent (17-29) from the charity stripe.
- The Trailblazers held the advantage over the Aggies in fast break points, 17-4 along with points off turnovers, 13-6.
- Gonsalves moved into a tie for second in program history with Frank Staine in career three-pointers made with 150 and is now only 17 made three-pointers away from holding the program record.
- Conference USA won five of the nine WAC/CUSA Alliance games on Saturday with the WAC earning wins from Grand Canyon, Utah Valley, California Baptist and Southern Utah.
- Utah Tech saw its home opener winning streak come to an end at five seasons as the Trailblazers suffered their first loss in a home opener since the 2018-19 season (Nov. 17, 2018 vs. Cal Poly Pomona).
Up next
The Trailblazers are back home on Wednesday night hosting Bethesda (Calif.) at 7 p.m. at Burns Arena.
