(St. George, Utah – Feb. 1, 2024) Utah Tech men's basketball played on Thursday, defeating the UTRGV Vaqueros 81-64 at Burns Arena. With the result, Utah Tech's season record improves to 8-13 with a 4-6 mark against WAC opponents.
 
Hamed Olayinka won the game's opening tipoff before scoring the game's opening points off an alley-oop feed from Jaylen Searles on the opening possession. The early highlight play set the stage for early Trailblazer momentum, as Utah Tech would start the game on a 9-2 run that was capped by another Olayinka bucket less than three minutes into the game.
 
The visitors would battle back and cut the deficit down to three, but Utah Tech promptly responded with yet another long run, out-scoring the Vaqueros 14-2 over the next four minutes of game action to take a 23-8 advantage into the under-12 media timeout; the stretch was capped off by a ferocious two-handed Tanner Christensen slam.
 
Soon after, however, UTRGV battled back, out-scoring the Trailblazers 20-5 over the ensuing eight minutes of play to level the game at 28 going into the under-four media timeout.
 
In the final minutes of the first half, several Trailblazers made highlight plays. Tennessee Rainwater converted an and-one through contact before Unisa Turay drained a step-back triple as the clock ran out, putting Utah Tech ahead by four going into the halftime break.
 
Both teams traded buckets early in the second half, with Olayinka throwing down another thunderous jam off a Christensen feed to keep the lead at five. Aric Demings then took over, scoring six-straight Utah Tech points in the midst of a 10-2 run that built the lead back out to 12 points after a Rainwater jumper connected with 11:16 to go.
 
The offensive momentum continued as an Angelo Kambala triple made the lead 15 just three minutes later, and a Noa Gonsalves three-pointer made it a 16-point advantage with 6:28 on the clock – though UTRGV would not go down without a fight. Using an 11-5 run down the stretch of the game, the visitors cut that deficit down to 11, though Caleb Stearman connected on a shot from deep to end the run with 4:33 on the clock.
 
UT's defense would seal the deal down the stretch as Utah Tech took the 81-64 victory.
 
Rainwater set a new career-high with 12 points on 4-6 shooting from the field and 1-2 from deep, also adding one rebound, one steal and one block. Demings paired 12 points with two assists while Christensen recorded his fifth double-double of the season thanks to 11 points and 11 rebounds, also adding four assists and two blocks. Gonsalves finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists while Searles had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
Olayinka's night finished with eight points, three rebounds and three blocks while Stearman scored eight points to go with a career-high eight rebounds as Turay chipped in five points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
As a team Utah Tech shot 31-59 (52.5%) from the field and 10-22 (45.5%) from deep, dominating the glass to the tune of a 41-27 rebounding advantage. With three steals and eight blocks the Trailblazers scored 16 points off turnovers and 12 on the fast break, while controlling the paint with a 40-28 advantage in points in the paint. Fueled by Rainwater's strong outing, the Trailblazer bench scored 28 points, and Thursday's result marked the second time this season that five or more Trailblazers have scored in double-figures in the same game.
 
Utah Tech returns to action on Saturday, hosting UT Arlington at Burns Arena. Tipoff against the Mavericks is scheduled for 3 p.m.