Utah Tech vs. California Baptist
            Utah Tech is 13-9 all-time vs. California Baptist and has won five of its last eight meetings vs. the Lancers overall, though the Trailblazers are 3-3 in WAC play against their former Pacific West Conference rivals.
            Four of the Blazers' five wins over CBU during this current stretch have come on the road, including a 72-69 victory in Riverside this past Dec. 6.   
            Utah Tech is 6-2 all-time against the Lancers inside the Burns Arena, however CBU did come away with a 71-61 triumph in its last visit to St. George nearly two years ago (2/24/22). 
 
Scouting the Lancers
            California Baptist enters Saturday's game on a bit of a roll, having won six of its last seven games, including a 64-63 thriller at home vs. UT Arlington on Thursday night in Riverside. 
            The Lancers' lone blemish during their current stretch is a slim 61-60 home loss to Seattle U last Saturday. In fact, five of CBU's eight losses on the season have been one-possession games, and seven out of the Lancers' eight losses overall are by single digits. 
            CBU features three players averaging double figures, led by junior point guard Dominique Daniels Jr. (6-1), who is the WAC's leading scorer (19.2 ppg) and second-leading 3-point shooter (57/2.71 3FGM/g). However Daniels Jr. did not play in the UTA game on Thursday night and is questionable for Saturday's game.
            Meanwhile, graduate forward Yvan Oeudraogo (6-9) is averaging nearly a double-double at 10.1 points on a team-best 50.6 percent shooting and 8.7 rebounds a game.
 
Last Game
            Utah Tech returned to the win column on the strength of a thrilling 70-68 home win over in-state rival Southern Utah on Thursday night inside the Burns Arena.
            The Blazers saw an eight-point halftime lead disappear, but shook that off to eventually extend to what many thought was a comfortable 69-58 advantage with just 98 ticks left on the clock.
            However SUU would mount furious rally and had chance to tie or take the lead with one final shot, but the Trailblazers were able to prevail and claim the crucial WAC home victory. 
 
The March to 500
            Utah Tech will play in its 500th NCAA game when the Trailblazers travel to UT Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 24. 
            The Blazers are currently 310-186 (.625) all-time during their four-year era, which began in the 2006-07 academic year.
 
Life of Riley
            After missing the last six games due to injury, junior guard Beon Riley returned to action on Thursday night and picked up right where he left off with team-highs of 16 points and eight rebounds in the SUU win.
            Riley, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half, connected on 7-of-12 from the floor, including a 6-of-8 clip in the opening frame, and had two assists and one steal in 29-plus minutes of action off the bench.
            Riley has scored in double figures in 12 of his 17 games played, including a season-high 21 points in Utah Tech's road win at CBU back on Dec. 6. 
 
Release-Rotation-Splash
            Junior guard Noa Gonsalves continued his climb up the Utah Tech 3-point charts with six more made treys over his first three starts on the current homestand, during which he has averaged 13.3 ppg.
            Gonsalves poured in 11 of his 15 points in Thursday's win over SUU in the second half and tallied seven boards, two assists and two steals on the night. 
            The junior guard has hit three or more trifectas seven times this season, highlighted by a single-game school record seven 3-pointers in the Blazers' home overtime victory over FIU (12/30). He followed that up with four treys vs. Grand Canyon (1/6) and five more in the Stephen F. Austin home win (1/11).
            Gonsalves, who is currently fourth in the WAC in made threes (48; 2.09 3FGM/g), enters play on Saturday four 3-pointers shy of vaulting into solo fifth place on Utah Tech's career 3FGM list (127).
            Gonsalves has also been near-automatic at the charity stripe, leading the team with an 84.2 percent clip (32-of-38) at the line, including a career-best 9-of-10 effort last Saturday vs. UT Arlington. 
 
Double Your Pleasure
            Junior forward Tanner Christensen posted his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the homestand-opening win over UTRGV (2/1).
            For Christensen, who racked up four double-doubles in his Blazer debut season last year, it was the 10th double-double of his career, which included one he posted while at Idaho during the 2021-22 season.
            Christensen now has 11 double-digit rebound games in his near two years at Utah Tech and 16 overall during his collegiate career.
 
All About Staying Balanced
            Nine of the 10 Trailblazers who saw time in the UTRGV win (2/1) found the scoring column, with six of them tallying eight or more points overall.
            In fact, it was two freshmen who led the way as guard Aric Demings went 5-of-6 from the floor en route to a co-game high 12 points.
            Meanwhile, reserve forward Tennessee Rainwater poured in a career-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
 
Searles the Scorer
            Jaylen Searles posted his 12th double-digit point game of the year with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting in the SUU win on Thursday night.  
            That effort came after he went for a team-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting vs. UT Arlington last Saturday.
            Searles' 15-point day vs. UTA was one point off his WAC season-high of 16 points set at Tarleton back on Jan. 27.
            
Block Party
            Christensen and sophomore forward Hamed Olayinka are jockeying back-and-forth for the team lead in blocked shots this season.
            Entering Saturday's game vs. CBU, the pair finds themselves ranked second and third in the WAC in blocks (Christensen 43; Olayinka 42).  
            Both Christensen and Olayinka have led or co-led the Blazers in blocks 14 times this season overall. 
            Christensen is currently third all-time in program history in career blocks (68 in 55 games), while Olayinka (42 in 23 games) moved into a tie for eighth place with his lone block vs. SUU on Thursday night. 
            The pair are also fourth and fifth, respectively, on the program's single-season blocks list. 
 
Kambala Career-High
            Freshman guard Angelo Kambala accounted for 14 of the Trailblazers' 24 bench points at Tarleton back on Jan. 27. Kambala connected on 4-of-8 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers, and finished with two rebounds and two assists in nearly 20 reserve minutes.
            Kambala's day eclipsed his previous career high of 11 points set in Utah Tech's overtime win over FIU on Dec. 30.            
 
Mister Consistency
            Caleb Stearman continued his solid play off the bench last Saturday afternoon with seven points and three rebounds vs. UT Arlington.
            The junior's effort came on the heels of him going for eight points and career highs of eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 23 reserve minutes vs. UTRGV (2/1).  
 
What's Next
            Utah Tech will play the first of its two February road games next Thursday night when the Trailblazers head to the desert to tangle with WAC leading Grand Canyon.
            Tip-off inside the GCU Arena in Phoenix is set for 7 p.m. (MT).