Who | Utah Tech (11-19, 7-12 WAC) at Stephen F. Austin (16-14/9-10 WAC)
When | Saturday, March 9 / 1 p.m. (MT)
Where | Johnson Coliseum (7,203) / Nacogdoches, Texas
Broadcast | ESPN+ / The Fan Sports Network 99.5 FM
Live Stats | at SFA
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UniteTheFamily / #IntoTheStorm
 

Utah Tech vs. Stephen F. Austin
            Utah Tech is 2-2 all-time vs. Stephen F. Austin, with both victories coming in the last two meetings, including a 75-70 home decision in the Burns Arena back on Jan. 11.
            The Trailblazers also claimed an 80-76 overtime win the opening round of the 2023 WAC Tournament (3/7/23). Meanwhile both Lumberjacks wins have come by double digits, which includes an 81-52 rout in the first-ever meeting between the two sides in Nacogdoches (2/5/22). 
 
Scouting the Lumberjacks
            SFA has won two of its last three games, including an 87-60 home thumping of Southern Utah this past Thursday night to clinch a WAC tourney berth. 
            Junior guard Latrell Jossell (6-1) paces two Lumberjacks in double figures at 12.3 ppg on 40.1 percent shooting and is SFA's top 3-point threat (45-of-123; .366).
 
Last Time Out
            Utah Tech rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to claim a hard-fought 79-74 road victory at UTRGV on Thursday night in Edinburg. The win snapped the Trailblazers' five-game losing streak and was the team's fifth road win of the year. 
 
It All Comes Down to Saturday
            With seven of the eight WAC Tournament bids already spoken for, Utah Tech enters Saturday's game at SFA with a shot to clinch that eighth and final berth.
            The Trailblazers are currently ninth in the WAC standings at 7-12, one game back of eighth-place California Baptist (8-12). 
            However, a Utah Tech win on Saturday at SFA, coupled with a CBU home loss to WAC-leading Grand Canyon, will pull the Trailblazers into a tie with CBU at 8-12 and give them the final tourney spot by virtue of their season sweep of the Lancers. 
 
Life of Riley
            After missing the majority of January due to injury, junior guard Beon Riley is averaging 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds over his last seven games, highlighted by a career-high 22 points with eight boards in the UTRGV win on Thursday night.
            Riley scored 16 of those 22 points in the second half on 6-of-9 shooting (8-of-14 overall), while he collected two of his team-high three steals after halftime. 
            Riley returned to action vs. Southern Utah back on Feb. 8, against which he posted team-highs of 16 points and eight boards in the home win.
            The junior guard was reinserted into the starting lineup two days later vs. CBU (2/10) and responded with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting with four boards in 28 minutes.
            Riley also posted his second double-double of the season in last Saturday's loss to ACU, against which he tallied 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds along with four assists. Six of Riley's 10 boards came on the offensive glass, which led to eight second-chance points for the junior.
 
Searles Strong Down the Stretch
            Junior forward Jaylen Searles has scored in double figures in seven of his last 10 games, highlighted by a career-high 33 points on 12-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-9 at the foul line in Utah Tech's home win over CBU (2/10). 
            He also pulled down a game-high eight boards, and had four assists and picked off a career-high four steals, which helped him earn WAC Player of the Week honors (2/12). 
            Searles' 33-point day tied for the fourth-most points scored in a game by a Utah Tech player in the program's four-year era. 
            In addition, his 33 points were also the second-most scored by a Utah Tech player in the program's NCAA Division I era, second only to former point guard Cameron Gooden's school record 35 points in his final game in the Trailblazers' WAC Tournament quarterfinal loss to SUU last season (3/9/23).
            Even though Searles, who also tallied 14 points at UT Arlington (2/24), was limited to five points in last Saturday's loss to ACU, he did stuff the stat sheet with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in 27 minutes off the bench. 
 
Release-Rotation-Splash
            Junior guard Noa Gonsalves poured in a season-high tying 21 points vs. ACU last Saturday night, and followed that up with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting at UTRGV on Thursday night. 
            Gonsalves, who drained three 3-pointers at UTRGV, has knocked down 23 3-pointers over his last 10 games overall, which has vaulted him into second place on Utah Tech's single season list (65). 
            In fact, the junior guard needs only three more 3-pointers to break Utah Tech's single season 3FGM record currently held by former Blazer guard Brandon Simister (67; 2017-18).
            In addition, Gonsalves now stands 23 made trifectas away from passing Simister (166; 2012-18) to become the program's all-time leader. 
            Gonsalves became the program's single-season 3FGA leader (166) after he launched a career-high 12 3-point shots last Saturday night vs. ACU, which also tied him for the second-most for a single game in program history.  
            Gonsalves has hit three or more trifectas 11 times this season, highlighted by a single-game school record seven 3-pointers in the Blazers' home overtime victory over Florida International (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 second in the WAC in made threes, also became just the second player in the program's NCAA era to hit 50 or more 3-pointers twice in one season. Former guard Tom Whitehead was the first to do so with 56 in 2009-10, and 60 more one year later. 
 
Double Your Pleasure
            Junior forward Tanner Christensen just missed seventh double-double after he went for 19 points and nine boards at UTRGV on Thursday night. Christensen knocked down eight of his 11 shot attempts, including a 4-of-4 from the floor for 10 points in the second half, and finished with five assists. 
            Christensen notched double-double No. 6 of the season with a game-high 18 points and team-high 10 rebounds at GCU on Feb. 15. In fact, Christensen was five assists shy of a triple-double as he dished out a team-best five helpers.
            For Christensen, who racked up four double-doubles in his Blazer debut season last year, it was the 11th double-double of his collegiate career, which included one he recorded while at Idaho during the 2021-22 season.
            Christensen has 12 double-digit rebound games in his near two years at Utah Tech and 17 overall during his collegiate career. He (430 rebs. - #8 all-time at Utah Tech) also became the ninth Trailblazer in program history to surpass 400 career rebounds, and including his rebounding numbers during his time at Idaho (2020-22; 273 rebs), he now has grabbed 703 career rebounds overall.
 
Block Party
            Sophomore forward Hamed Olayinka and Christensen have been jockeying back-and-forth for the team lead in blocked shots this season.
            Entering Saturday's game at SFA, the duo find themselves ranked third (Olayinka 51 - t-55th in NCAA) and fifth (Christensen 48 - t-69th in NCAA) in the WAC in blocks, respectively. 
            Olayinka has led or co-led the Blazers in blocks 19 times this season overall, including three more blocks vs. Tarleton State (2/29), while Christensen is three games back at 16 games. 
            Christensen is currently third all-time in program history in career blocks (73 in 62 games), while Olayinka (51 in 30 games) has already moved into sixth place on the career list. 
            Meanwhile as a team, Utah Tech is t-51st in the NCAA Division I ranks at 4.4 bpg. 
 
Hip-Hip-Turay
            Junior guard Unisa Turay was stellar off the bench vs. Tarleton State last Thursday night, going off for 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a pair of treys and a co-game high five assists.
            Turay doubled that assist total at UTRGV on Thursday night as he went for a career-high 10 dimes along with four points and five boards in 29 reserve minutes.
            Turay became the sixth different Trailblazer to dish out at least 10 assists in a game in the program's NCAA era, and he is the first to do it during the current D-I transition. 
            Former Blazer guard Jack Pagenkopf was the last player to reach double figures in dimes, doing so on the road at Fort Lewis during the 2019-20 season (1/31/20).  
            As a team, Utah Tech recorded a season-high 22 assists on Thursday night, which bested the previous season high of 20 set, coincidentally, against UTRGV in the Blazers' home win back on Feb. 1. 
 
Bringing the Rain
            Freshman Tennessee Rainwater was inserted into the starting lineup three games ago and has averaged 10.0 points and nearly six rebounds over those outings. 
            He made his first collegiate start vs. Tarleton State (2/29) and responded with 11 points on 5-of-10 from the floor with four boards and two steals in 26 minutes. 
            Rainwater followed that up by just missing his first collegiate double-double as he went for 11 points and a career-high nine rebounds at UTRGV on Thursday night. 
 
What's Next
            The 2024 Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament will be played next week, March 13-16, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.