Men's Basketball | 1/23/2025 12:30:00 PM

Game #20
Who | Grand Canyon (14-5, 4-1 WAC) at Utah Tech (6-13, 2-2 WAC)
When | Saturday, Jan. 25 – 7 p.m.
Where | Burns Arena – St. George, Utah
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers + #WACmbb

SCOUTING THE LOPES
Grand Canyon comes into Saturday's contest with a 14-5 overall mark and a 4-1 record in the WAC sitting in second in the conference behind undefeated Utah Valley.

GCU, who is 1-2 on the road this season, has won three straight WAC contests with wins over Southern Utah on Thursday in Cedar City and home wins last week over Abilene Christian & Tarleton State.

The Lopes, who were picked first in the WAC Preseason Poll, had a stellar 2023-24 season finishing 30-5 overall winning both the WAC regular season and tournament titles. GCU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament defeating Saint Mary's in the first round.

The Lopes lead the WAC in field goal percentage defense (41.2), free throws made per game (19.8 - 1st nationally), free throw attempts per game (27.1), scoring defense (68.2), scoring offense (79.5) & three point percentage defense (30.4).

GCU also ranks second in the conference in assists per game (14.4) & rebounds per game (38.3).

Individually, senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster, the 2024 WAC Player of the Year & 2024-25 WAC Preseason Player of the Year, leads the team averaging 13.9 points per game while also nabbing 6.5 rebounds per game.

Senior guard Ray Harrison, also an All-WAC Preseason selection, leads the WAC in free throw percentage (88.0 percent) and is fifth in assists per game (3.3).

Junior forward Duke Brennan checks in second in the WAC in rebounds per game (9.0) and is fourth on the team averaging 10.3 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. GRAND CANYON
This will be Utah Tech's 25th meeting against Grand Canyon with the Trailblazers leading the series, 13-11.

UT has dropped its last five contests against the Lopes with the Trailblazers' last win coming at home on Feb. 12, 2022 with a 61-60 victory.

Utah Tech is 8-5 at home against GCU while going 5-6 on the road.

The two teams will play its second matchup of the season against the Lopes in Phoenix on March 6.

LAST TIME OUT
The Trailblazers were unable to keep a two-point halftime lead last Saturday afternoon in the "Old Hammer Rivalry" falling 96-80 to the Wolverines at the UCCU Center.

Utah Tech was led in scoring by senior guard Noa Gonsalves with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field while adding two steals, one assist and one rebound.

Beon Riley and Hakim Byrd also each tallied double figure contests finishing with 16 and 14 points, respectively.

The opening of the first half saw the teams trade the lead in the early going with the Trailblazers jumping ahead 19-18 after a pair of free throws by Samuel Ariyibi.

With Utah Valley going back in front, 32-28 with just over six minutes left in the opening half, a three-pointer by Justin Bieker, a pair of free throws by Riley and a fast break layup by Madiba Owona keyed a quick 7-2 run for UT to take a 35-34 advantage.

A layup for the Wolverines put UVU ahead 40-39, but a three-point play by Tennessee Rainwater in the final seconds of the first half gave the Trailblazers a 42-40 lead at the break.

The second half got underway with UVU going on a 12-2 run to go ahead 52-44, but two fields goals from Riley and a layup from Gonsalves kept UT only down a pair.

The Wolverines ripped off a 18-9 run over the next five minutes to build back up an 11-point lead (70-59).

After the Trailblazers were able to cut it down to eight on three occasions, the final one being on a layup by Riley with 5:43 left to play, UVU answered with an emphatic dunk by Carter Welling as they led by double digits the rest of the contest.

TRAILBLAZERS LOOK FOR FIRST 3-0 HOME START IN WAC PLAY
With wins in their first two WAC home games over UT Arlington and Tarleton State, the Trailblazers have a chance to go 3-0 in WAC home games for the first time in their five seasons in the conference with a win over the Lopes.

WHERE THE BLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC/NCAA
Utah Tech checks in second in the WAC in turnovers per game (12.0) & three point attempts per game (22.7).

The Trailblazers also rank third in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.12), three point percentage defense (31.2) & three pointers made per game (7.4).

Individually, Gonsalves ranks second in the WAC in three-pointers made (47) & three-pointers made per game (2.5) while checking in third in minutes per game (34:04).

Riley ranks fourth in field goal percentage (50.3) and is seventh in points per game (14.6) while Samuel Ariybi is fifth in blocks per game (1.28) & blocks (23).

GONSALVES CLIMBS UP TO SEVENTH ON CAREER SCORING TOP 10
Gonsalves climbed up three spots on the career top 10 in scoring on Saturday against Utah Valley as he currently has 1,054 points. Only 92 points shy of reaching the top five mark, if Gonsalves averages his scoring average of 14 points per game for the remainder of the season, he'll move up into third place (Hunter Schofield - 1,223).

In addition, Gonsalves ranks third in career games played (113), fourth in steals (113) & starts (79), sixth in field goal attempts (824) & field goals made (362) & seventh in free throw percentage (78.4).

HOT FROM THE FIELD
The Trailblazers shot a season-best 58.6 percent (34-58) against the Wolverines as the 34 made field goals tied for second in a game this season.

It was UT's first game of the season shooting over 50 percent topping the previous high of 49.2 (32-65) percent against South Dakota.

STANDOUTS FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Byrd and Gonsalves have been consistent all season from the free throw line.

Byrd has connected on 35-of-39 from the line hitting 89.7 percent while Gonsalves has sank 41-of-46 for a 89.1 percent clip.

Gonsalves went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line on Jan. 16 at Seattle U and he has now hit his last 24 free throw attempts dating back to his first attempt against Whittier on Dec. 16.

The Trailblazers got to the free throw line a season-high 32 times at Seattle U on Jan. 16 and are 3-7 this season when attempting over 20 free throws in a game.

DOUBLE FIGURES 
Gonsalves has reached double figures in 15 of 19 contests, including seven of his last eight.

Riley (11), Justin Bieker (7), Ariyibi (7), Byrd (4), Britton Berrett (3) & Tennessee Rainwater (2) have also recorded multiple double digit contests this season.

HOME COOKING
The Trailblazers are 170-57 (.749) overall at Burns Arena in the NCAA era.

Utah Tech has recorded 14 winnings seasons in 18 seasons in St. George in its NCAA era, including a perfect 12-0 in 2008-09.

The Blazers are 5-2 at home this season, including winning four in a row, and are 35-28 (.556) at home in the Division I era.

SEASONED VETERAN
Head coach Jon Judkins is in his 20th season at Utah Tech this season sporting a 337-216 (.610) overall record and a 317-204 (.609) mark in NCAA play.

Only nine current Division I coaches have 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).

WHAT'S NEXT
The Trailblazers head out on the road to Texas next week traveling to Tarleton State (8-12, 3-2 WAC) on Thursday and UT Arlington (7-11, 0-4 WAC) on Saturday.