Men's Basketball | 12/1/2025 4:30:00 PM

Game #11
Who | Utah Tech (5-5) at Santa Clara (7-1)
When | Wednesday, Dec. 3 – 8 p.m. MT
Where | Leavey Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

SCOUTING SANTA CLARA BRONCOS
Santa Clara is 7-1 on the season with a 5-0 mark at home.

The Broncos are coming off a 86-75 win over Minnesota last Friday in the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert, Calif. and suffered their lone loss of the season one day previously against St. Louis, 71-70.

Santa Clara is coming off a 21-13 overall record in 2024-25 and finished fourth in the WCC regular season standings.

The Broncos, who made the second round of the NIT last season, were picked fourth in the WCC preseason poll with junior guard Thierry Darlan and senior forward Elijah Mahi earning Preseason All-WAC honors.

As a team, Santa Clara leads the WCC and ranks eighth in the nation in blocks per game (6.4) &  also tops the conference in three points attempts per game (27.6), three point percentage defense (27.7) and turnovers per game (10.5).

The Broncos are also second in the WCC in assist/turnover ratio (1.75), scoring defense (64.4), steals per game (8.6) and turnover margin (3.5).

Individually, Christian Hammond and Elijah Mahi are leading the Broncos in scoring averaging 16.6 points (sixth in the WCC) and 13.3 points per game, respectively.

Sophomore center Bukky Oboye ranks second in the conference in blocks per game (2.29) & junior guard Jake Ensminger leads the nation with a 14.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.   

SERIES HISTORY VS. SANTA CLARA
The Trailblazers and Broncos have met once in program history with Santa Clara winning 77-69 at home to open the 2023-24 season.

UTAH TECH VS. BIG WEST OPPONENTS
Utah Tech has faced five of the 12 current WCC programs going 2-9 against Seattle U, 0-2 vs. Gonzaga and 0-1 vs. Santa Clara, Oregon State and Washington State.

LAST TIME OUT VS. UC RIVERSIDE
Behind a career-high 26 points from senior forward Ethan Potter, the Trailblazers defeated UC Riverside, 77-69 on Saturday afternoon at Burns Arena.

Led by Potter, Utah Tech tallied three Trailblazers with double figures with the duo of French natives Madiba Owona and Noah Bolanga each adding 12 points apiece.

Bolanga grabbed a season-best eight rebounds and dished out a season-leading four assists while matching his season high in minutes played with 37.

Leading 41-35 at halftime over the Highlanders, the Trailblazers extended their lead to 11 with a 7-2 run out of the gate in the first two minutes of the second half with a three-pointer by Chance Trujillo making it 48-37 in favor of the Trailblazers.

With UCR continuing to stay neck-and-neck with the Trailblazers, UT held a slim 68-66 lead with 5:27 to play before five straight points, including four from Potter, pushed the Trailblazers ahead, 73-66.

The Highlanders answered back with a three-pointer from Henderson with 2:05 remaining, but that would be their final field goal of the contest with the Trailblazers knocking down four final free throws for the eight-point victory.

POTTER NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior forward Ethan Potter was named the WAC Player of the Week on Monday afternoon.

Scoring a career-high 26 points on Saturday in a 77-69 win over UC Riverside, Potter went 11-for-19 from the field against the Highlanders, hit all four free throws, grabbed three rebounds & dished out an assist.

In addition to his standout performance against UCR, Potter also led the Trailblazers in scoring earlier in the week against Portland State finishing with a team-leading 18 points converting 9-for-13 from the field and grabbed five rebounds against the Vikings.

WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC/NCAA IN 2025-26
Utah Tech comes into Wednesday's contest leading the WAC in three point attempts (24.4) & turnovers per game (11.9), are second in three pointers made per game (6.9), free throw made per game (15.1) and scoring offense (77.8).

Individually, Potter leads the WAC with in both points (169) and rebounds (70) and is second in the conference in field goal percentage (57.1).

Trujillo ranks second in minutes per game (34:20) & three-pointers made (19) and sits third in the WAC in free throw percentage (88.9).

Potter and Bolanga rank first & second in the WAC with 112 & 107 field goal attempts, respectively, and Bolanga and Trujillo are tied for the conference lead with 65 three-point attempts apiece.

IN ALL FIVE WINS...
The Trailblazers have found four commonalities in all five of its victories this season. 

UT has led at half, shot 40 percent or better from the field, tallied more assists & shot a higher percentage from three-point range than their opponents in all five of its wins.

BIG WIN OVER NOBEL
Holt led five Trailblazers in double figures with 17 points as Utah Tech doubled up visiting Nobel University, 96-48, on Nov. 21 inside the Burns Arena.

Holt knocked down four of his five shot attempts in the win and went 7-of-9 at the foul line. The redshirt senior guard also blocked a season-high three shots, and collected two rebounds, two assists and two steals in just 25 minutes of action.

Utah Tech shot a season-high 59.3 percent (32-of-54) on the night, including a 7-of-21 (.333) effort from the perimeter.

The Trailblazers also hit on a season-best 78.1 percent (25-of-32) from the foul line, outrebounded the Knights by a 42-33 count, and finished with 16 assists to just nine turnovers.

POTTER & TRUJILLO EARN ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS IN HAWAI'I
Potter and Trujillo earned OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic All-Tournament honors with Potter leading the Trailblazers with double-doubles against Manhattan (20 pts. & 11 reb.) & Mississippi Valley State (22 pts. & 13 reb.) and added a team-high 15 points against Hawai'i.

Trujillo averaged 12 points, two assists and a steal over the three games on the islands and scored 15 points against Manhattan while drilling four three-pointers.

GREAT DEFENSE
The Trailblazers held an opponent under 50 points on Nov. 21 against Nobel for the first time since Dec. 15, 2021 against SAGU-American Indian (49).

ELITE COMPANY
Head coach Jon Judkins is in his 21st season at Utah Tech sporting a 343-234 (.594) overall record and a 323-222 (.592) mark in NCAA play.

Only eight current Division I coaches have been at their schools longer - Greg Kampe (42nd season at Oakland), Tom Izzo (31-Michigan St.), Mark Few (27-Gonzaga), James Jones (27-Yale), Randy Bennett (27-Saint Mary's), Scott Drew (23-Baylor), Bill Self (23-Kansas) & Gary Manchel (23-Mercyhurst).

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers are off until Dec. 13 returning home to host Justice University (2-2) at 7 p.m. at Burns Arena.