Men's Basketball | 3/12/2025 11:00:00 AM

Game #33 - WAC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
Who | No. 9 seed Utah Tech (7-25, 2-14 WAC) vs. No. 1 seed Utah Valley (23-7, 15-1 WAC)
When | Wednesday, March 12 – 7 p.m. MT
Where | Orleans Arena – Las Vegas, Nev.
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers + #WACmbb

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
Utah Valley comes into the WAC Tournament as the top seed with a 23-7 overall record and won the outright title in the regular season with a 15-1 overall record.

Led by the WAC Player of the Year Dominick Nelson, the Wolverines also had the WAC Defensive Player of the Year in Carter Welling and Coach of the Year in Todd Phillips.

The Wolverines lead the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.32), assists per game (15.9), blocks per game (6.0 - 3rd nationally), field goal percentage (47.0) and rebounds per game (38.23).

Utah Valley is second in field goal percentage defense (41.5), scoring offense (76.3) & scoring defense (68.1) and is third in free throw attempts per game (23.4) & turnovers per game (12.0).

Individually, the Wolverines have three players averaging double figures led by Nelson who ranks third in the WAC averaging 15.5 points per game.

Welling ranks second in the WAC in blocks per game (1.89) while redshirt sophomore guard Trevan Leonhardt leads the WAC and ranks third nationally in assist/turnover ratio (3.65). He also leads the conference in assists per game (5.2).

SERIES HISTORY VS. UTAH VALLEY
This will be Utah Tech's 11th meeting against Utah Valley with the Trailblazers trailing the all-time series, 7-3 as it will be the first-ever neutral site meeting.

Meeting in Orem on Jan. 18, UT fell 96-80 to the Wolverines with Noa Gonsalves leading the team with 18 points.

The teams met again in St. George on Feb. 20 with Wolverines needing overtime to defeat the Trailblazers, 79-77 as Utah Tech had four players in double figures led by 18 points from Noa Gonsalves, Beon Riley added 15, Stone Hutchings chipped in 14 and Samuel Ariyibi tacked on 11.

LAST TIME OUT
The Trailblazers opened the WAC Tournament on Tuesday afternoon in the opening round defeating No. 8 seed Southern Utah, 72-65 at Burns Arena.

Utah Tech saw four double figure scorers led by Hakim Byrd with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field and went 5-for-8 from beyond the arc while adding three steals and a pair of assists and rebounds.

Noa Gonsalves totaled 14 points and added four rebounds and the Trailblazers also got double digits from Samuel Ariyibi with 11 points and Justin Bieker added 10 points off the bench.

Southern Utah was led by the duo of Dominique Ford and Jamir Simpson, who finished with 16 points and 13 points, respectively.

Brock Felder added nine points and nine rebounds while Xavier Sykes came off the bench to score nine points in 10 minutes of action.

Jumping out to an early 11-8 lead through the opening five minutes of action after a jumper by Ariyibi, the Trailblazers continued to lead midway through opening half, 22-19 on the heels of a steal and dunk by Beon Riley.

Three straight three-pointers for the Trailblazers and a layup by Bieker extended Utah Tech's lead to 33-21 and they kept a 12-point lead (36-24) after a jumper by Gonsalves with 2:37 to play.

A late layup by Ariyibi gave the Trailblazers a 38-27 halftime advantage for their largest halftime lead since being up 13 at home against UT Arling on Jan. 9.

Pushing their lead to 47-33 after a layup from Madiba Owona four minutes into the second half, the Trailblazers kept a double figure lead at 55-43 after a three-pointer by Byrd with 10:06 remaining.

The Thunderbirds did not go away quietly going on a 16-7 run over the next six minutes to close to within three at 62-59 with four minutes to play.

A free throw by Sykes kept the contest at a three-point margin (68-65) as a driving layup by Gonsalves and a pair of free throws by Owona closed out a seven-point win for the Trailblazers.

OWONA EARNS WAC ALL-FRESHMAN HONORS
Freshman guard Madiba Owona was named to the WAC All-Freshman Team on Monday afternoon.

After making his Trailblazer debut in Utah Tech's win over South Dakota on Dec. 19, the Bordeaux, France native appeared in 18 games this season while making eight starts.

Finishing fourth on the team averaging 8.3 points per game, Owona tallied five games in double figures led by a season-high 22 points at Southern Utah on Feb. 13.

Leading the team in scoring in three WAC contests, Owona also led Utah Tech with 18 points at California Baptist on Feb. 15 and at Grand Canyon on March 6 with 20 points.

TRAILBLAZERS HISTORY AT WAC TOURNAMENT
This will be Utah Tech's second trip to the WAC Tournament in program history as they were the No. 11 seed in 2023.

The Trailblazers went 1-1 in that tournament defeating No. 6 seed Stephen F. Austin, 80-76 in overtime before falling two days later to No. 3 seed Southern Utah, 76-75.

Gonsalves came off the bench in both contests scoring three points and grabbing five rebounds against SFA and added eight points & three assists vs. Southern Utah.

WHERE THE BLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC/NCAA
Utah Tech checks in second in the WAC in three point attempts per game (22.5) and three pointers made per game (7.4).

The Trailblazers also rank third in three point percentage (33.0), check in fourth in turnovers per game (12.8) and are fifth in assists per game (12.7), assist/turnover ratio (0.99) & blocks per game (3.3).

Individually, Gonsalves ranks second in the the WAC in three-pointers made (69), three-pointers made per game (2.23), third in minutes per game (34:36) and eighth in points per game (14.0).

Riley ranks third in double-doubles (9) and is fifth in rebounds per game (7.6).

Samuel Ariybi is fourth in blocks (42) and fifth in blocks per game (1.56).

HITTING FROM DOWNTOWN
On the season, the Trailblazers are 240-of-716 (.335) from behind the arc which currently ranks second all-time in three-pointer made behind 285 made in 2022-23 and second in attempts (787, 2022-23).

GET THAT OUT OF HERE
The Trailblazers passed 100 blocks on the season, sitting at 103 total blocks, good for fourth-most in a single season in the NCAA era while the 3.2 blocks per game is seventh-most in a single season.

Samuel Ariyibi leads the way with 43 blocks, which is the sixth-most in a single season in program history.

WE'LL TAKE THAT
The Trailblazers have nabbed 207 steals this season, good for the sixth-most in a season and just 13 shy of setting the program record for a single season (219 in 2022-23).

Gonsalves & Riley lead the way with 33 steals apiece and Ariyibi closely follows with 28.

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS
Surpassing 1,000 rebounds as a team on March 8 vs. Seattle U, now sitting at 1,059 this season, the Trailblazers have grabbed 322 offensive rebounds which ranks sixth-most in a single season.

FALLING IN CLOSE CONTESTS
Utah Tech has been on the wrong end of close contests all season sitting 2-9 in games decided by five points or less. 

UT has dropped their last six games decided by five points or less after their last narrow win came at home over Tarleton State on Jan. 11 (58-54).

RILEY CLOSING OUT STRONG SEASON
Riley's average of 7.6 rebounds per game is sixth all-time in a single season.

He is also sixth all-time in career rebounds per game averaging 6.6 boards per game.

A two-year Trailblazer, Riley's career average of 12.0 points per game is tied for 10th all-time in program history.

He has scored in double digits in eight of the last 10 games & 12 times overall in WAC play and has notched double-doubles in four WAC contests and nine overall.

GONSALVES CONTINUES ASCENT UP CAREER TOP 10 MARKS
Gonsalves moved into third place on the all-time scoring list on Tuesday with 14 points in the WAC Tournament opener passing Hunter Schofield (2019-22, 1,223 pts.) as he now has 1,230 career points.

In addition, Gonsalves became the program's all-time leader in career games played on March 1 against California Baptist appearing in his 123rd contest moving past Jacob Nicolds (2018-23, 122).

He is also second in starts (92), third in steals (124) & field goal attempts (961), fourth in field goals made (421) & & seventh in free throw percentage (80.3).

DOUBLE FIGURES 
Gonsalves has reached double figures in 25 of 32 contests this season, including 17 of his last 21.    

Riley (20), Ariyibi (12), Justin Bieker (10), Byrd (9), Owona (5), Britton Berrett (3), , Tennessee Rainwater (3) & Stone Hutchings (2) have also recorded multiple double digit contests this season.

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

Byrd has connected on 54-of-59 (91.5) from the line while Gonsalves is 74-of-83 (89.2) to rank first and third, respectively in program history in a single season in free throw percentage.

GONSALVES THE SHARPSHOOTER
Gonsalves became the program leader for the most career three-pointers made on Dec. 7 at Utah State passing Brandon Simister (2012-18). He currently has 217 made three-pointers on 581 attempts and is ninth in 3-point percentage at 37.3 percent.

On the season, he is 72-of-200 (.360) from behind the arc as both his three pointers made and attempts are now the most in a single season.

Overall in 126 games played, Gonsalves has hit a three-pointer in 99 contests, including 56 out of 63 games over the last two seasons.

He has hit multiple triples in 22 games this season and 62 career games.

SEASONED VETERAN
Head coach Jon Judkins is in his 20th season at Utah Tech this season sporting a 338-227 (.598) overall record and a 318-216 (.596) 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).

SEMIFINALS AHEAD WITH A WIN       
With a win over the  Wolverines on Wednesday, the Trailblazers face the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal between No. 4 seed Abilene Christian and No. 5 seed Seattle U on Friday at 7 p.m. MT.