Men's Basketball | 1/13/2026 4:00:00 PM
Game #19
Who | UT Arlington (11-5, 3-1 WAC) at Utah Tech (9-9, 2-2 WAC)
When | Thursday, Jan. 15 – 7 p.m.
Where | Burns Arena – St. George, Utah
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 FM The Fan Sports Network
Social Media |Â
Instagram +Â
Twitter (X)Â + #UtahTechBlazers
SCOUTINGÂ THE UT ARLINGTONÂ MAVERICKS
UT Arlington is 11-5 on the season and currently ranks second in the WAC with a 3-1 mark, sitting a half-game behind Utah Valley for the top mark in the conference.
The Mavericks are on a three-game winning streak with victories over California Baptist, Southern Utah and Abilene Christian after opening WAC action with a home loss to Tarleton State.
UTA went 8-4 in non-conference action and is 5-3 in road action this season.
The Mavs are coming off a 13-18 overall mark in 2024-25 and finished seventh in the WAC with a 6-10 mark.
UT Arlington leads the WAC in scoring defense (65.0) and three point percentage defense (26.0 - 2nd nationally).
The Mavs are second in the conference in field goal percentage defense (41.4), scoring margin (+7.9) & rebounding margin (+8.1) and third in blocks per game (3.8) & rebounds per game (37.44).
UTA is led by senior guard Marcell McCreary with 14.7 points per game ranking sixth in the WAC while preseason All-WAC selection Raysean Seamster is eighth in the conference averaging 13.6 points per game & tops the team averaging 6.4 rebounds per game (fifth in the WAC).
Seamster is fourth in the WAC in field goal percentage (52.1) and sophomore guard Cash Chavis is second in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.91) and third in assists per game (4.1).
SERIES HISTORY VS. UT ARLINGTON
This will be the Trailblazers and Mavericks sixth all-time meeting with UT Arlington leading the series, 4-1.
The Trailblazers earned their first win over the Mavericks to open WAC play last season defeating UTA, 74-62 at home.
The two teams also met in Arlington on Feb. 1, 2025 with the Mavs winning narrowly, 73-71.
The Mavericks return to Burns Arena on Feb. 5 while UT heads to Arlington for the final matchup of the season on Feb. 19.
LAST TIME OUT AT UTAH VALLEY
A big second half from Utah Valley saw the Wolverines down the Trailblazers, 92-76 last Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center.
Utah Tech was paced by five Trailblazers in double figures led by 15 points from
Jusaun Holt along with 12 points apiece from
Chance Trujillo and
Ethan Potter.
Noah Bolanga and
Dario Domingos each chipped in 11 points apiece with Domingos tallying a season high outing in points in nine minutes of action
The Trailblazers shot 47.3 percent (26-55) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-18) from three-point range and 90 percent (18-20) from the free throw line.
Falling behind 24-14 midway through the first half, a layup by Samuel "Tobi" Ariyibi ignited a 16-1 run for the Trailblazers as Holt knocked down a pair of triples along with getting six points from Trujillo & a layup from Potter to push UT ahead 30-25 with 1:42 to play in the first half.
With UVU taking a 31-30 lead to the break, a jumper by Holt got the second half started for the Trailblazers and a free throw from
Britton Berrett gave UT their final lead of the contest at 40-39
The Wolverines answered going on a 14-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 53-42 lead and the Wolverines continued to lead by 13 (59-46) with 13:10 to play
A layup by Domingos and a triple from Holt cut UVU's lead down to eight (59-51).
A layup by Domingos trimmed the Wolverines' lead to six (61-55), but six straight points for UVU pushed their lead back to 12 with the Wolverines leading by double digits for the final 10 minutes of the contest.
WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC/NCAA IN 2025-26
Utah Tech comes into Thursday's game leading the WAC in three pointers made per game (7.7) & three point attempts per game (23.9).
UT is second in assist/turnover ratio (1.11), free throw percentage (73.1), field goal percentage (47.5), three point percentage defense (30.0) & turnovers per game (13.2).
Individually, Potter leads the WAC in rebounds per game (7.4), is second in field goal percentage (58.7) & fifth in points per game (16.1).
Trujillo ranks second in free throw percentage (90.0 - 28th nationally), is third in minutes per game (32:38) while Bolanga leads the conference in three point attempts (108), is fifth in minutes per game (32.00) and seventh in rebounds per game (6.0).
Holt ranks fourth in blocks per game (1.12) and Tanner Davis is fifth with 30 steals.
SURPASSING 2024-25 WIN TOTAL
The Trailblazers are going for the 10th win of the season on Thursday having already surpassed the seven wins they tallied in 2024-25.
With one more win, it will be the fourth time in the Trailblazers six seasons in Division I they will have double digit wins joining 14 in 2022-23, 13 in 2021-22 and 11 in & 2023-24.
BIG WIN
The Trailblazers' 15-point win at Abilene Christian on Jan. 1 was the largest margin of victory in a road WAC win in the program's six seasons in the conference surpassing their previous high of 14 (79-65) at Chicago State on Jan. 29, 2022. It is also the largest margin of victory in a road win in the Division I era.  Â
BALANCED SCORING ATTACK
The Trailblazers have had a balanced scoring attack all season with seven contests seeing UT tally five or more double figure contests - South Dakota (5), Bethesda (6), Manhattan (5), Nobel (5), Justice (5), Southern Utah (5) & at Utah Valley (5)
Potter has registered double digits in 16 of the Trailblazers' 18 contests this season and has topped 20 or more points in six games.
Bolanga sits second with 12 double figure contests followed by 10 from Holt, nine by Davis and eight from Trujillo.Â
IN ALL NINE WINS
The Trailblazers have found a pair of commonalities, leading at half & shooting 40 percent or better from the field, in all nine of its wins this season.
In eight of Utah Tech's wins, the Trailblazers have shot a better field goal percentage than their opponents, taken more than three pointers, dished out more assists and had less turnovers than their opponents.
WAC WEEKLY AWARDS
ELITE COMPANY
Head coach Jon Judkins is in his 21st season at Utah Tech sporting a 347-238 (.593) overall record and a 327-226 (.591) 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).
WAC FOR ONE MORE SEASON
The 2025-26 campaign will mark an end of an era as Utah Tech will compete as a member of the Western Athletic Conference for the sixth, and final, season. The Trailblazers joined the WAC in 2020-21 during the first year of the program's NCAA Division I transition.Â
GOING "BIG" IN 2026
On June 25, 2025, Utah Tech announced that it had accepted an invitation to join the Big Sky Conference beginning on July 1, 2026.Â
Starting in the 2026-27 season, 14 of the Trailblazers' 17 sports will compete under the Big Sky Conference banner.
UP NEXT
The Trailblazers close out the week on Saturday night hosting Tarleton State (11-6, 2-2 WAC) at 7 p.m. at Burns Arena.
