Men's Basketball | 1/16/2026 3:00:00 PM
Game #20
Who | Tarleton State (11-7, 2-3 WAC) at Utah Tech (9-10, 2-3 WAC)
When | Saturday, Jan. 17 – 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 TARLETON STATE TEXANS
Tarleton State is 11-7 on the season and currently in a three-way tie for fourth with the Trailblazers and Abilene Christian in the WAC with a 2-3 mark.
The Texans are coming off a hard-fought 106-105 overtime loss at Southern Utah on Thursday night and have WAC victories over UT Arlington (69-63) on the road and California Baptist (81-76) at home.
TSU went 9-4 in non-conference action and are 3-5 in road action this season also earning wins at Rice and Mississippi Valley State.
The Texans have already nearly matched their win total from 2024-25 when they went 12-20 overall and finished sixth in the WAC regular season standings with a 7-9 mark.
Tarleton State leads the WAC and nation in bench points (47.6) & turnovers per game (19.3) and also tops the conference in free throw percentage (76.7), free throws made (19.7) and steals per game (11.4).
The Texans are second in the conference in field goal percentage (47.5), scoring offense (81.6) & three point percentage (35.5) and are third in scoring margin (+7.1).
Junior guard Dior Johnson leads the nation in points per game (25.0) and also tops the conference in free throws made (113). The Clarendon College transfer is second in the WAC in points (350) and is third in the conference in field goal percentage (57.1). Johnson has been named the WAC Newcomer of the Week four times and WAC Player of the Week three times.Â
Senior guard Freddy Hicks, who earned Second Team All-WAC honors in 2023, leads the Texans in rebounds per game (6.1 - 7th in WAC) and is averaging 10.9 points per game.
Senior guard Cam McDowell leads the WAC in free throw percentage (90.6).           Â
SERIES HISTORY VS. TARLETON STATE
This will be the Trailblazers and Texans 10th all-time meeting with Tarleton State leading the series, 7-2.
The Trailblazers are 2-4 at home against the Texans winning 58-54 last season and 64-48 on Feb. 20, 2021.
This will be the two teams lone meeting in St. George this season while the Trailblazers head to Stephenville for road contests on Jan. 31 and Feb. 21.
LAST TIME OUT VS. UT ARLINGTON
The Trailblazers came up on the short end of a defensive battle on Thursday night falling 56-52 to UT Arlington at Burns Arena.
Utah Tech was led by the third double-double of the season from Ethan Potter who finished with 16 points & a team-leading 11 rebounds to go along with two steals.
Freshman guard Tanner Davis tallied 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field adding five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Sophomore guard Noah Bolanga added seven points & nine rebounds and Chance Trujillo also recorded seven points.
With the Mavericks leading 27-18 at halftime, UTA led by double digits five minutes into the second half before five straight points by the Trailblazers cut the Mavs' lead down to 38-33.
A layup by Samuel "Tobi" Ariyibi cut UTA's lead to 40-37 and a three-pointer by Bolanga made it a two-point contest (42-40).
An 8-0 run for UTA pushed the Mavericks in front, 50-40 with 5:20 to play before layups by Davis & Trujillo along with three free throws highlighted a 7-0 run for the Trailblazers to cut UTA's lead to 50-47.
A three-point play by Jusaun Holt kept the Trailblazers within three at 52-49 with 16 seconds left and a three-point play by Davis made it a two-point contest at 54-52.
Two final free throws by UTA made it a two possession contest to seal a four-point win.  Â
WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC/NCAA IN 2025-26
Utah Tech comes into Saturday's game second in the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.11), three point attempts per game (23.4), three point percentage defense (29.9) and turnovers per game (12.9).
The Trailblazers are third in the conference in assists per game (14.3), field goal percentage (46.6) & three pointers per game (7.3).
Individually, Potter leads the WAC in rebounds per game (7.6), is second in field goal percentage (58.4) & fourth in points per game (16.1).
Trujillo ranks second in the conference in minutes per game (32:47), is third in free throw percentage (88.5 - 46th nationally) while Bolanga leads the conference in three point attempts (113), is fifth in minutes per game (32:06) and sixth in rebounds per game (6.2).
Holt ranks fourth in blocks per game (1.11) and Tanner Davis is fourth with 32 steals.
OFFENSIVE BOARDS
The Trailblazers grabbed 16 offensive boards on Thursday against UT Arlington, third-most in a single game this season, and only topped by 18 against Bethesda and Manhattan.
COLD FROM DOWNTOWN
The Trailblazers went cold from the field on Thursday against UT Arlington only hitting one three pointer in 15 attempts as it was a season low & it was the first game this season they were held below five three pointers made in a contest.
SURPASSING 2024-25 WIN TOTAL
The Trailblazers are going for the 10th win of the season on Saturday 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.
It will be the earliest the Trailblazers will have hit 10 wins in the calendar year after earning their 10th win on Jan. 21 in 2022-23 and Jan. 22 in 2021-22.
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 17 of the Trailblazers' 19 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 & 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 347-239 (.592) overall record and a 327-227 (.590) 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 back on the road on Wednesday night at California Baptist (13-6, 3-3 WAC) at 8 p.m. in Riverside.
