Men's Basketball | 1/27/2026 4:30:00 PM

Game #23
Who | Utah Tech (11-11, 4-4 WAC) at Abilene Christian (10-9, 2-4 WAC)
When | Thursday, Jan. 29 – 6 p.m. MT
Where | Moody Coliseum – Abilene, Texas
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 FM The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

SCOUTING THE ABILENE CHRISTIAN WILDCATS
Abilene Christian enters Thursday night's game with a 10-9 overall record and will be on a 12-day break coming into the contest after last playing at Southern Utah on Jan. 17

With their contest at Tarleton State scheduled for Monday postponed due to weather, the Wildcats are 6-2 at home with their lone two conference losses coming to the Trailblazers on New Year's Day & against California Baptist (58-74) on Jan. 15.

ACU has a pair of WAC victories winning at home over Utah Valley (85-68) on Jan. 3 & at Tarleton State (84-80) five days later.

Abilene Christian ranks second in the WAC in steals per game (9.5) & turnovers faced per game (15.37) and is fourth in assists per game (13.9), scoring defense (71.7), free throws made (15.3), three point percentage (32.3) and turnovers per game (14.1).

Individually, senior forward Bradyn Hubbard, a preseason All-WAC selection and two-time WAC Player of the Week, checks in fourth in the conference in steals per game (1.84), is fifth in points per game (15.8), seventh in free throw percentage (78.3) and eighth in field goal percentage (41.5).

Senior guard Rich Smith is second in the conference averaging 4.9 assists & is fifth in steals per game (1.83) while averaging 10.4 points per game.            

SERIES HISTORY VS. ABILENE CHRISTIAN  
This will be Utah Tech's ninth meeting against Abilene Christian with the Wildcats leading the series, 7-1.

ACU is 4-1 at home and 3-0 in St. George and the two teams will meet one final time in the regular season in Burns Arena on Feb. 26.

The Trailblazers defeated the Wildcats, 79-64 on Jan. 1 for their first-ever win over ACU.

UT used hot shooting and a 22-0 run in the first half to break open the contest and never looked back.

The Trailblazers saw a well-balanced scoring attack led by a season-high 19 points from Chance Trujillo on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. The redshirt sophomore guard connected on a season-best five three-pointers & added a season-leading four steals.

Jusaun Holt tallied 15 points and four rebounds while Tanner Davis & Britton Berrett each came off the bench to chip in 13 points apiece.

LAST TIME OUT VS. SOUTHERN UTAH        
Behind six Trailblazers in double figures, Utah Tech defeated Southern Utah, 102-91 in front of 3,833 fans on Saturday night at Burns Arena.

In front of its largest crowd in nearly three years, Utah Tech went over the 100-point mark for the first time ever against a Division I opponent in the Division I era and downed Southern Utah for the second time this season.

Led by a career-high 29 points from Ethan Potter, the three-time WAC Player of the Week went 11-of-15 from the field and tallied his fourth double-double of the season grabbing 11 rebounds.

Trujillo came off the bench to tally 17 points, including hitting three three-pointers, while Berrett registered 14 points and matched his career high with four three-pointers.

Davis and Noah Bolanga each posted 13 points apiece and Holt rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points and a career-best 12 assists for his first career double-double.

Leading 52-43 at halftime, the Trailblazers pushed their lead to as many as 15 (77-62) after a jumper by Potter with 11:20 to play in the second half.

The Thunderbirds answered back with a 17-6 run to cut the Trailblazers lead to four (83-79) before a court-length pass from Holt to Trujillo pushed the lead back to six.

A layup by Duval with 2:39 to play brang the Thunderbirds within five at 93-88, but Bolanga answered right back with a thunderous slam.

A three-pointer by Bolanga and a pair of free throws & one final dunk by Holt punctuated an 11-point victory over the Thunderbirds.

WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC/NCAA IN 2025-26
Utah Tech makes their way into Thursday's game leading the WAC in three point attempts per game (23.2) & turnovers per game (12.3).

The Trailblazers are also second in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.21), assists per game (14.9), field goal percentage (46.8), free throw percentage (72.9), three point percentage defense (29.2 - 20th nationally) & three pointers per game (7.5).

Individually, Potter leads the WAC in rebounds per game (7.9) & field goal percentage (59.8 - 31st nationally) & is fourth in points per game (16.6).

Trujillo leads the WAC in three point attempts (131), ranks second in the conference in free throw percentage (88.9) and is fourth in minutes per game (32:23).

Bolanga is second in the WAC in three point attempts (127), is fifth in minutes per game (31:51) and eighth in rebounds per game (5.9).

Holt checks in fifth in blocks per game (1.05) & sixth in assists per game (1.10) and Tanner Davis is fourth with 36 steals.

BIG WIN OVER T-BIRDS
For the first time in the Division I era, the Trailblazers scored 100 or more points against a D1 opponent in their win over Southern Utah.

The previous high was 96 points against FIU on Dec. 30, 2023 in a four-point win in overtime over the Panthers.

The 91 points allowed are also the second-most points allowed in a win against a D1 opponent, second only to allowing 92 points against FIU.

SO MANY HELPERS
The Trailblazers matched their season high with 25 assists on Saturday against the Thunderbirds and also matched their season best with 39 field goals made.

Holt set a new career high with 12 assists which tied for the second-most assists in a single game in program history behind only 13 by Jeremiah Barnes against Pacifica in 2010-11.

TOP 10 WATCH FOR POTTER, TRUJILLO & HOLT
Potter, Trujillo and Holt are all on track to finish in the top 10 in a single season in different categories.

Potter in points per game (16.6, 4th), rebounds per game (7.9, 5th) & field goal percentage (59.8, 9th), Trujillo in free throw percentage (88.9, 3rd) & Holt in three point percentage (45.3, 5th).

BALANCED SCORING ATTACK
The Trailblazers have had a balanced scoring attack all season with eight 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) & Southern Utah (6).

Potter has registered double digits in 19 of the Trailblazers' 21 contests this season and has topped 20 or more points in eight games, including a career-high 29 points in his last outing against SUU.

Bolanga sits second with 15 double figure contests followed by 13 from Holt, 11 by Davis and 10 from Trujillo.

IN ALL 11 WINS
The Trailblazers have found three commonalities, leading at half, shooting 40 percent or better from the field & hitting at least six three pointers, in all 11 of its wins this season.

In 10 of Utah Tech's wins, the Trailblazers have shot a better field goal percentage than their opponents, taken more three pointers and dished out more assists than their opponents.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers close out the week on Saturday afternoon traveling to Tarleton State (11-9, 2-5 WAC) at 3 p.m. MT at the EECU Center.