Men's Basketball | 1/30/2026 2:00:00 PM

Game #24
Who | Utah Tech (12-11, 5-4 WAC) at Tarleton State (11-10, 2-6 WAC)
When | Saturday, Jan. 31 – 3 p.m. MT
Where | EECU Center – Stephenville, Texas
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 FM The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

SCOUTING THE TARLETON STATE TEXANS
Tarleton State is 11-10 on the season and currently in seventh in the WAC with a 2-6 mark having dropped their last five contests.

The Texans last win came at home on Jan. 3 over California Baptist with a 81-76 overtime victory and opened WAC action on Dec. 29 at UT Arlington with a 69-63 victory over the Mavericks

Coming off a 83-55 loss at home to Utah Valley on Thursday, the Texans went 9-4 in non-conference action and are 8-3 at home this season.

Tarleton State leads the WAC & nation in bench points (44.2), steals per game (11.3 - 1st nationally)& turnovers forced per game (18.9 - 1st nationally) and leads the WAC in free throw percentage (76.2) & free throws made (19.3) and are second in scoring offense (79.0) & three point percentage (33.8).

Junior guard Dior Johnson leads the WAC and is third in the nation in points per game (23.6) and also tops the conference in free throws made (121). The UCF transfer is third in the conference in points (377) & field goal percentage (54.7) and has been named the WAC Newcomer of the Week five times and WAC Player of the Week three times.

Senior guard Cam McDowell leads the WAC in free throw percentage (87.9) and is second on the team with 13.7 points per game.

Senior guard Freddy Hicks, who earned Second Team All-WAC honors in 2023, leads the Texans in rebounds per game (6.1) & is averaging 10.9 points per game.                          

SERIES HISTORY VS. TARLETON STATE        
This will be the Trailblazers and Texans 11th all-time meeting with Tarleton State leading the series, 7-3.

The Trailblazers are 0-3 on the road at Tarleton State with losses in 2025, 2024 & 2023 while improving to 3-4 at home with a 75-71 win in St. George on Jan. 17 at Burns Arena.

The Trailblazers were led by the seventh 20-point performance of the season from Ethan Potter who finished with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds and an assist.

Three other Trailblazers registered double digits with Noah Bolanga finishing with 16 points, Chance Trujillo added 13 points and Jusaun Holt tallied 11 points & six rebounds and matched his season high with six assists.

This two teams will play one final time this season at the EECU Center on Feb. 21.

LAST TIME OUT AT ABILENE CHRISTIAN
The Trailblazers started their Texas road trip on Thursday night defeating Abilene Christian, 76-70 in Moody Coliseum for head coach Jon Judkins' 350th career win at Utah Tech.

The Trailblazers, who led the entire game, was paced by four Trailblazers in double figures with a team-leading 16 points by Ethan Potter and 13 from Noah Bolanga who drilled 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Jusaun Holt tallied 12 points and Chance Trujillo came off the bench to notch 10 points, four rebounds & four assists.         

Leading the Wildcats 42-31 at half, the Wildcats came out in the second half with newfound life getting started with a 10-2 run to cut the Trailblazers' lead down to three (44-41) after the opening three minutes.

A triple by Holt halted ACU's momentum and got a 10-0 run for the Trailblazers started to give UT a 54-41 lead.

As they did all game, the Wildcats again answered back going on a 9-0 run while the Trailblazers went ice cold from the field going scoreless for nearly six minutes.

With ACU closing the UT lead to 54-50 with 8:15 remaining, the Trailblazers took advantage of a technical foul by the Wildcats to start another 10-0 run of their own to extend their lead to 64-50.  With just over four minutes to play, it was the Trailblazers' largest lead of the contest.

After ACU trimmed the Trailblazers' lead down to five (73-68) with 16 second remaining, Trujillo knocked down a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to make it a three-possession contest and seal the win over the Wildcats.    

WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC/NCAA IN 2025-26
Utah Tech heads into Saturday's game leading the WAC in three point attempts per game (22.9) & turnovers per game (12.7).

The Trailblazers are also second in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.17), assists per game (14.8), field goal percentage (46.9), free throw percentage (72.5), three point percentage defense (29.9 - 30th nationally) & three pointers per game (7.5)

Individually, Potter leads the WAC in rebounds per game (7.9) & field goal percentage (59.5 - 33rd nationally) & is third in points per game (16.6). Potter tops the conference and is 15th nationally with 153 field goals made & is first in rebounds (181).

Trujillo leads the WAC in three point attempts (134) and is fourth in minutes per game (32:24).

Bolanga is second in the WAC in three point attempts (133), is fifth in minutes per game (31:50) and seventh in rebounds per game (5.9).

Holt checks in fifth in blocks per game (1.00) & sixth in assists per game (3.4) and Tanner Davis is fourth with 41 steals.

LET ME HAVE THAT
Davis swiped a season-best five steals on Thursday at Abilene Christian.

It was the first time since Dec. 22, 2022 a Trailblazer (Frank Staine) has had five steals in a contest.

IN ALL 12 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 12 of its wins this season.

TOP 10 WATCH FOR NUMBER OF TRAILBLAZERS
Potter, Trujillo, Holt & Davis 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 (59.5, 9th), Trujillo in free throw percentage (87.9, 6th), Holt in three point percentage (45.6, 4th) & Davis in steals (41, T-8th).

JUDKINS EARNS 350th WIN at UT        
Head coach Jon Judkins earned his 350th win at Utah Tech on Thursday at Abilene Christian. It was his 65th Division I victory after earning 265 in Division II and 20 wins as a junior college.

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 20 of the Trailblazers' 23 contests this season and has topped 20 or more points in eight games, including a career-high 29 points against SUU on Jan. 24.

Bolanga sits second with 16 double figure contests followed by 14 from Holt, 13 by Trujillo and 11 apiece by Davis.

NO FREE GIVEAWAYS
The Trailblazers only surrendered three turnovers last Saturday against Southern Utah to tie a program record for fewest turnovers in a contest matching only three given up at California Baptist on Dec. 16, 2017.

ELITE COMPANY
Head coach Jon Judkins is in his 21st season at Utah Tech sporting a 350-240 (.593) overall record and a 330-228 (.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).

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers are back home on Thursday night to open a three-game homestand hosting UT Arlington (14-6, 6-2 WAC) at 7 p.m. at Burns Arena.