Men's Basketball | 11/3/2026 1:15:00 PM

Game #2
Who | Utah Tech (0-1) vs. Grace University (0-0)
When | Wednesday, Nov. 4 – 7 p.m.
Where | Burns Arena – St. George, Utah
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

SCOUTING THE GRACE UNIVERSITY TALONS
Grace University, located in Pomona, Calif., is in their first season of competition this season and will play fellow Division I opponents Southern Utah (Nov. 5), CSUN (Nov. 12), San Francisco (Dec. 8) & Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 22).

The Talons will compete in the California Collegiate Alliance and Division II of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

Fellow CCA members include Cal Miramar, Bethesda, Cal Prestige & Lincoln.

Grace is led by head coach Les Bean who comes to the program after a pair of seasons at Nobel University.

The Talons have six transfers from Nobel University along with eight freshmen and four other transfers.

TRAILBLAZERS FALL TO NEW MEXICO IN SEASON OPENER
The Trailblazers stumbled at New Mexico to open the season on Monday night falling to the Lobos, 100-60 at the Pit.

Utah Tech went toe-to-toe with the Mountain West preseason favorites in the first half, but saw a 62-point second half by New Mexico turn the contest into a rout for the Lobos.

The Trailblazers were led in scoring by freshman guard Christian Gibson with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and made a team-high three three-pointers.

Senior guard Mark Brown Jr. was the Trailblazers lone other player in double figures finishing with 12 points and added three steals, three assists & a rebound.

Preseason All-Big Sky selection Ethan Potter led the way on the boards finishing with a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with eight points, three assists, one block & one steal.

Freshman guard Owen Mackay chipped in eight points, including nailing a pair of three-pointers, in his Trailblazer debut and grabbed a pair of rebounds.

A layup by Gibson locked up the score at 33 with 1:41 remaining in the first half, but the final five points of the half went to New Mexico after a three-point play and a last second layup by the Lobos.

A 9-2 run for the Lobos in the first two minutes out of the halftime break gave UNM a 47-35 lead and a three-pointer by Brown Jr. kept the Trailblazers within 10 at 50-40.

Seven straight points for New Mexico extended their lead to 17 with 14:40 left in the contest as the Lobos pushed their lead to as many 40 winning by that final margin.         

HOME OPENERS   
The Trailblazers are 16-4 in home openers with a 5-1 record as a Division I member with a win last season against Bethesda, 110-65.

UT also has wins in home openers against Utah Valley (2023), CSUN (2022), Southern Utah (2021) & North Dakota (2020) with its lone loss coming to New Mexico State in 2024.

HOME COOKING
The Trailblazers are 181-66 (.733) overall at Burns Arena in the NCAA era.

The Blazers went 11-3 at home last season for their most wins in the Division I era and are 46-36 (.561) at home in the DI era.

SEASON OPENERS/ROAD OPENERS
The Trailblazers fell to 9-12 in season openers in the NCAA era with a 2-5 mark in the Division I era.

This season was the sixth straight season Utah Tech has started the season on the road and 10th time overall in the NCAA era.

YEAR ONE IN THE BIG SKY
The Trailblazers are in their first season as members of the Big Sky after accepting an invitation to join the conference beginning on July 1, 2026.

The Trailblazers are in their seventh year of Division I play after six seasons in the WAC earning 72 victories and are coming off a third-place finish in the WAC regular season & an appearance in the WAC Tournament semifinals last season.

JUDKINS HEADS INTO YEAR 22
Head coach Jon Judkins enters his 22nd season at Utah Tech sporting a 357-245 (.593) overall record and a 337-233 (.591) mark in NCAA play.

Only seven current Division I coaches have been at their schools longer - Greg Kampe (43rd season at Oakland), Tom Izzo (32-Michigan St.), Mark Few (28-Gonzaga), James Jones (28-Yale), Scott Drew (24-Baylor), Bill Self (24-Kansas) & Gary Manchel (24-Mercyhurst)

POTTER NAMED TO THE PRESEASON ALL-BIG SKY TEAM
Returning for his fifth season of college basketball and second as a Trailblazer this season, Ethan Potter was one of seven student-athletes named to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team.

After earning First Team All-WAC honors last season as well as being named to the All-Tournament Team at the WAC Tournament, Potter led the WAC in rebounds grabbing 7.8 boards per game & ranked second in the conference averaging 16.8 points per game.

He also led the WAC in field goal percentage hitting 59.8 percent from the field and set a new program record for points in a season totaling 572 points.

Also named to the Blue Ribbon Yearbook Preseason All-Big Sky Team, Potter scored 20 or more points in 12 contests and ranked second in the WAC with seven double-doubles.

TRAILBLAZERS SELECTED SEVENTH IN THE BIG SKY PRESEASON POLL
As a team, the Trailblazers were picked seventh in both the Big Sky preseason coaches' and media polls with Montana State selected to win the league followed by Northern Colorado & Eastern Washington in second & third, respectively in both polls.

2026 Big Sky regular season champion Portland State tied for fourth in the coaches' poll and was picked fifth in the media poll while 2026 Big Sky tournament champion Idaho was selected sixth in both polls.

TRAILBLAZERS IMPRESS IN PAIR OF EXHIBITION CONTESTS
The Trailblazers got the preseason underway with a pair of home exhibitions defeating Utah Valley, 92-80 on Oct. 17 and West Coast Baptist, 134-66 on Oct. 24.

In the contest against the Wolverines, the Trailblazers were paced by a 23-point performance from Gibson who went 9-of-17 from the field and added six rebounds and three assists. Brown and Rodriguez added 19 points apiece and Potter notched a double-double with 12 points & 10 rebounds.

Another balanced scoring attack came against the Eagles as all 11 Trailblazers who saw action scored at least three points while Gibson again led the team with 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Potter and Rodriguez each added 18 points apiece while Bliss recorded a double-double with 15 points & 11 rebounds. Brown chipped in 14 points and eight assists  and Vandermyde tallied 12 points.

LOOK BACK AT TRAILBLAZERS 2025-26 SEASON
The Trailblazers are coming off their best season in Division I posting a 19-15 overall record and placed third in the WAC regular season standings with an 11-7 mark.

Utah Tech was especially tough at home with an 11-3 mark at Burns Arena and advanced to the semifinals of their final WAC Tournament.

TOP FIVE SINGLE SEASON TEAM MARKS IN 2025-26 
The Trailblazers saw a banner season in 2025-26 finishing in the top five in program history in 10 different categories.

Utah Tech set a NCAA era program record for a season in points (2612), field goals made (941), field goals attempted (1989), three point field goals attempted (766), three point percentage defense (.302) while being second in steals per game (7.2) & three pointers made (266), third in assists (498), fourth in blocks (108) & fifth in rebounds (1155).

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers head out out on the road for four straight games away from home starting at Utah State (1-0) next Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Logan.