Men's Basketball | 3/11/2026 9:30:00 PM

Game #33 - WAC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL
Who | No. 3 Seed Utah Tech (18-14) vs. No. 6 Seed Abilene Christian (14-18)
When | Thursday, March 12 – 9:30 p.m. MT
Where | Orleans Arena – Las Vegas, Nev.
Broadcast | ESPN+ / 99.5 FM The Fan Sports Network
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

SCOUTING THE ABILENE CHRISTIAN WILDCATS
Abilene Christian finished the regular season with a 13-18 overall mark and tied with Tarleton State for sixth in the WAC regular season standings with a 5-13 mark.

The sixth-seeded Wildcats topped the seventh-seeded Texans, 84-78 in the WAC Tournament opening round on Wednesday night after dropping their final four regular season contests heading into the WAC Tournament.

ACU ranks second in the WAC and checks in top five in the nation in turnovers forced per game (3rd nationally - 16.52) & steals per game (4th nationally - 9.8).

The Wildcats are fourth in the WAC in assists per game (13.2) & scoring defense (72.2) and fifth in three pointers per game (5.8).

The Wildcats are led by the WAC Defensive Player of the Year Rich Smith and First Team All-WAC selection Bradyn Hubbard.

Smith ranks third in the WAC in steals (58) & steals per game (1.90) along with being second in the conference in assists per game (4.7).

Hubbard is third in the WAC in points per game (16.2), points (501) & free throw percentage (80.2).

SERIES HISTORY VS. ABILENE CHRISTIAN
This will be the Trailblazers and Wildcats 11th all-time meeting with ACU leading the series, 7-3.

After the Wildcats won the first seven contests in the series, the Trailblazers won all three meetings over the Wildcats this season winning a pair on the road on Jan. 1 (79-64) & Jan. 29 (76-70) and at home on Feb. 26 (85-81).

The two teams have never met in postseason play.

WAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This will be Utah Tech's third trip to the WAC Tournament in program history as they were the No. 9 seed in 2025 and No. 11 seed in 2023.

The Trailblazers are 2-2 overall in the tournament with wins over the No. 8 seed Southern Utah (72-65) in the opening round last year at Burns Arena & defeated No. 6 seed Stephen F. Austin (80-76) in overtime in 2023.

UT fell to No. 1 seed Utah Valley (57-74) in the quarterfinals last year and fell to No. 3 seed Southern Utah (75-76) in the quarterfinals in 2023.

LAST TIME OUT VS. UTAH VALLEY
The Trailblazers battled back to force double overtime against visiting Utah Valley on Saturday night falling 104-101 in the second extra session on Senior Night at Burns Arena.

Utah Tech wrapped up the regular season with the hard-fought comeback with four Trailblazers finishing in double figures led by 28 points by Ethan Potter who went 14-of-17 from the free throw line.

Potter tallied his seventh double-double of the season grabbing 10 rebounds along with dishing out a team-high five assists.

Chance Trujillo registered 18 points and Jusaun Holt posted his second double-double of the season finishing with 16 points and a season-high 10 rebounds.

Noah Bolanga added 14 points off the bench while Tanner Davis chipped in nine points, five rebounds and four assists.

With the Wolverines leading 40-36 at halftime, the Wolverines built a double- digit lead seven minutes into the second half, Utah Valley continued to lead 79-73 with 34 seconds left in the second half.

A pair of free throws by Holt followed by a turnover by the Wolverines and an acrobatic three-pointer by Trujillo cut UVU's lead to one, 79-78 with 16 seconds left.

A pair of free throws by the Wolverines' Weatherspoon IV pushed UVU up 81-78, but a three-point play by Potter with eight seconds left knotted the game at 81 and sent the game to overtime.

With each team scoring 11 points in the first overtime, the contest shifted to a second overtime tied at 92.

The Wolverines struck first with the first seven points of the second extra session taking a 99-92 lead with 2:50 to play.

The Trailblazers refused to go down quietly cutting UVU's lead to 102-101 with five seconds left after a triple by Holt, but two final free throws by the Wolverines put the visitors up 104-101 as one final three-point attempt by Holt in the final seconds came up short.

WHERE THE TRAILBLAZERS RANK IN THE WAC/NCAA IN 2025-26
Utah Tech heads into the conference tournament leading the WAC in three point attempts per game (22.8), three pointers made per game (7.9) & turnovers per game (12.2).

The Trailblazers are second in the conference in scoring offense (76.9), free throw percentage (72.5) assist/turnover ratio (1.18), assists per game (14.4), field goal percentage (47.1) & three point percentage (34.5).

Individually, Potter leads the WAC in rebounds per game (8.0), rebounds (255) & field goal percentage (58.9 - 28th nationally). He is also among the league leaders in points (522, 2nd), field goals made (205, 2nd), points per game (16.3, 2nd) & blocks (28, 6th).

Trujillo leads the WAC in three point attempts (195) & three-pointers made (67) and is third in minutes per game (33:09).

Bolanga is second in the WAC in three point attempts (176), third three-pointers made (58), fourth in minutes per game (32:41) and seventh in rebounds per game (5.9).

Holt checks in sixth in assists per game (3.3) & is eighth in blocks (26) and Tanner Davis is seventh with 51 steals.

TRIO OF TRAILBLAZERS EARN POSTSEASON WAC HONORS, JUDKINS NAMED WAC COACH OF THE YEAR
Senior forward Ethan Potter was named to the WAC First Team, sophomore guard Noah Bolanga garnered Second Team accolades and freshman guard Tanner Davis earned All-Freshman Team honors.

Finally, head coach Jon Judkins was named the WAC Coach of the Year after helping the Trailblazers to an 11-win improvement in the regular season and a third-place finish in the WAC regular season after being picked to finish sixth in the WAC preseason poll.

It is Judkins' first career conference coach of the year in the Division I ranks and seventh overall in his 21 seasons at Utah Tech joining six PacWest Coach of the Year honors in Division II in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2018.

WINNERS OF EIGHT OF THE LAST 11
The Trailblazers won eight of its last 11 regular season games dating back to Jan. 21 at California Baptist.

Over that stretch, the Trailblazers are averaging 78.5 points per game with a 5-1 record at home and a 3-2 mark on the road.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
The Trailblazers have shot 40 percent or better from the field & have hit at least six three pointers in all 18 wins this season.

TRUJILLO ENDS SEASON HOT
Trujillo hit a season-best six three-pointers on Feb. 26 against ACU as it was the 12th time in the NCAA era a Trailblazer has connected on six or more three-pointers in a game.

Trujillo has been on a tear from the field over the final eight games of the regular season shooting 46-of-87 (.529) from the field and 28-of-53 (.528) from three-point range.

TOP 10 SINGLE SEASON RECORD 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 (16.3, 6th), rebounds per game (8.0, 5th), rebounds (255, 4th) & field goal made (205, 1st), Trujillo in free throw percentage (81.4), Holt in three point percentage (42.0, 10th) & Davis in steals (51, 4th).

As a team, the Trailblazers are top 10 in a season in 3-point percentage defense (29.7, 1st), steals (229, 1st), points (2,460, 2nd), 3-pointers made (252, 2nd), field goals made (888, 2nd), field goal attempts (1,886, 2nd), 3-pointers attempted (731, 3rd), assists (461, 4th), blocks (101, 5th), rebounds (1,099, 7th) & field goal percentage (47.1, 8th).

ELITE COMPANY
Head coach Jon Judkins is in his 21st season at Utah Tech sporting a 356-243 (.595) overall record and a 336-231 (.593) 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).