(Las Vegas - March 12, 2026) - The Trailblazers held off a late rally by Abilene Christian on Thursday night to defeat the Wildcats, 80-74 in the WAC Quarterfinals at Orleans Arena.
Utah Tech (19-14), who defeated the Wildcats for a fourth time this season, took a 46-28 lead at halftime, but Abilene Christian (14-19) was able to pull within a pair in the final minute before the Trailblazers held on for the victory.
The Trailblazers were led by a strong performance from First Team All-WAC selection
Ethan Potter, who led the Trailblazers with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and seven rebounds.
Britton Berrett added 12 points and
Chance Trujillo chipped in 11 points off the bench.
The Trailblazers connected on 55.3 percent (26-47) from the field, 46.7 percent (7-15) from three-point range and 84 percent (21-25) from the free throw line.
ACU saw a pair of Wildcats lead the way with 19 points apiece in Rich Smith and Bradyn Hubbard while Yaniel Rivera added 11 points.
How It Happened
A even start to the first half saw a 7-7 draw after the opening four minutes, but the Trailblazers jumped ahead 13-9 after a tough pair in the paint by
Noah Bolanga.
A 10-1 run for the Trailblazers extended UT's lead from 16-15 to 26-16 with 8:52 to play in the opening half.
Holding a double digit lead for the remainder of the half, the Trailblazers pushed their lead to 17 after a drive by
Jusaun Holt going on to take an 18-point (46-28) lead at the break.
With the Trailblazers in firm control for the first 15 minutes of the second half, leading by double digits the entire time, the Wildcats slowly chipped away at UT's lead cutting it down to nine (71-62) after a three-pointer by Rivera with 4:18 to play.
A pair of free throws by Berrett put the Trailblazers up by 11 (73-62), but a 12-3 run by the Wildcats over the next three minutes cut UT's lead to 76-74 with 55 ticks remaining in regulation.
As they did all night, UT found Potter in crunch time as a dunk by the Trailblazer made it a two-possession contest as two final free throws by Potter sealed the six-point win.
Numbers to Know
- It is Utah Tech's first-ever WAC Tournament win at Orleans Arena after their first two came at Michelob Ultra Arena (March 7, 2023) and at Burns Arena (March 11, 2025).
- Potter passed the 1,000-career point mark in college on Thursday in the second half as he now has 547 points as a Trailblazer to go along with 459 at Utah Valley.
- Utah Tech moves to 13-2 on the season when hitting the 80-point mark. Their two losses when hitting 80 points or more came at Santa Clara (80-90) on Dec. 3 & last Saturday against Utah Valley (101-104).
Up Next
The Trailblazers move on to the WAC Tournament semifinals on Friday night facing No. 2 seed California Baptist (23-8) at 9:30 p.m. MT in Orleans Arena.
