Men's Basketball | 3/13/2026 9:00:00 AM

Game #34 - WAC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL
Who | No. 3 Seed Utah Tech (19-14) vs. No. 2 Seed California Baptist (23-8)
When | Friday, March 13 – 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 CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS
California Baptist comes into the WAC Tournament as the number two seed after finishing the regular season with a 23-8 overall record and a 13-5 conference mark.

The Lancers have won four straight heading into the tournament and have won 13 of their last 15 since starting WAC play with an 0-3 record.

CBU leads the WAC in field goal percentage defense (41.4), rebounds per game (40.2 - 20th nationally) & offensive rebounds per game (14.0 - 6th nationally).

The Lancers are also second in the WAC in scoring defense (67.6), scoring margin (5.3), three point percentage defense (29.4 - 6th nationally) and turnovers per game (12.4).

CBU is led by WAC Player of the Year Dominique Daniels Jr. along with Second Team selection Martel Williams and All-Freshman Team selection Jordan Muller.

Daniels Jr. leads the WAC in points per game (22.6) & minutes per game (35:58), is second in free throw percentage (81.3) and fourth in field goal percentage (43.5).

SERIES HISTORY VS. CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
This will be the Trailblazers and Lancers 29th meeting with Utah Tech leading the all-time series, 15-13.

This will be the second-ever meeting in a postseason tournament after also playing in the 2016 PacWest Tournament and have played 11 times in St. George and 16 times in Riverside.

CBU won both meetings in Riverside this season winning 84-72 on Jan. 8 & 73-64 on Jan. 21 before the Trailblazers were able to avoid the season sweep on Feb. 14 winning 70-65 at home.

This will be the 13th meeting between the two as Division I foes with CBU holding a 7-5 lead.

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 3-2 overall in the tournament with Thursday's win over ACU to go along with wins as 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.

WAC TOURNAMENT OPENING ROUND VS. ABILENE CHRISTIAN
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, who defeated the Wildcats for a fourth time this season, took a 46-28 lead at halftime, but Abilene Christian 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.

With Utah Tech leading by 18 at halftime, the Trailblazers stayed 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.

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.

POTTER PASSES 1,000 CAREER POINT MARK
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.

80 POINTS OR MORE
Utah Tech improved 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).

WINNERS IN NINE OF THE LAST 12
The Trailblazers won nine of their last 12 games dating back to Jan. 21 at California Baptist. Over that stretch, the Trailblazers are averaging 78.7 points per game winning close contests by an average of 5.9 points.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
The Trailblazers have shot 40 percent or better from the field & have hit at least six three pointers in all 19 wins this season