ST. GEORGE — It’s on to Grand Forks, North Dakota — the next stop on Utah Tech men’s basketball’s seven-game road trip.
The Trailblazers (3-2 overall, 0-0 in Western Athletic Conference) face host North Dakota (3-3) Friday afternoon, followed by a Saturday neutral-site game vs. Cal State Fullerton (4-1).
Both games will be played inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, beginning each day at noon (MT).
Click here to access live stats and streaming audio/video information for both games.
According to a news release from UT Athletics, Utah Tech is 2-0 all-time against the UND Fighting Hawks, with both victories serving as milestone wins for the Trailblazer program. UT and UND first met in the Blazers’ NCAA Division I debut game in the 2020-21 season, a game that Utah Tech won by a 74-73 count inside the Burns Arena (12/2/20).
The two sides met again last December in Grand Forks, where the Trailblazers came away with a 78-69 road victory, which was also Jon Judkins’ 300th win as Utah Tech head coach.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s game vs. Cal State Fullerton will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Titans on the basketball court.
Utah Tech returns four starters and eight letter winners from last year’s squad that posted a 13-18 overall record (6-12 WAC, 12th) in the program’s second NCAA Division I season. The 13 wins last season were five more than the program’s win total from its D-I debut season in 2020-21.
UT has 17 players on its 2022-23 roster, headlined by senior point guard Cameron Gooden, who is the team’s top returning scorer (11.5 ppg) and assists leader (3.6 apg) from a year ago, according to a news release from Utah Tech Athletics.
Gooden started in all 31 games last season and scored in double figures in 15 of his first 18 starts with three 20-plus point outings, highlighted by a career-high 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting at California Baptist.
Senior forward Dancell Leter is UT’s top returning rebounder and second-leading scorer. He too started in all 31 games and averaged 10.3 points (11.4 in WAC play) on 45.7 percent shooting and 5.2 rebounds a game. Leter scored in double figures in nine of his final 12 starts, including back-to-back 15-point outings at home vs. New Mexico State and Grand Canyon.
Junior forward Frank Staine is back for his fourth season after he played in all 31 games last year and was in the starting lineup in the final 28 overall, and averaged 8.8 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 41.7 percent (.328 3FG) from the floor.
Fellow junior Isaiah Pope also returns after he started in 15 of 30 games played and averaged 5.6 points on 36.7 percent shooting and 2.8 rebounds in 2021-22. He poured in a season-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers vs. UTRGV.