ST. GEORGE — The Utah Tech men’s basketball team will match its five-game winning streak up against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and its three-game hot streak on Thursday night.
The contest opens play in the Western Athletic Conference for both teams. According to a press release, Utah Tech (8-5) is 1-2 lifetime against the Vaqueros (8-4).
The Trailblazers have nothing to lose after preseason coaches and media polls projected Utah Tech to finish 12th out 13 teams in the WAC standings.
After winning five games in a row and four contests at Burns Arena, Utah Tech will have its first chance to prove the conference pundits wrong in a game that will feature the WAC’s leading scorer.
Senior Vaquero guard Justin Johnson is scoring 21.1 points per game, best in the conference. He also shoots the third-best percentage (.509) and averages 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Meanwhile, sophomore guard Will Johnston is fifth in WAC scoring with 16 points per game.
As a team, UTRGV is second in the conference in scoring (84.2 points per game) and has scored more than 95 points in each of its last three victories.
Utah Tech will counter with a balanced offense led by senior Cameron Gooden (16.2 ppg), junior Isaiah Pope (13.2 ppg since entering the starting lineup) and sophomore Noa Gonsalves. The sharpshooter drained his first five 3-point attempts and tied a career-best effort with 19 points in his last outing.
Senior forward Jacob Nicolds has started the last eight games for Utah Tech, averaging 9.1 points per game on 65.8 percent shooting.
Thursday’s game tips off in Burns Arena at 7 p.m. and concludes a season-long five-game homestand. Fans can listen to the action on 99.5 FM-The Fan Sports Network.
Then, the Trailblazers travel up Interstate 15 to Orem on Saturday to face in-state and WAC rival Utah Valley in a 2 p.m. New Year’s Eve matinee.
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