ST. GEORGE — The Trailblazers need this one.
The Utah Tech men’s basketball team has lost four consecutive games, falling to 5-7 overall on the campaign, and will look to steady the ship against Conference USA’s Florida International Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Burns Arena.
After a 27-point road defeat at the University of Colorado Dec. 21, the Trailblazers are craving some home cooking that will fuel their momentum going into the remainder of the Western Athletic Conference schedule.
Freshman point guard Aric Demings had a strong showing in the loss against the Buffaloes. He finished the game with 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting. He also grabbed a rebound, dished out three assists and registered a steal.
Demings averages 9.7 points per game and leads the team with 3.1 assists per game.
Second-leading scorer Noa Gonsalves averages 10.8 points per game for Utah Tech while Tanner Christensen is the overall highest scorer on the team, tossing in 140 points so far this season.
Also against Colorado, Utah Tech head coach Jon Judkins started 6-foot-9 sophomore Hamed Olayinka for the first time this season. Olayinka leads the team in blocks with an average of 1.75 per game, good for third-best in the WAC.
All of the Trailblazers will have to be at their best against FIU (5-9), which comes to St. George after a home win versus Maine.
The Panthers are led by do-it-all Arturo Dean, who is the top FIU man with 12.2 points per game as well as their leader in assists (4.7 per game), steals (3.9 per game) and rebounds (4.5 per game).
Listen to Voice of the Trailblazers Rod Zundel call the live broadcast of the Trailblazers and Panthers at 3 p.m. Saturday on The Fan Sports Network.
After the turn of the calendar, Utah Tech will play the first of 18 consecutive WAC opponents at Seattle University Thursday, Jan. 4.
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