Hosting first-place University of Texas at Arlington Jan. 15, Utah Tech men’s basketball suffered a 56-52 loss to fall 9-10 overall, and 2-3 in WAC play in its third straight defeat.
The Mavericks would score the game’s first points, but the Trailblazers answered with a 10-4 run to take a slim four-point lead just under seven minutes into the first half.
UTA responded by scoring the next 13 points, shutting down the Utah Tech offense while taking a nine-point lead, 19-10, with 7:39 left in the first half.
Just a few minutes later, the Mavericks pushed the lead up to 12 (26-14), the largest of the half, with four minutes before halftime.
Two late baskets saw the Trailblazers cut into the deficit, but the visitors would take a 27-18 lead to the halftime break.
Despite poor shooting in the opening half, Utah Tech was able to keep the game close, but a quick pair of buckets out of the half by UTA saw them push the lead to 13, 31-18.
The Trailblazers would then begin to chip away, getting within five thanks to a Tanner Davis three-point play with 13:19 left, which made it 38-33.
A few minutes and more solid defense later, Utah Tech made it a two-point game off a Noah Bolanga three, to make it 42-40 with 9:22 to go.
The Mavericks countered with an 8-0 spurt, pushing their lead back to 10, 50-40, with just over five minutes remaining.
While it seemed like UTA might cruise from there, the Trailblazers used a quick 7-0 run to get within three after a Chance Trujillo fastbreak layup, with 3:22 on the clock.
That, however, would be as close as Utah Tech would get.
With the game on the line, the Trailblazers would not score any points for over three minutes despite playing solid defense.
The Mavericks would seal the win with a pair of free throws in the final seconds to hold on for a 56-52 win.
In the end, poor shooting — from both the field and the free throw line — would make the difference in a close matchup for the Trailblazers. The team shot a mere 31.8% from the field (21-66) while managing just one made three-pointer.
“We just shot really poorly,” forward Ethan Potter, a senior management major from Layton, said postgame.
Potter led Utah Tech offensively, recording a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.
“Sometimes, we can’t control the way we shoot. We’ve just got to control the shots we are getting. I think we did a better job getting better shots in the second half, but we just can’t have a first half where we shoot 22% from the field,” Potter said.
Free-throw shooting also proved costly, as Utah Tech made nine of 18 shots from the line.
“Free throws were big tonight,” said guard Tanner Davis, a freshman finance major from Smithfield. He tied for the team lead with 16 points in the loss.
“I missed two in the first half. Honestly, our defense played really well tonight; it just came down to making shots,” Davis said of the close defeat.
Despite the loss, head coach Jon Judkins praised his team’s effort.
“I love the effort; we played hard. That’s a tough team, and they really drive you. Defensively, to hold a team to 56 [points] on 32% shooting, you normally see a team that does that wins the game,” Judkins said.
