Utah Tech men’s hoops take no bull from Matadors in home opener win

Written by Chris Reed
November 13, 2022

ST. GEORGE — About 30 years ago, the CSUN athletic program out of Northridge, California, was in Utah Tech’s current position – in its second year in Division I after being in Division II. But on Saturday night, it was the Utah Tech men’s basketball team that looked like it had decades of Divison I experience.

Trey Edmonds slams for Utah Tech against CSUN at Burns Arena, St. George, Utah, Nov. 12, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

The Trailblazers used a big run halfway through the game to leave Big West team CSUN behind for a 69-63 win in the team’s home opener in front of an announced 2,297 at Burns Arena, .

The Trailblazers, after losing their first game of the season on the road against Nevada in Reno, are relishing being an underdog including being the new kids on the Division I block against a team with much more top level experience that beat the Trailblazers, 79-73, last November.

“We’ve got nothing to lose. We want to come out there and show we belong at Division I and we are not just another Division I team,” senior point guard Cameron Gooden said. “We are a Division I team that wants to compete and be in every game as possible.”

Gooden led all Utah Tech scorers with 17 points adding five assists. On the boards he tied with team big man, sophomore forward Tanner Christensen, taking in eight rebounds.

Someone else feeling like they had something to prove was junior forward Frank Staine. He grew up in Inglewood, 27 miles from the CSUN campus. But the Division I team on the other side of the Hollywood Hills didn’t peek over the Hollywood sign to give him a look.

“I’m from L.A. and CSUN didn’t recruit me. So there’s some energy there and good to be able to beat a team from home and from the Big West,” Staine said.  “There’s that chip on your shoulder when you go to another D1 school and the ones in your backyard weren’t looking at you.”

Tanner Christensen (30) defends for Utah Tech against CSUN at Burns Arena, St. George, Utah, Nov. 12, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

The final score looked closer than the action of the game suggested.

The CSUN Matadors (1-1) took only one lead in the game late in the first half for a span of 30 seconds. Missed foul shots and what was seemingly a one-man comeback attempt by Matadors guard Dionte Bostick.

“We deserved to win. We all outplayed them tonight,” Utah Tech Coach Jon Judkins said after he completed his 18th home opener. “We just made it a little closer than we needed to.”

The Trailblazers’ plan going in was defense and speed.

“People don’t understand if you play good defense, your offense flows. And once we started doing that, we got some easy baskets,” Judkins said. “It changed the game and I thought the second half we came out really aggressive and getting after it and made that big run to get that lead.”

And that lead came from speed against the slower Matadors.

“The goal was definitely to speed them up. They like to play slow. They have some of the lowest possessions per game and we know that we’re in better shape than most teams,” Staine said. “So we feel like if we speed them up and turn them over, we had the advantage.”

The Trailblazers set the pace early, going on a 7-3 run and causing three straight Matador turnovers. But CSUN narrowed the lead by pushing the Trailblazers into two turnovers of their own. 

For the next nine minutes, both teams went on a status quo exchange of turnovers and baskets and turnovers with Utah Tech maintaining a narrow lead until a defensive lapse left Bostickwide open under the basket to give CSUN its first lead of the game, 18-16, with 5:30 left in the first half.

It would be the last lead for CSUN, as the Blazers scored 22 of next 29 points.

The run started with Tech senior forward Dancell Leter driving to the hoop and getting the foul and one to give the Trailblazers the lead right back with five minutes left in the half. 

Utah Tech vs. CSUN in men’s basketball at Burns Arena, St. George, Utah, Nov. 12, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

The run was on, especially on two straight possessions for Staine. After he shot a 3-pointer,  the Matadors turned the ball over at half-court and Staine got the ball back, scoring while falling under the hoop. 

Gooden helped him up, then cheered and pumped his fist at the nearby student section, which stood and roared in kind as Tech led 30-22 with 1:37 left and led 33-25 at the half.

“I love getting into it with the crowd. That’s probably my favorite thing about playing in the Burn, so I like to take advantage of it,” Staine said.

Between the end of the first and the start of the second, the Trailblazers went on a 20-6 run. 

Gooden solidified that run right at the start of the second half with a drive to the hoop and one, then another fouled drive on the next run up the court off a turnover and making two free throws.  

“I wanted to just push the tempo, get everyone involved,” Gooden said. “Everyone was getting shots. So it was going good.”

Eight minutes into the second half, the Trailblazers made three consecutive threes, starting with a fall-away three by Gooden as the shot clock expired. The three spree culminated another 16-4 run for Utah Tech that put them up 56-36 with 8:50 left. 

CSUN’s Bostick, who led all scorers with 31 points, led a late run that made things look closer late.  

Utah Tech vs. CSUN in men’s basketball at Burns Arena, St. George, Utah, Nov. 12, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

“The presses started and we were kind of soft with the ball and, and let them back in,” Judkins said. “Then we missed foul shots. I mean, you make half those foul shots we shot tonight, we win by 10, 12 points.”

After one night of home cooking, the underdog Trailblazers hit four straight road games, and two of those are against Pac-12 powers Washington and No. 13 Arizona. 

They’re the type of games that are like a free bingo space for more established teams against a second-year Division 1 team on the road. 

And Staine said it’s another case where his team doesn’t mind having that underdog label. 

“We always accept that reality that nobody’s expecting us to do anything. I think we’re picked to win like nine games for the season out of 30-something games,” Staine said. “We wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re excited to go prove people wrong.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Reed serves as a reporter for St. George News, where he has been honored with several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his work, including first-place accolades. He started his journalism career as a sports reporter and editor in Southern California where he once compared shoe sizes with Shaquille O'Neal and exchanged mix tapes with members of the Los Angeles Kings. After growing up in the San Fernando Valley learning karate skills from Mr. Miyagi and spending a decade in Las Vegas mostly avoiding the casinos, he came to St. George for love and married his soulmate, a lifetime Southern Utah resident. He is the proud father of two boys, his youngest a champion against both autism and Type 1 diabetes.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGNews

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