MOSCOW, Idaho — Cameron Gooden led all scorers with 27 points as Utah Tech snapped a two-game slide with an 81-71 men’s basketball victory over Idaho on Saturday afternoon at the ICCU Arena.
The Trailblazers (2-3 overall, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference) had the hot shooting touch in the early going as they hit 11 of their first 14 shots, including 5-of-8 from the perimeter, to establish a 28-11 lead in the first nine minutes, according to a news release from Utah Tech Athletics.
UT extended that lead to as many as 18 points before heading to the locker room with a 46-36 halftime cushion.
However, the Blazers lost some of that touch to begin the second half as the Vandals (1-4 overall, 0-0 Big Sky Conference) chipped away at the UT lead and pulled to within a point at 48-47 with 15:13 remaining.
Utah Tech regained the momentum with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to extend back to a double-digit advantage, bolstered by an Isaiah Pope “and-one” and a Gooden lay-in.
The Trailblazers maintained at least a two-possession lead the rest of the way en route to their first road win of the 2022-23 campaign.
Numbers to know
Gooden, a senior guard, was 8-of-10 from the floor with three 3-pointers and went 8-of-10 at the line. Gooden also pulled down five rebounds, dished out four assists and picked off one steal in a team-high 38 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, Pope tallied 10 points off the bench as a season-high five Trailblazers wound up in double figures.
Noa Gonsalves tallied 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, as did Jacob Nicolds, who was 8-of-8 at the foul line to go with six boards.
Tanner Christensen, who played two seasons at Idaho before transferring to Utah Tech, scored 10 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in his return to the ICCU Arena.
Up next
Utah Tech continues its season-long seven-game road swing on Thanksgiving Weekend in the “Peace Garden State” as the Trailblazers will play in the North Dakota Holiday Tournament. UT will open tourney play against the host Fighting Hawks on Friday, Nov. 25, at noon (MT), followed by a date against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 1 p.m. (MT).