ST. GEORGE — The Utah Tech University men’s basketball team defeated New Mexico State 89-76 at Burns Arena on Saturday night, as head coach Jon Judkins earned his 600th career victory.
Thanks to in part to a career-high 24 points from Noa Gonsalves, Utah Tech snapped a five-game Western Athletic Conference losing skid with the victory, which also gave Judkins his 600th career win in 902 games as head coach (600-302). He is also now four wins shy of reaching 300 head coaching wins in the NCAA era at Utah Tech/Dixie State (296-162).
Utah Tech (10-10 overall, 2-5 in WAC play) began the game hitting nine of its first 13 shots to open up a 24-13 lead nearly nine minutes into play. Gonsalves accounted for nine of the points in the early going, while Cameron Gooden, who had missed the previous five games due to injury, converted a conventional 3-point play in his first game action of the 2023 calendar year.
NM State (7-13, 0-8 WAC) would chip away at the deficit, eventually making it a two-possession game after a Kyle Feit 3-pointer pulled the Aggies to within six at 35-29 with 5:08 to play in the period.
The Trailblazers would counter with two Isaiah Pope treys as part of an 11-2 run that stretched the UT lead to 15 at 46-31, and UT would enjoy a 46-36 lead into the halftime intermission.
The guardline of Gonsalves and Pope combined to score 31 of UT’s 46 points in the opening frame. Pope tallied 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Gonsalves knocked down three 3-pointers on his way to 14 first-half points.
FINAL!!@UtahTechMBB 89@NMStateMBB 76
Congrats to Head Coach @JonJudkins1, who collects career win No. 600 (600-302)!#UtahTechBlazers | #WACmbb | #WAChoops pic.twitter.com/AObUKiCmyQ— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) January 22, 2023
Gonsalves picked up right where he left off as he hit a pair of quick 3-pointers to open the second half, while Frank Staine got into the act with a three from the wing to extend the Blazers’ lead to 55-40 with 17:03 remaining.
Then after an Aggie trey and two Gonsalves free throws, Gooden knocked down three 3-pointers, including consecutive long-range jumpers that gave Utah Tech a comfortable 66-45 cushion with 12:39 to play.
Utah Tech was able to maintain its double-digit advantage the rest of the way to hand the Aggies their eighth straight loss.
Gonsalves tied a career-high with five made 3-pointers (5-of-9 3FG) as the sophomore went 7-of-12 from the floor. He also went 5-of-5 at the foul line and wound up with four rebounds and three assists.
Meanwhile Pope finished with 23 points, which was two points shy of his career-high tying 25 he scored three nights earlier at Grand Canyon. Pope was 7-of-14 from the field and 7-of-9 at the line, all while dishing out a career-best eight assists to go with five boards.
Gooden shined in his return as he poured in 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting with three 3-pointers in 20 minutes off the bench.
Utah Tech shot an even 52.0 percent (26-of-50) on the night, including an even 44.0 percent clip (11-of-25) from the perimeter. UT also went 26-of-36 (.722) from the line and outrebounded NM State 38-34.
Saturday’s victory over NM State was Utah Tech’s first win in five games vs. the Aggies. Unless the two sides meet in the WAC Tournament in March, the game may be the final time they will meet as conference foes, as NM State is slated to join Conference USA next season.
Anthony Roy led four Aggies in double figures with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. NM State shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the floor on the night and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from beyond the arc.
Utah Tech will make the first of two trips to Texas next week for WAC games at Tarleton State on Thursday, Jan. 26, and at Abilene Christian on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Written by Utah Tech University Athletics Media Relations.
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