Early Success Not Enough As Utah Tech Basketball Falls To Grand Canyon
Feb 15, 2024, 9:09 PM | Updated: 9:11 pm
(Courtesy of Emily Wight / Utah Tech Athletics)
(Courtesy of Emily Wight / Utah Tech Athletics)
PHOENIX – The Utah Tech Trailblazers shocked the Grand Canyon Lopes early on but home-court advantage played a huge role as the Blazers lost on the road.
Utah Tech shot just 38.7% from the floor and 34.8% from deep in the 12-point loss.
The Trailblazers will return home for a game against the Seattle U Redhawks on Saturday, February 17.
Final Score vs GCU#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/mC8yMDq2PF
— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 16, 2024
First Half
The Trailblazers came to play early in the first half on the road.
After falling down 5-0, Utah Tech went on a 12-3 run to take the lead.
Two Noa Gonsalves threes and three easy layups put some wind in the Blazer’s sails.
Noa with a 3 to put the Trailblazers on the board‼️#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/6Z64jZK4a5
— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 16, 2024
Utah Tech continued to stun the Lopes and build on their lead.
Ten minutes into the first half, UTT led by five, 20-15.
Led by Gabe McGlothan, GCU closed the lead down to one.
Utah Tech answered with four quick points.
1H- Noah with the steal to take it back to the rim #UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/sDXvDZgVSt
— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 16, 2024
Grand Canyon remained aggressive on offense.
Despite making multiple trips to the free-throw line, the Lopes struggled to close the gap.
GCU took the lead back with four minutes left.
Utah Tech hopped back out in front but it was short-lived as the Lopes went on a 9-0 run to close the half.
1H- #3 with a 3 to tie it up #UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/HqhTDoMEFl
— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 16, 2024
The Trailblazers stopped the bleeding with a three just before halftime.
After a hot start, Utah Tech finished the half shooting 39.4% from the field. Gonsalves was the leading scorer for UTT with 11.
The Blazers trailed by six at the break, 40-34.
Halftime in Phoenix 🌴#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/b8NqZ01rjs
— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 16, 2024
Second Half
Utah Tech slowly chipped away at the Grand Canyon lead to start the second half.
After eight minutes, the Trailblazers outscored the Lopes by three and trailed by three.
2H- UU with an impressive Drive 💪#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/4p5CKfI20D
— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 16, 2024
UTT and GCU went shot for shot in the second half which was bad news for the Blazers.
Already trailing, Utah Tech couldn’t make up any ground and still found themselves down by three as the midpoint of the second half passed.
Grand Canyon held the Blazers scoreless for three minutes and took advantage of the defensive stops.
The Lopes jumped out to a 10-point lead with four minutes left.
2H- Another 3 from UU #UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/sg0ftDuqkM
— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 16, 2024
Utah Tech was left with too big of a deficit and not enough time as they fell to Grand Canyon on the road,
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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.
