Cameron Gooden paced four Trailblazers in double figures with a game-high 26 points to lead Utah Tech to an 86-79 victory over in-state rival Southern Utah in front of a raucous Burns Arena crowd on Saturday night.  
 
The win snapped the Trailblazers' three-game losing streak as UT improved to 11-13 overall, 3-8 in WAC play.  

How it happened 
In the first game between the two rivals as WAC opponents, separated by 54 total miles, the Trailblazers led wire-to-wire thanks to a hot start on offense and three big scoring runs. 
 
Utah Tech went 5-of-7 from the floor to open the game en route to early 12-5 lead. Tanner Christensen set the early tone with two quick buckets, while Gooden knocked down one of the Blazers' two 3-pointers in the run.
 
SUU (16-8/8-3) clapped back with five unanswered points, but Utah Tech countered with a 12-0 rally to race out to a commanding 24-10 advantage. 

Frank Staine drilled a pair of perimeter jumpers as the Blazer offense was hitting on all cylinders as UT hit on 10 of its first 14 shots overall, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
 
After the Thunderbirds managed to trim their deficit to nine at 28-19, Utah Tech rattled off 13-unanswered points to open up its biggest lead of the game at 41-19 with 4:44 to go in the first half. 
 
Isaiah Pope kickstarted the rally with a 3-pointer, while Gooden brought the Burns Arena crowd to their feet with a deep fadeaway trey from the top of the arc as the shot clock expired. Jacob Nicolds tacked on the final five points of the run as the Blazers coasted into the halftime break with a 47-30 cushion.
 
Utah Tech kept the momentum going out of the locker room as Christensen opened the second half as he began the first, with four quick points. The sophomore forward threw down a pair of two-handed dunks that bookended a Gooden free throw following a technical foul on the T-Bird bench, as the Blazers extended their lead to 52-30.
 
Southern Utah's offense then awakened, thanks in large part to reserve guard Cameron Healy, who hit four-straight 3-pointers as the T-Birds scored 15-unanswered points to make it a 52-45 game with 15 minutes remaining.
 
Gooden finally halted the Blazers' drought with a lay-in, and the senior guard would later convert a convention three-point play as Utah Tech went back up double digits at 61-51. 
 
SUU would cut the UT lead in half with five-straight points, but the Blazers answered with six-straight of their own, highlighted by another Gooden fadeaway three to beat the shot clock to spot the Blazers with a 67-56 advantage with 9:30 left.
 
Utah Tech would maintain at least a two-possession lead the rest of the way to come away with the big home victory. 
 
Numbers to know
Gooden scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half. The senior guard connected on 8-of-16 from the floor with three 3-pointers and went 7-of-9 from the line. Gooden also dished out a game-high six assists and grabbed four rebounds.
 
For Gooden, it was his fifth 20-plus point game of the season, and the 12^th of his UT career, and was the second in his last five games since his return from injury. In all, he has scored at least 10 points in 15 of the 18 games he has played in this season.
 
Christensen added 21 points on 9-of-12 from the floor along with seven rebounds. It was the sophomore's fourth 20-plus point outing this season. 

Meanwhile Staine tallied 11 points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting with a pair of treys to go with four boards and three steals. Staine (910 pts) also became the 10^th player in Utah Tech's NCAA era to score at least 900 career points and he moved into t-fourth place on UT's career steals list (107). 

Nicolds chipped in 10 points and co-led the team with seven rebounds. With his seven caroms, the senior (403) became the just the seventh player in program history to reach the 400-rebound plateau. Nicolds also moved into a tie atop Utah Tech's career games played list, appearing in his 113^th career game. 
 
Utah Tech shot 52.7 percent for the game (29-of-55), which included an even 60.0 percent clip (18-of-30) in the first half. The Trailblazers also hit on 9-of-19 (.474) from the perimeter on the night, and went 19-of-24 (.792) at the foul line.


Maizen Fausett led Southern Utah with 21 points, while the Trailblazer defense held the WAC's second leading scorer, Tevian Jones, to just 10 points on 2-of-12 shooting.
 
SUU shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the floor and was 12-of-30 (.400) from beyond the arc. The T-Birds also went 19-of-23 (.826) at the charity stripe and outrebounded Utah Tech by a 35-32 margin. 
 
The announced attendance was 3,962, which was the largest crowd for a Utah Tech home game this season. 
 
Up next
The Trailblazers will play three of their next four games on the road, beginning with a trip to the Northwest for a Wednesday night date at Seattle U.