Utah Tech (2-0) at No. 13 Arizona (1-0) | McKale Center | 7 p.m. | TNT | 1290-AM
Probable starters
ARIZONA
0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)
5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)
18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)
0 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)
13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)
Key reserves
3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)
30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)
2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)
UTAH TECH
2 G Chance Trujillo (6-4 sophomore)
13 G Britton Berrett (6-5 senior)
4 F Jusuan Holt (6-7 senior)
66 F Noah Bolanga (6-8 sophomore)
35 C Ethan Potter (6-8 senior)
Key reserves
11 G Tanner Davis (6-5 freshman)
23 F Samuel Ariyibi (6-8 senior)
3 G Boston Harker (6-4 junior)
How they match up
The series: Arizona has only once before faced Utah Tech, the school in St. George, Utah, that has had seven previous names, most recently Dixie State University. In a 104-77 win over the Trailblazers on Nov. 17, 2022, the Wildcats set a new school record by hitting all 22 free throws they took.
Game agreement: Utah Tech is appearing as part of a one-game contract in which it will receive $100,000 from Arizona.
Utah Tech overview: Once a junior college, then a Division II program, Utah Tech has had a challenging climb into Division I. It won just seven games last season in its first full year of membership, losing 14 straight in WAC competition. Then they lost all but three of their top 11 players.
But head coach Jon Judkins filled out a roster with four-year and junior college transfers, then put together a unit that pulled out an 81-79 overtime win at South Dakota on Monday before they returned home to beat Bethesda of the National Christian College Athletic Association 110-65 on Wednesday night in St. George.
Despite having one of the worst defenses in Division I last season (ranking 310th in defensive efficiency), the Trailblazers held South Dakota to 37.9% shooting and hit 45.2% themselves. Four Utah Tech players scored in double figures, while forward Chance Trujillo collected a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds while also dishing five assists.
Center Ethan Potter, who shuttled down Interstate 15 after three seasons at Utah Valley, is a low-post presence who scored 15 points and blocked three shots at South Dakota, then had 23 in 21 minutes against Bethesda. Forward Noah Balonga is a native of France with guard skills who played a smaller role at St. Bonaventure last season.
The Trailblazers also have a bigger guard in well-traveled Jusuan Holt, who sat out last season at Kennesaw State after playing for Georgia and Alabama earlier in his career. He started 11 games for Georgia in 2022-23 as a sophomore.
He said it: “It's gonna be a good test for us to work on some different coverages and play a team that's the complete opposite of Florida in the way that they play. They play four guards or wings. Their fives are not going to step out and shoot 3s very much. They might if they're wide open, but it’s much more that the ball’s in their hands and they’re playing a lot of action off the ball.
“(Florida) tried to play high-low. They tried to duck you in. They tried to set ball screens and really play through their post guys. But Florida also had two really, really good guards that were good in ball screens and good in isolation. With (Utah Tech), it’s a different level of physicality compared to what we just went against but it doesn't mean that we can take it lightly.
“Balonga is an athletic forward who’s going to look to slash and attack off the bounce. He's a capable shooter from the perimeter, as well, but he's much more of a guy that's gonna run the floor in transition, try to isolate and attack you and put you in close-out situations.
“Trujillo is a shooter. He’s obviously a well-rounded player and he’s strong, but he’s definitely a guy that you want to (make him) put the ball on the floor and be forcing him into taking tough twos instead of allowing him to (shoot 3s). Being able to limit his 3-pointers needs to be a point of emphasis for us.” — UA assistant coach TJ Benson, who scouted the Trailblazers
Key players
UTAH TECH
Chance Trujillo
Chance Trujillo of Utah Tech
A redshirt at Weber State back in 2021-22 who then went on a Latter-day Saints mission and spent last season at Snow (junior) College, Trujillo finally made his Division I debut earlier this week and did so with a splash. He played all 45 minutes of the Trailblazers’ opening win with a double-double and five assists while also making 3 of 9 3-pointers.
ARIZONA
Anthony Dell’Orso
His teammates watch as Arizona guard Anthony Dell’Orso (3) draws a bead on the bucket in the final round of the 3-point contest during the annual Red-Blue Showcase, Oct. 3, 2025, in Tucson.
The Wildcats’ 3-point shooting hasn’t been a factor in two exhibition games and in their season-opening win against Florida, and despite being their top long-range shooter last season, Dell'Orso started on the bench behind freshman Ivan Kharchenkov. UA needs the defense-stretching potential of Dell’Orso back as a starter or key reserve.
SIDELINES
No Kool-Aid, please
Just in case the Wildcats get a little complacent after upsetting defending national champions Florida on Monday, Benson has a mental mixtape for them to consider running through their heads.
That is, he noted, Boise State lost to Division II Hawaii Pacific on Monday. Oregon had 21 turnovers and shot 12.5% from 3-point range before beating Hawaii on a last-second shot at home. Auburn needed overtime to beat Bethune-Cookman, while TCU lost at home to New Orleans, and UNLV did the same against Tennessee-Martin.
“So my point is if you don't do things the right way, and you don't take the prep serious and you don't play hard, play the right way — and you drink your Kool-Aid from the game on Monday — it can end poorly for us," Benson said.
“Do I expect that? No. I think our guys are going to be ready to go and locked in. There's obviously that natural instinct to relax a little bit after a big win, but I think that's something our veterans have got to help our young guys understand: 'Hey, you know what? This is how we do things. And this doesn't mean that we take this team lightly.'”
Whistling Dixie?
Once a dominant junior college program when its school was known as Dixie College, the ambitious program now known as Utah Tech has found its final leap into Division I a difficult one.
It moved from juco into Division II in 2006-07, then began transitioning into Division I in 2020-21. When it finally became a full-fledged D-I program last season, meaning it was eligible for the postseason, that quickly became a moot point when the Trailblazers won all of seven games last season.
Still, Judkins told Blue Ribbon Yearbook it was a fun season.
“If you look at the numbers, it doesn’t tell you the full story,” Judkins said. “We lost nine game in the last possession of the game. Even if you split those games, it completely changes your season. It was crazy because I really liked our team.”
Judkins, in his 21st season with the upwardly mobile program, couldn’t be reached by the Star because of his team’s hectic schedule this week. The Trailblazers are at it again, opening the season on Monday at South Dakota, hosting Bethesda on Wednesday, traveling to face UA on Friday and then catching ASU on the way home Sunday.
What's in a name?
As a school, what was founded as St. George Stake Academy in 1911 has been known as Dixie Academy, Dixie Normal College, Dixie Junior College and then just plain 'ol Dixie College.
More recently, after it began offering four-year degrees in 2000, it became Dixie State College and then Dixie State University. Then, in 2022, the school pivoted to Utah Tech in part because of controversy over the Dixie name, which emanated from settlers in the 1800s calling the St. George area "Utah's Dixie" because it had a warm climate reminiscent of the American South.
And if that history isn't dizzying enough, consider athletics.
In basketball, the school's teams have been known as the Flyers, Rebels, Red Storm and now Trailblazers. Mascots have included a Rebel soldier, a hawk, a bull and a bison.
Numbers game
0: Players other than Arizona's Koa Peat in Big 12 history who have collected 30 points and five assists in their college debuts, according to ESPN.
5: Arizona freshmen who have posted a double-double in their college debuts after Ivan Kharchenkov had 12 points and 10 rebounds against Florida. Previously, Bob Elliott, Frank Smith, Aaron Gordon and Deandre Ayton also debuted for the Wildcats with double-doubles.
327: Utah Tech’s ranking in defensive rebounding percentage last season, allowing opponents to rebound 33.5% of their missed shots.
— Bruce Pascoe
