SAINT GEORGE, Utah (AP) Isaiah Pope scored 20 points as Utah Tech beat UT Rio Grande Valley 81-66 in a Western Athletic Conference opener on Thursday.

Pope added five rebounds and five assists for the Trailblazers (9-5). Jacob Nicolds added 18 points while going 6 of 7 from the floor, including 2 for 3 from distance, and 4 for 4 from the line, and he also had nine rebounds. Tanner Christensen was 3 of 7 shooting and 4 of 7 from the free throw line to finish with 10 points. The Trailblazers extended their winning streak to six games.

Will Johnston led the Vaqueros (8-5) in scoring, finishing with 24 points and two steals. UT Rio Grande Valley also got 11 points and nine rebounds from Daylen Williams. In addition, Dima Zdor finished with eight points.

NEXT UP

Both teams play on Saturday. Utah Tech visits Utah Valley while UT Rio Grande Valley travels to play Southern Utah.

---

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.