Cameron Gooden Carries Utah Tech To Road Win Over UT Rio Grande Valley

Feb 23, 2023, 10:05 PM | Updated: 10:06 pm

Sports Producer & Locals in the NFL Insider

SALT LAKE CITY – Cameron Gooden led the Utah Tech Trailblazers to a victory away from home against the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros.

The Vaqueros hosted the Trailblazers at UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg, Texas on Thursday, February 23.

Utah Tech defeated UT Rio Grande Valley, 88-81.

FINAL FROM EDINBURG!!#UtahTechBlazers | #WACmbb | #WAChoops pic.twitter.com/530qyyEcAA

— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 24, 2023

Gooden scored a team-high 26 points to carry the Blazers to the Western Athletic Conference win.

After Gooden buried a pair of free throws in the opening minutes of the game to give Utah Tech its first points of the contest, the Vaqueros responded with a bucket to knot the scoreboard at 2-2.

A short time later, Isaiah Pope connected on a field goal to put the Trailblazers up 4-2.

Utah Tech would own the lead for the remainder of the game.

By halftime, the Trailblazers had built their advantage up to 51-42. After the break, the Blazers continued to stretch their lead. Utah Tech owned an 18-point advantage during the second half.

UT Rio Grande Valley won the final 20 minutes of action by two points but the early deficit was too much for the Vaqueros to come back from.

Gooden is 5/5 from beyond the arc tonight! #UtahTechBlazers | #WAChoops | #WACmbb pic.twitter.com/5mU7G5Tchs

— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 24, 2023

Utah Tech finished the night shooting 51.0 percent overall and 43.5 percent from beyond the arc. UT Rio Grande Valley shot 48.4 percent from the field, including 34.8 percent from downtown.

Gooden led the Blazers with 26 points on 8-10 field goals, including 6-7 from three-point range. He added five rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes.

Congrats to senior guard @CameronGooden3 (1,001 pts) on becoming the 9th Trailblazer to reach the 1,000-point plateau!! Gooden scored 26 points and tied UT's single game 3FGM record (6-7) to lead UT to tonight's road win!#UtahTechBlazers | #WACmbb | #WAChoops pic.twitter.com/csjwYz6heb

— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) February 24, 2023

Jacob Nicolds, Tanner Christensen, and Pope also scored in double figures.

Justin Johnson led UT Rio Grande Valley with a game-high 30 points.

With the win, the Blazers improved their record to 12-16 this season, including 4-11 in conference action.