SEATTLE – John Christofilis poured in a career-high 32 points in just 28 minutes of action and Seattle University men's basketball overcame a sluggish start to roll visiting Utah Tech, 70-53, to tip off the New Year and a return to Western Athletic Conference play.
The win was the third straight for the Redhawks, who move to 9-5 on the season and 2-1 in WAC play. Utah Tech fell to 8-6 overall and Seattle U handed the Trailblazers their first conference loss of the year.
Christofilis near singlehandedly kept the Seattle U offense going, scoring the Redhawks' first seven points and finishing the first half with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three.
Utah Tech led by as many as seven, 18-11, midway through the first half, but a 15-6 run capped by back-to-back Christofilis' threes flipped the advantage to the Redhawks.
Seattle U held a 31-28 edge at the break and after a brief lull to open the second, used a stellar defensive performance to go up as many as 19. A 20-2 run over an eight-minute span made it 61-42 with 5:55 to play and it never got closer than 15 from there.
"Utah Tech is a very good team and a very well coached team with a couple of big wins already this year," said Head Coach Chris Victor. "To be able to stretch the lead at the end because of our defense in the second half is something that we'll continue to fall back on.
"We felt like we could guard this team in the half court, but we weren't giving ourselves any opportunity to do so. Once we stopped giving them points in transition. Once we took away transition and slowed them down offensively we started getting more stops, allowing us to get back in the game at take the lead before half."
??? Postgame comments from @jchristofilis15 and @coachchrisvic following the Redhawks' 70-53 win over Utah Tech pic.twitter.com/qqF15CI34C
— Seattle U Men's Basketball (@seattleumbb) January 5, 2024
Christofilis added 14 points in the second half, finishing the night 13-of-22 from the field and 6-of-11 from three for his 32 points. Alex Schumacher joined him in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Brandton Chatfield was one point away from a double-double, collecting nine points and 12 boards.
Seattle U held a huge 47-29 advantage on the boards, while also holding the Trailblazers to 37% shooting, 21% from three and 9-of-18 from the free-throw line.
The Redhawks continue the WAC homestead on Saturday, hosting California Baptist in a 3 p.m. tip at the Redhawk Center.
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