ABILENE, Texas (Interstat) — A pair of teams seeking momentum to open the new year will meet Thursday when the Utah Tech Trailblazers visit the Abilene Christian Wildcats in a Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball matchup at Moody Coliseum. Both teams enter with 8-win records, though Abilene Christian (8-5) has been off since a 75-68 road victory over Texas Southern on Dec. 22. The Wildcats have shown resilience at home this season, boasting notable non-conference wins over Pepperdine and UTSA in Abilene. Utah Tech (8-7) arrives having snapped a two-game skid with an 80-66 home win over Southern Utah on Monday. The Trailblazers have struggled on the road, however, with a 2-5 record away from home that includes recent losses at Creighton and Santa Clara. A key matchup will feature two of the WAC’s top guards. Utah Tech is led by Noah Bolanga, who is coming off an 18-point performance against Southern Utah and has averaged 14.0 points over his last five games. His backcourt counterpart, Abilene Christian’s Bradyn Hubbard, provides a dynamic scoring punch, erupting for 22 points in the Wildcats’ last outing. Hubbard averages 14.8 points per game. For Utah Tech, support for Bolanga comes from Madiba Owona (16 points Monday) and Jusaun Holt, who added 14 points and three blocks in the win. Abilene Christian counters with a balanced attack; in their last win, Rich Smith contributed 14 points and five assists, while Zy Wright added 14 points. The game marks the conference opener for both programs. Abilene Christian will look to defend its home floor, where it is 5-1 this season. Utah Tech aims to translate its recent home success into a crucial road victory to start WAC play. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST Thursday.