College Article Feature: Stars Get Back on Track for First Win of 2026

Written by Will Naughton | Weber State University

The Salt Lake City Stars got back to winning ways after their first home loss of the 2025/26 season, beating the Rip City Remix 143-120 in their rematch at the Maverik Center on Jan. 3 and bringing their record in the NBA G League regular season to 4-1. They remain at the top of the Western Conference standings after a game that saw 10 lead changes and 15 equalizers.

The Stars and the Remix (3-4) went blow-for-blow in the opening 12 minutes, with neither side staying on top for long before the buzzer sounded at a neck-and-neck score of 34-34. The second frame followed a similar pattern until SLC guard Elijah Harkless drove to the rim and came good on a finger roll lay-up to kick-start an 11-4 scoring drive in the period’s final three minutes that put the Stars ahead 64-57 going into halftime. Harkless put his body on the line for this margin and was ultimately forced to withdraw with a hamstring injury.

Salt Lake emerged from the locker room on a heater and upped their scoreboard cushion to 16 points when forward Cameron McGriff knocked down a 3-pointer with 8:06 left in the third quarter. Rip City guard Sean Pedulla closed the third period scoring with a 3-pointer of his own, bringing the score to 96-92 for the Stars with his 30th point of the evening. Two-way Jazz forward John Tonje lit up the fourth quarter for SLC with  20 points as Remix guard Blake Hinson was ejected from the game for a technical foul on Tonje just 10 seconds before the game ended in a 23-point win for the home side.

Tonje’s explosive performance in the game’s final frame meant that he set the scoring pace for Salt Lake with a career-high 34 points as second-year guard Max Abmas also hit the 30-point mark for a personal season-best. Four additional Stars managed 10+ points as McGriff (17) and Justin Harmon (18) joined Tonje in the starting five while Matthew Murrell (11) and Sean East II (13) came off the bench with Abmas.

The Stars moved the ball effectively and relied on collective effort on the night, recording 32 total assists. Center Steven Crowl led these efforts with a game-high 11 assists while East II and Abmas followed suit with 8 and 7 respectively. Abmas also impressed off the glass with a joint-game-high 10 rebounds.

Pedulla dominated the stat sheet for Rip City with a game-high 39 points to go along with nine assists and 10 rebounds, followed by center Andrew Carr with 22 points. 

Following the winning response, SLC coach Rick Higgins is focused on the day-to-day management of his team ahead of a trek east for back-to-back games against the Maine Celtics.

“Ahead of the Celtics games, starting tomorrow, the main focus is that everybody needs to recover and recuperate,” Higgins said. “Being kind of short-handed from what we’re used to and playing back-to-back; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we need to get organized on the difference in how they played against us the first time we played them in Orlando. Big picture, we just need to continue to gel with our new group.”

The Stars will face Maine twice on Jan.8 and 9 at the Portland Exposition Center at 5:00 MST, airing on Jazz+.