Southern Utah's men will face a now-familiar, foe in the quarter-final round of The Summit League basketball tournament Sunday as they are slated to square off against IPFW at 6:00 p.m. (Central) in the four-five matchup of the tourney's opening round.

The Thunderbirds and Mastodons finished the season against each other last Saturday when SUU took a 99-89 win in overtime to square the season and all-time series at 1-1.

SUU (11-18, 9-9 Summit League) enters the tourney as the fourth seed after winning six of its last seven games. SUU moved past IPFW into the fourth seed by virtue of the March 1, win. Both teams wound up with identical records against the entire league, taking the matchup to the final tie-breaker: RPI. In Sunday's RPI rankings SUU moved from 232 to 231, while IPFW dropped from 223 to 235 after the loss, giving SUU the higher seed.

Although the Thunderbirds began The Summit League schedule playing the bulk of their games on the road, they have enjoyed the past four weeks as they finished the season with five of their last seven at home. During that time the only loss was a 71-62 setback at league champion Oral Roberts, while the wins have come at Centenary (98-94), and at home against UMKC (63-60), South Dakota State (77-71), North Dakota State (72-67), Oakland (68-59) and IPFW.

IPFW (12-17, 9-9 Summit League) has lost three straight games: an 88-81 overtime loss to IUPUI in Ft. Wayne, Feb. 22; a 75-57 setback at UMKC, Feb. 28; and the loss at SUU on Saturday night. The Mastodons had won two straight prior to the IUPUI loss, however, a 71-66 triumph at Oakland and an 85-62 home win over Western Illinois, and have won five of their last nine games.

Sunday's game will be Southern Utah's first on a neutral court this season.

The Game: The Summit League tournament quarter-finals, fifth seed IPFW (12-17, 9-9) vs. fourth seed SUU (11-18, 9-9), 6:00 p.m. (Central) at John Hammons Arena in the UMAC (5,500), Tulsa, Okla.

The Series: The teams are 1-1 after splitting the season series. IPFW claimed a 74-66 home win over the Thunderbirds, Dec. 6, in the first-ever meeting between the two teams, then SUU claimed a 99-89 overtime win at home on March 1, to even the series.

Next Up: The winner of Sunday's game will meet the winner of Saturday's Oral Roberts vs. Centenary matchup at 6:00 p.m. (Central). The winner of that game advances to The Summit League championship game, Tuesday at 6:00. The Summit League Champion earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Practice Schedule: The team will work out Monday through Thursday from 2:00-4:30 p.m. in the Centrum Arena, before traveling to Tulsa, Okla., on Friday. While in Tulsa, the team will work out according to the tournament schedule. Practice sessions are generally open to the public but media personnel wishing to attend practice should contact SUU Sports Information Director Neil Gardner at (435) 586-7753 prior to practice.

Thunderbird Coaches: Head Coach Roger Reid (Weber State ?68) is in his first season on the Thunderbird bench this year after spending the last two at Snow College. Last year Reid guided the Badgers to a SWAC regular-season championship and a No. 18 national ranking.

Reid, who is 11-18 at Southern Utah, brings a career Division I mark of 163-94 into the tournament. Coach Reid is 1-1 vs. IPFW.

Coach Reid's career has spanned virtually every level of the coaching strata, including the high school, junior college, and NCAA Division I levels as well as in the NBA and international ranks. He is probably best known for his success at Brigham Young University, where he led the Cougars to five NCAA tournament berths and three Western Athletic Conference championships. He has also coached the Phoenix Suns of the NBA and the Hangzhou Horses of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Reid is assisted by Ron Carling (BYU ?70), Austin Ainge (BYU ?07), and Johnny Brown (New Mexico ?86).

Radio: All Southern Utah men's basketball games are broadcast live by KSUU (91.1 FM) and KSUB AM (590). They are also available on the internet at www.suu.edu/ksuu. Art Challis is in his 34th season as the Thunderbirds' play-by-play voice.

TV: There will be no live television coverage Sunday's game. KCSG will carry the semifinal round live, with the men game in SUU's bracket scheduled to tip off at 6:00 p.m. (Central), followed by the second men's game at 8:30. KCSG is available on all cable systems in southern Utah and statewide on DishNetwork and DirecTV as well as over the air in southwest Utah on channels 4 and 6. Dave Kaplan will handle the play-by-play with Dan McLaughlin providing color for the semifinal games. The Summit League championship game will be carried live on ESPN, Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. (Central). Ron Franklin and Fran Fraschilla will handle the play-by-play and color analysis for the championship.

Webstreaming: All of SUU's regular-season home games and road Summit League games will be available over the internet through the Summit League's site. For more information see the Summit League website at: http://www.thesummitleague.org/

Southern Utah In The Mid-Con/Summit League Tournament:

Southern Utah is 6-9 all-time in the league's post-season tournament, including a 3-0 championship run in 2001. Since joining the league in 1997-98 SUU has entered the tournament twice as the fourth seed (2002, 2008), twice as the second seed (2000 and 2001) and twice as the seventh seed (2004 and 1998); three times as the fifth seed (1999, 2006 and 2007) and once as the sixth seed (2003).

Through their tournament history the Thunderbirds are 2-0 vs. Western Illinois, 1-0 vs. Oakland, 1-1 vs. UMKC, 1-2 vs. both Valparaiso and Oral Roberts, 0-3 vs. IUPUI and 0-1 vs. former league member Youngstown State.

In their championship run in 2001 the Thunderbirds topped Western Illinois (66-53), Oral Roberts (73-62) and Valparaiso (62-59 for the championship) in their three-game run.

In 2000 SUU beat Western (78-68) and UMKC (72-54) before falling to Valparaiso (71-62) in the championship game.

In 1998, the first year for both teams in the Mid-Con, Oral Roberts took a 94-84 double-overtime victory in the first round, in 1999 Youngstown State prevailed 78-56 in the first round and SUU dropped a 70-57 decision to UMKC in the first round following the 2001-02 season. In 2004 the Thunderbirds lost a 74-60 decision to IUPUI and in 2005 year top-seeded Oral Roberts beat the Thunderbirds, 82-59. In 2006 the Thunderbirds lost a 77-66 decision to Valpo in the quarterfinal round and last year IUPUI took a 71-59 win inthe quarterfinals.

For the most part the tourney has been an all-or-nothing proposition for the ?Birds, as they have either lost in the first round or made it all the way to the championship game in all but one of their nine previous go-arounds. Only in 2003 did the ?Birds buck that trend, winning their first round game against Oakland (66-55) before falling in the semis to eventual champ IUPUI (72-67).

The tournament has been held in four venues since the Thunderbirds joined the league. SUU was 0-2 at The Mark in Moline, Ill., 5-2 at Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, Ind., 1-2 in tournament games at Kansas City's Kemper Arena and is 0-3 at John Hammons Arena.

SUU's Summit League Players of the Week

Southern Utah forward Geoff Payne was named Summit League men's basketball Player of the Week for his performance the week of Feb. 18-25. Payne led the Thunderbirds in both scoring and rebounding in the team's two games, with 35 points and 15 rebounds in SUU's 71-62 loss at Oral Roberts and another 30 points and six boards in the team's 98-94 win at Centenary. He also led the team with six assists and four steals at Centenary. Payne averaged 32.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals and a half-block per game last week when he hit 22-of-29 field goal attempts (75.9 percent) and 21-of-25 free throws (84%). Payne's 35 points at ORU were also the most by a Thunderbird since Henry Uhegwu scored 35 against Oakland in February 2006. The 15 rebounds were the most since DeAngelo Newsom pulled down 16 against Idaho in December of 2004.

Tate Sorensen was The Summit League Player of the Week for his performance the week of Dec. 24-30. The 6-foot-7 senior from Talmage, Utah, scored a career-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting and tied his career-high with 10 rebounds to notch his second double-double of the year in the Thunderbirds' 61-53 win at Cal Poly Saturday night. Sorensen also blocked a shot and had two steals with just one turnover in 38 minutes on the floor. He only came out of the game for a brief period in the second half when an inadvertent elbow opened an inch-long gash on his forehead but he returned in time to hit two free throws for the team's final points to ice the win.

SUU in the National Rankings: Geoff Payne's 20.8 ppg scoring average (through the games of March 2) ranks 26th in the nation. He also ranks 37th in field goal percentage (56.5 percent) and 88th in steals per game (1.8). As a team the Thunderbirds rank among the nation's top-100 schools in assists (47th at 15.6 per game) and field goal percentage (66th at .464).

Thunderbird Notes:

? Dave Marek scored a career-high 30 points against IPFW, nearly doubling his previous high of 17 scored a week earlier at Centenary. Fifteen of his points came from the free throw line, where he hit 15-of-17 attempts.
? Nurudeen Adepoju pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds vs. the Mastodons. With 21 points and 10 rebounds he notched his first career double-double. The 21 points represent his second-highest total of the season.
? Tate Sorensen missed the trip to IUPUI and WIU after undergoing an emergency appendectomy Tuesday, Jan. 29. Sorensen returned to practice two weeks ago and made his first return to the court vs. IPFW, March 1, when he pulled down six rebounds, scored two points, dished out an assist and recorded a monster block in 14 minutes on the floor.
? SUU will be facing the team it faced in its regular-season finale in the first round of the tournament for the second time. In 2002-03 The Thunderbirds wound up the season with a 92-77 loss at Oakland, then turned around a week later to avenge that loss with a 66-55 win over Golden Grizzlies in the tournament's first round. That win was the T-Birds' last in the conference tournament.
? SUU and IPFW combined to shoot 85 free throws in the March 1 game, 43 by the Mastodons and 42 by the Thunderbirds, with IPFW hitting 35 (81.4 percent) and SUU connecting 33 times (78.6 percent). All the totals are season-highs for SUU and or an SUU opponent. Each team was whistled for 30 fouls, which was a season-high for SUU and tied the season-high for an opponent (vs. North Dakota State and vs. Cal Poly).
? Continuing with the fouls theme, IPFW had four players foul out on March 1, an opponent-high for the Thunderbirds, while SUU had two players disqualified because of fouls, tying the season-high (vs. North Dakota State, at Centenary). SUU players have fouled out 13 times this season, with nine of those disqualifications coming in Summit League games and six of those in the past three weeks. Thirty opponents have fouled out, 19 of those in league contests.
? SUU hit eight 3-pointers vs. IPFW March 1, its second-highest total of the season. Adepoju hit four while Marek hit five.
? The win over IPFW was just the second game the Thunderbirds won when trailing in the final minute and also the second it won when the opponent shot a better percentage than the Thunderbirds. the home win over UMKC was the first in both categories.
? The Thunderbirds have won six of their last seven games. During that stretch the team has averaged 79.1 ppg on .490 percent shooting, hit 78.2 percent of its free throws and out-rebounded its opponents 30.9-to-27.7.
? Geoff Payne tallied his sixth double-double of the season against Oakland, with 19 points and 13 rebounds. He played just 20 minutes because of foul trouble vs. IPFW but still finished with 22 points and five rebounds.
? SUU had 19 assists and just seven turnovers vs. Oakland, the team's best assists-to-turnovers ratio of the season. On the other hand, the Golden Grizzlies turned it over 19 times and were credited with just four assists.
? In addition to Payne's efforts, Tyler Quinney (25) and Cris Hoopes (14) posted career scoring highs at Centenary, while Marek had a then-high of 17.
? The 99 points SUU scored against IPFW were the most since 1999 when SUU took a 104-79 win over Oakland.
? SUU used its ninth different starting lineup vs. South Dakota State but that group ? Marek, Crum, Adepoju, Payne and Quinney ? is 5-1 after home wins vs. SDSU, NDSU, Oakland and IPFE, the road win at Centenary and the loss at ORU.
? SUU shot an even 64 percent from the floor at Centenary, a season-best percentage.
? Payne posted career-highs in points and rebounds at Oral Roberts, where he scored 35 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, both game-highs. The 35 points were the most by a Thunderbird since Henry Uhegwu scored 35 at Oakland back in 2006. Payne hit 13-of-18 field goal attempts and 9-of-12 free throws. The Summit League-leader in offensive rebounds, he bolstered those numbers as six of his boards came on the offensive end. The double-double-was his sixth of the season. The 13 field goals he hit at ORU are tied for the second-most in a game in The Summit League this season and the 15 rebounds are the third-most in the league this season.
? The Thunderbirds have led The Summit League in assists through most of the season but had just 10 vs. North Dakota State and 12 at Oral Roberts, two of their three lowest totals all year. The team bounced back with 18 dimes at Centenary, however, and followed that with the 19 vs. Oakland and 16 vs. IPFW.
? SUU's season-high for assists was 25 at home against Centenary.
? The SDSU win was SUU's first this season when it was out-rebounded (the Jackrabbits held a 29-24 edge) and just the second when shooting and making fewer free throws than its opponent (the Cal Poly game was the other). Oakland out-rebounded the Thunderbirds 38-to-28 Feb. 28 in SUU's second win when being out-boarded.
? The UMKC win was also just the second this season for SUU after the Thunderbirds allowed the opponent to shoot over 50 percent. The Centenary games were the first and third the Thunderbirds won this season after allowing the opponent to shoot 50 percent or better.
? Payne dished out a career-high 11 assists in the first Centenary game to notch his fifth double-double of the season (he also scored 13 points). The 11 dimes ? the team's individual high this season ? helped the Thunderbirds to a season-high total of 25 assists. Payne established career-assist highs in back-to-back games, with a then-best five at South Dakota State.
? Payne's fourth double-double of the year came vs. Western Illinois, when he had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Payne's other double-doubles were at Oakland, and at home vs. Cal Poly (29/12) and UC-Colorado Springs (22/12). He had an SUU-career-high 32 points at Oakland and 11 rebounds, just one short of his career-best rebounding total.
? Payne has scored in double figures in all but two games. He has led or co-led the team in scoring 22 times and in rebounds 16.
? Davis Baker tied his career-high with a game-high 20 points the first time around against Western Illinois. Following a 20-point game at IPFW, Dec. 6, Baker scored in double figures seven times in the next nine games. Baker had scored just two points all season going into the first IPFW game but the sophomore transfer from UC Irvine lit it up in Ft. Wayne, scoring 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and hitting 4-of-7 3-pointers.
? Adepoju scored a career-best 25 points against Utah Valley State. The senior from Kwara State, Nigeria, hit 8-of-15 shots, and 6-of-9 3-pointers in the game and also had three assists for the second straight game.
? SUU's five starters scored all 61 points at Cal Poly. It is the only time this season the team didn't get a point from the bench.
? SUU has played three overtime games this season, but broke through into the win column in an extra session for the first time against IPFW. The Thunderbirds came out on the wrong end of the decision against both Boise State and Utah Valley State earlier. SUU is 22-18 in overtime games since 1963 when the school moved to four-year status.
? Southern Utah hit 12 3-pointers against Utah Valley State, a season high.
? SUU went without a 3-point basket at Sacramento State. It is the only time in the school's Division I history, a span of 537 games (going into the contest), that the team has gone without at least one 3-point basket.

Mastodon Notes: IPFW averages 69.9 points per game on .462 shooting (.372 threes) while allowing opponents an average of 70.7 points per game on .444 shooting (.348 threes). The Mastodons have connected on 73.2 percent of their free throws and have been out-rebounded by opponents by an average of 34.6-to-30.4 caroms per game.

Individually, four IPFW players carry double-figure scoring averages, led by senior guard Jaraun Burrows (6-8, 210) at 13.8 points per game. David Carson chips in 11.5 ppg while DeWitt Scott (F, 6-6, 190, Sr) each averages 10.4 and Ben Botts (G, 6-0, 165, Fr) 10.2 ppg. Demetrius Johnson (G, 6-4, 198, Sr) leads the team in assists (5.8 per game). Burrows is also the team's top rebounder, at 6.4 caroms per game, while Carson pulls down an average of 5.2 rebounds.