Southern Utah's goes back on the road for its penultimate road trip of the season this week as the Thunderbirds travel to Brookings, S.D. and Fargo, N.D. for games against South Dakota State and North Dakota State.
    The Thunderbirds (8-15, 6-6 Summit) will be looking to build on a modest two-game winning streak this week after topping UMKC (81-69, last Saturday) and Western Illinois (66-65, Dec. 31) in its last two games. SUU is 1-1 vs. the two Dakota schools this season, with an 85-80 overtime win against SDSU and a 76-53 home loss to NDSU earlier this year in Cedar City.
    SDSU (10-15, 5-8 Summit) will be seeking to snap a two-game skid after the Jackrabbits lost at IUPUI (71-63) and Western Illinois (62-59) last week. The ?Jacks have been very good at home, however, with an 8-3 overall mark and a 5-2 record in conference games played in Frost Arena.
    NDSU (18-5, 12-1 Summit) has been the hottest team in the League lately, with 10 straight wins ? two in overtime ? to its credit. The Bison are a perfect 10-0 at home, including 6-0 in conference games.

    The Games: Southern Utah (8-15, 6-6) at South Dakota State (10-15, 5-8), Thursday at 7:00 p.m. (CST) in Frost Arena (6,500). SUU at North Dakota State (18-5, 12-1) Saturday at 7:00 p.m. (CST) in the Bison Sports Arena (6,000).
 
    Radio: All of Southern Utah men's basketball games are broadcast live by KSUU (91.1 FM) and KSUB AM (590) as well as on the internet at www.suu.edu/ksuu. Art Challis is in his 35th season as the Thunderbirds' basketball play-by-play voice.

    TV: There will be no live TV of either game. Video highlight packages of all Thunderbird home Summit League games are be available to legitimate media outlets via the SUU ftp site, however. For more information on obtaining the highlight packages contact SUU director of athletic media relations Neil Gardner at 435-586-7753 or at gardner@suu.edu.

    Webstreaming: All of SUU's regular-season home games and road Summit League games will be available over the internet through the SUU website site. Complete packages, including SUU men's and women's games, are available for just $29.95. For more information, go to www.suutbirds.com.

    The Series: Southern Utah holds a 2-1 edge in the series with SDSU, including two straight wins. The ?Jacks took the series-opener, 66-62 in Brookings last year, but the Thunderbirds have held service at home with a 77-71 win last season and the 85-80 OT win earlier this year in the Centrum.
    NDSU holds a 2-1 edge over the Thunderbirds in their series after winning at Fargo last year (75-54) and in the Centrum this season (76-53). SUU's win came at home last year when the Thunderbirds pulled out a 72-67 victory.

    Next Up: The Thunderbirds return home for their final home-stand of the season next week when they host Oral Roberts and Centenary.

    Practice Schedule: When at home the Thunderbirds work out daily from 2:00-4:30 p.m. in the Centrum, with occasional adjustments for class schedules and other considerations. 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.

    The Coaches: Head Coach Roger Reid (Weber State ?68) is 19-34 in his second season on the Thunderbird bench. He takes a career Division I mark of 171-110 into Thursday's game.
    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 coached Snow College to a conference title and a No. 18 national ranking in his final season on the bench there.
    Reid is assisted by Ron Carling (BYU ?70), a 37-year coaching veteran who is also in his second season with the program; Johnny Brown (New Mexico ?86), a 15-year veteran of the coaching ranks who is also in his second year in Cedar City; and first-year assistant Kenya Crandell (Nebraska-Kearney ?96) who is in his 12th season as a collegiate coach.

    National Rankings, Thunderbirds Are Tops In Free Throw Percentage, Baker Fifth: Southern Utah jumped from fourth to first in the nation in free throw percentage Monday after its 31-of-34 performance from the line Saturday against UMKC. SUU went into the UMKC game with a 79.1 percent mark from the line, which left them fourth behind UC Davis, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Kentucky. After shooting 91.2 percent against the ?Roos, however, SUU's overall mark jumped to 79.9 percent to push the Thunderbirds past UC Davis (.796), Kentucky (.792) and UW-Green Bay (.791). SUU ranks among the nation's top-100 in field goal percentage as well, where it is 67th at 46.2 percent.
    Individually, three Thunderbirds rank among the nation's top-100: Davis Baker ranks fifth in free throw percentage, at .907, while Tyler Quinney is 42nd at .853. John Clifford ranks 83rd in rebounding, with 8.0 boards per game.
Player of the Week
    Tyler Quinney was named Summit League player of the week after his performance in SUU's win at UMKC. Quinney co-led the team with 24 points and was second on the team with eight rebounds. He hit 9-of-14 shots and all six of his free throws, turned the ball over just once and didn't take a seat until the final 30 seconds when the game was well in hand. He also scored 10 points in a second half run that turned a 32-32 tie into a 16-point Thunderbird lead and effectively put the game away. Quinney is SUU's only player of the week this season.

T-Bird Notes:

?    John Clifford posted his fifth double-double this season against UMKC when he led the Thunderbirds with 18 points and 15 rebounds. The 15 rebounds tied his career-high and the 18 points were his most since the season-opener when he finished with 24 against Mesa State. Clifford hit 5-of-6 shots and all eight of his free throw attempts vs. UMKC. He also had two blocks and a pair of steals.
?    Mike Josserand dished out six assists vs. UMKC, his most since he had a career-best eight dimes at UNLV. Josserand's 10 points also matched his career-high, which came in the opener vs. Mesa State.
?    The Thunderbirds hit 31-of-34 free throws vs. UMKC, the attempts tied their season-high while the makes and percentage (.912) both set high-water marks for 2008-09. Five T-Birds were perfect from the line in the game, including Clifford (8-8), Davis Baker (6-6), Tyler Quinney (3-3), Cory Davis (3-3) and Drew Allen (2-2).
?    The Thunderbirds' two best defensive performances of the season came against UMKC. In the first game SUU limited the ?Roos to 16-of-52 shooting (.308), last week UMKC hit 23-of-56 (.411).
?    The win over WIU was Southern Utah's first this season when shooting a lower field goal percentage than its opponent and just their second when converting less than half its shots. The Leathernecks hit 50 percent (23-of-46) of their shots while SUU converted at a 47.6 percent rate (20-of-42). The ?Birds were on in the first half, when they hit 13-of-22 shots (.591) but cooled off to knock down just 7-of-20 (.350) after the break. It was also the first win when SUU had more turnovers (19-15) or when the opponent shot 50 percent or better from the floor.
?    Dave Marek hit 7-of-7 3-pointers vs. IUPUI, which set a new SUU standard for makes without a miss from beyond the arc. It was also the most attempts and makes by a Thunderbird this season.
?    Jackrabbit Notes: SDSU has given fans what they paid for this season, with three overtime games and 15 decided by 10 points or less. The ?Jacks are 1-2 in the OT contests, including the 85-80 loss in Cedar City last month, and 11 of their 15 losses have come by 10 points or fewer. Like the Thunderbirds, SDSU hasn't won three straight this season, but they haven't lost more than three in a row either.
?    Three ?Jacks carry double figure scoring averages, led by guard Garrett Callahan, who scores at a 16.3 points per game clip. Guard Clint Sargent averages 14.7 ppg while forwards Anthony Cordova and Kai Williams are at 11.4 and 9.8 ppg, respectively. Williams leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game, and Cordova pulls down 7.0.
?    As a team, SDSU averages 69.6 points per game on .439 shooting (.352 threes) while allowing opponents an average of 70.6 points on .476 shooting (.332 threes). The ?Jacks have knocked down 68.9 percent of their free throws and have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 34.2-to-33 per game.

    Bison Notes: The first time SUU met North Dakota State this season the Bison hadn't won more than two games in a row all year. Their 76-53 win over the ?Birds gave them their first three-game winning streak of the season and they haven't lost since. During the streak NDSU has won two overtime games (65-60 at UMKC and 87-77 at South Dakota St.) and five games on the road. All 10 wins came in conference games.
    Three Bison carry double figure scoring averages, led by Summit League pre-season player of the year Ben Woodside, who is scoring a conference-leading 22.6 points per game. Brett Winkleman, a pre-season pick for all-league honors, averages 18.5 ppg while Mike Nelson pours in 12.0 ppg. Woodside leads the squad and is second in the league in assists with 6.5 per game, while Winkelman is the team's top rebounder, at 7.3 per game.
    As a team, NDSU averages 81 points on 48.8 percent shooting (.422 threes) while allowing opponents an average of 68.3 points on 44.8 percent shooting (.363 threes). The Bison have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 35.8-to-30.8 per game and have connected on 74.2 percent of their free throws.