Southern Utah wraps up the 2008-09 regular season this week when the Thunderbirds hit the road for match-ups with Oakland and IPFW. SUU faces Oakland Thursday night in Rochester, Mich., then meets IPFW in Ft. Wayne, Ind., Saturday in an afternoon contest.
    SUU opened the Summit League season with an 82-66 win over Oakland in early December, then topped IPFW, 78-62, that same week.
    The Thunderbirds (10-17, 8-8 Summit) secured a spot in the Summit League tournament Saturday night with a 79-68 victory over Centenary. The win over the Gentlemen guaranteed SUU a tourney spot and also ensured they will enter the tournament as no lower than the sixth seed. SUU is currently in fourth place with two games to play, one-half game ahead of IUPUI, which wraps up its season Saturday at Western Illinois. The Thunderbirds are also a full game ahead of South Dakota State, which travels to Oral Roberts and Centenary this week. IPFW is another game back, and although the Mastodons could tie the Thunderbirds, SUU holds the tie-breaker over both SDSU and IPFW by virtue of its win over league-leading North Dakota State, but IUPUI swept the ?Birds this year to hold the tie-breaker in that potential match-up.
    Oakland (18-11, 11-5 Summit) wrapped up the third seed in the league tournament with an 81-76 win at IUPUI Saturday night and the Golden Grizzlies could still finish second should they win out and Oral Roberts lose its last two. Winners of five straight, the Grizzlies' last loss was a 74-68 overtime setback at South Dakota State on Jan. 31. Oakland wraps up its regular season Saturday night when it hosts UMKC.
    IPFW (11-16, 6-10 Summit, pending the outcome of a Thursday home game against UMKC) enters the week in seventh place in the conference standings after claiming a key 82-74 win at Western Illinois on Saturday night. The Mastodons are currently a half-game ahead of WIU and will clinch a spot in the Summit League tournament with either a win or a Western Illinois loss this week.

    The Games: Thursday: Southern Utah (10-17, 8-8) at Oakland (18-11, 11-5), 7:00 p.m. (EST) in the O'rena (3,000), Rochester, Mich. Saturday: SUU at IPFW, 4:00 p.m. (EST) Memorial Coliseum (11,500), Ft. Wayne, Ind.
 
    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, in his 35th season as the Thunderbirds' basketball play-by-play voice, is joined by former SUU standout Dean O'Driscoll on selected broadcasts.

    TV: There will be no live TV of either game.

    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. For more information, go to www.suutbirds.com.

    The Series: SUU holds a 13-9 edge in the series with Oakland, including the 82-66 win in Cedar City earlier this season. The Thunderbirds have won four straight against the Grizzlies and are 4-6 at Oakland.
    SUU evened the series with IPFW at 2-2 with its 78-62 win earlier this season.The rivalry began last season ? when the Mastodons joined The Summit League ? with each team defending its home court, but IPFW won the rubber match, a 72-66 win in The Summit League tournament.

    Next Up: The Thunderbirds travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. next week for the Summit League tournament. First-round games begin Saturday at Sioux Falls Arena but SUU's first game will be Sunday.

    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 21-36 in his second season on the Thunderbird bench. He takes a career Division I mark of 173-112 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 Eleventh: Southern Utah remains atop ranks of the nation's free throw shooters this week with an 80.3 percent success rate. The Thunderbirds have led the nation for three straight weeks. SUU ranks among the nation's top-50 in field goal percentage as well, where it is 50th at 46.6 percent.
    Individually, three Thunderbirds rank among the nation's top-100: Davis Baker ranks 11th in free throw percentage, at .889, while Tyler Quinney is 42nd at .855. John Clifford ranks 75th in rebounding, with 8.1 boards per game, and Baker ranks 79th in points per game with his 17.8 ppg average.

Players of the Week:
    Davis Baker was named Summit League Player of the Week for his performance at South Dakota State and North Dakota State.
    Baker led the Thunderbirds in scoring in both games, with 26 points at South Dakota State on Thursday and 23 in the T-Birds' 74-69 upset win at league-leading North Dakota State Saturday night.
    Baker shot .576 from the floor (19-33), .750 from 3-point range (6-8) and .833 from the free throw line (5-6) for the week when he played all but five minutes in the two games, combined.
    He also hit the shot that put SUU ahead for good against NDSU, an off-balance runner in the lane, then on their next possession hit two free throws to give the Thunderbirds a 3-point edge as SUU snapped the Bison's 13-game home and 11-game overall winning streaks. Sixteen of his 23 points at NDSU came in the second half.
    At SDSU he scored 26 points, one off his career-high, where he did basically everything, hitting 10-of-19 shots, including 3-of-4 3-point attempts, pulling down four rebounds, dishing out four assists and getting a steal in 39 minutes on the floor.
     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.

T-Bird Notes:

•     Davis Baker posted career-highs of 28 points and nine rebounds vs. Centenary.
•     John Clifford had a career-best 16 rebounds and 13 points for his sixth double-double of the season vs. the Gentlemen.
•     Dave Marek tied his season-high with seven assists vs. Centenary.
•     SUU's 38 rebounds vs. Centenary were their most in a conference game and second-most overall this season (41 at Tennessee Tech). SUU also tied its second-highest totals for blocks (three) and assists (20) in a game this year vs. the Gents.
•     SUU is glad its series with Oral Roberts is finished for the year. The T-Birds' two lowest scoring games of the season came against the Golden Eagles, a 51 point output in Tulsa, Jan. 24 and a season-low 46 last Thursday in Cedar City.
•     SUU had 11 turnovers in the first half against ORU but turned the ball over just twice after the break.
•     Jake Nielson dished out a career-best six assists at NDSU as the Thunderbirds had a season-high 22 dimes vs. the Bison.
•     SUU hit its last six shots from the floor and didn't miss from anywhere in the final four minutes at NDSU.The 'Birds were also a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line at NDSU. It was the second time the Thunderbirds were perfect from the free throw line this season, including an 8-for-8 performance at Western Illinois. The ?Birds also shot their highest 3-point percentage of the season (.667, 6-9) at NDSU.
•     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.
•     Forward Lucas Jones has left the team.

    Grizzly Notes: The last time these two teams met Oakland hadn't played a home game but since that time the Grizzlies have gone 9-2 in the O'Rena and 15-5 overall, with two of the losses (68-65 at Oral Roberts and 74-68) coming on the road in overtime. They have won six straight at home, the last home loss was to then-No. 11 Michigan State (82-66) on Dec. 27. Overall OU is 8-2 in its last 10 games including five straight victories.
    Guard Erik Kangas (6-3, 205, Sr) averages a team-high 18.6 points per game and is one of the nation's leading 3-point shooters with 112 threes in 260 tries (.431). Point guard Jonathan Jones (5-11, 165, Jr), a pre-season all-Summit League pick, is the team's third-leading scorer (13.3 ppg) and is among the nation's assists leaders at 7.7 per game. Keith Benson (6-11, 225, So) is the team's top rebounder, with 7.3 per game, and its second-leading scorer at 13.9 ppg.
    As a team the Grizzlies are averaging 74.2 points on .471 shooting (.378 threes) and they have connected at a .689 clip at the free throw line. OU has allowed an average of 71.1 points on .439 shooting (.372 threes) and has out-rebounded opponents by an average of 34.2-to-33.9 per game.

    Mastodon Notes: IPFW is 6-5 at home and has won two straight at Memorial Coliseum, including a 74-65 triumph over Oral Roberts in its last home game. The Mastodons are 4-3 in the Coliseum in conference games. Overall IPFW is 4-6 in its last 10 games. The ?Dons split a pair of road games last week, dropping a 57-55 decision at IUPUI before the 82-74 win at Western Illinois.
    David Carson (F, 6-7, 220, Sr), who started his collegiate career at Oakland, leads the ?Dons with 14.8 points per game and is the team's second-leading rebounder with 5.6 per game. Guard Ben Botts (6-0, 165, So) is the only other Mastodon in double figures, at 11.1 ppg. Deilvez Yearby (F, 6-5, 215, Jr), a transfer from Kansas State, leads the team in rebounds with 6.2 per game. Zach Plackemeier (G, 6-3, 190, So) is the team's assists leader with 2.7 per contest.
    As a team, the Mastodons have averaged 65.3 points per game on .433 shooting (.411 threes) while allowing an average of 68.8 points on .459 shooting (.328 threes). IPFW has connected on 73.4 percent of its free throws but has been out-rebounded by an average of 34.2-to-30.3 caroms per game.