Southern Utah wraps up the 2008-09 regular season Saturday afternoon when the Thunderbirds travel to meet IPFW in Ft. Wayne, Ind. in a Summit League contest that could determine whether SUU enters the conference tournament with the fourth or fifth seed.
The Thunderbirds (10-18, 8-9 Summit) enter Saturday's game in a tie for fourth place, along with IUPUI, but IUPUI holds the tie-breaker with the Thunderbirds by virtue of its sweeping the season series between the two teams. If SUU wins and IUPUI loses at Western Illinois the Thunderbirds become the fourth seed. If IUPUI wins the Jaguars are the fourth seed, regardless of the outcome of the SUU game, due to the Jags' sweep of SUU this season.
IPFW (12-16, 7-10 Summit) claimed a 76-71 win over UMKC Thursday night to clinch a spot in the tournament. The Mastodons, winners of their last two games are currently tied with South Dakota State in sixth place and could finish sixth or seventh depending on Saturday's results.
Any number of scenarios for tournament seeding still exist, with just one team, third seed Oakland, locked into its position. In scenarios directly effecting the Thunderbirds, SUU will either move up to fourth or retain the fifth seed, according to a memo sent out by the Summit League office Friday afternoon.
According to the same memo, should Oral Roberts beat North Dakota State on Saturday, ORU would become the top seed.
NDSU, ORU, Oakland, IUPUI, SUU, IPFW and South Dakota State have all clinched tourney berths. Western Illinois can join the field with a win over IUPUI or a loss by Centenary, which hosts South Dakota State. Centenary can reach the tournament with a win over SDSU coupled with a loss by WIU.
The Game: Thursday: Southern Utah (10-18, 8-9) at IPFW (12-16, 7-10), 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 broadcasts.
TV: There will be no live TV of Saturday's 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 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 21-37 in his second season on the Thunderbird bench. He takes a career Division I mark of 173-113 into Saturday'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. 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: - Cory Davis tied his career-high with 11 points at Oakland. He also led the team with three assists.
- SUU hit 14-of-15 free throws at Oakland to improve its team percentage to .806.
- Oakland blocked eight SUU shots, tying the most attempts the Thunderbirds have had rejected this season (Weber State). Keith Benson swatted five of those shots, the most by an opponent this year.
- SUU was credited with just seven assists at Oakland, a season-low.
- 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.
- 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.
Mastodon Notes: IPFW is 7-5 at home and has won three straight at Memorial Coliseum, including Thursday's 76-71 win over UMKC. The Mastodons are 5-3 at home in conference games. Overall IPFW is 5-5 in its last 10 games. The ?Dons split a pair of road games last week, dropping a 57-55 decision at IUPUI before picking up a 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 5.5 per game. Guard Ben Botts (6-0, 165, So) is the only other Mastodon in double figures, at 11.5 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 2.8 per contest.
As a team, the Mastodons have averaged 65.7 points per game on .434 shooting (.409 threes) while allowing an average of 68.9 points on .458 shooting (.328 threes). IPFW has connected on 73.9 percent of its free throws but has been out-rebounded by an average of 34.1-to-30.2 caroms per game.
