Southern Utah will face a familiar foe Sunday night in the first round of the Summit League tournament. The Thunderbirds will meet IUPUI for the fourth time in league tournament play, more than they have faced any team.
    The Thunderbirds (10-19, 8-10 Summit) enter Saturday's game as the fifth seed after finishing tied for fifth in the standings with IPFW. Although SUU lost to IPFU, 69-52, last Saturday, the Thunderbirds held the tie-breaker with the Mastodons by virtue of splitting the season series and their win over top-seeded North Dakota State last month.
    SUU has gone 4-4 over its last eight games.
    SUU will be looking to reverse a pair of trends when it tips off against IUPUI on Sunday. The Thunderbirds lost their last two regular-season games and have lost all three of their previous meetings with the Jaguars in the conference tournament. SUU also lost both regular-season matchups with IUPUI this year, 59-54 in Indianapolis on Jan. 2, and 79-65 at home on Jan. 31.
    IUPUI finished its season with a 71-69 win at Western Illinois Saturday to lock up sole possession of fourth place in the Summit League standings. Like the Thunderbirds, however, the Jaguars have been up and down the last few weeks, going 3-3 over that span. IUPUI is 5-3 over its last eight games.

    The Game: Southern Utah (10-19, 8-10) vs. IUPUI (16-13/9-9), 6:00 p.m. (Central) Sunday at Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
    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 Thunderbird standout and current SUU Vice President for University Relations Dean O'Driscoll on selected broadcasts.

    TV: There will be no live TV of Sunday's game. Should SUU advance to the semi-final round KCSG-TV will televise the game live. ESPN2 will carry the championship game live.

    Webstreaming: All tournament games will be available on The Summit League website. For more information go to www.thesummitleague.org.

    The Series: IUPUI holds a 16-9 edge in the series between the two schools, including six straight wins. The Jaguars have swept the season series the last two years and in 2007 they won on their own court then claimed a neutral court win in the first round of the then-Mid-Continent Conference tournament. SUU is 0-3 against the Jaguars in league tournament games, including a semi-final loss in 2003 and a quarterfinal loss in 2004.

    Next Up: With a win Sunday night the Thunderbirds will face either top-seeded North Dakota State or eighth-seed Centenary Monday at 6:00 p.m. (Central). NDSU and CC face each other Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in their first-round matchup.

    Practice Schedule: The Thunderbirds will practice Tuesday and Wednesday from 2:00-4:30 p.m. in the Centrum before traveling to Sioux Falls on Thursday. The Thunderbirds will hold just one open practice in Sioux Falls, Saturday from 1:00-to-3:00 p.m., in the Sioux Falls Family Wellness Center.

    The Coaches: Head Coach Roger Reid (Weber State ?68) is 21-38 in his second season on the Thunderbird bench. He takes a career Division I mark of 173-114 into Sunday'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.

    Southern Utah In The Summit League/Mid-Con Tournament: Southern Utah is 6-10 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 four times as the fifth seed (1999, 2006 and 2007), twice each as the second (2000 and 2001), fourth (2002, 2008) and seventh seed (2004 and 1998); 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. IPFW and 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 in 2007 IUPUI took a 71-59 win in the quarterfinals. IPFW came out on top of a 66-62 decision against the Thunderbirds last year.
    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 11 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).
    Prior to moving to Sioux Falls this year, the tournament had 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 was 0-3 at John Hammons Arena in Tulsa, Okla.

    National Rankings, Thunderbirds Are Tops In Free Throw Percentage, Baker Sixth: Southern Utah remains atop ranks of the nation's free throw shooters this week with an 80.5 percent success rate. The Thunderbirds have led the nation for four consecutive weeks. SUU ranks among the nation's top-100 in field goal percentage as well, where it is 68th at 46.1 percent.
    Individually, three Thunderbirds rank among the nation's leaders: Davis Baker ranks sixth in free throw percentage, at .891, while Tyler Quinney is 28th at .855. John Clifford ranks 69th 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.

Record Runs:

    John Clifford is on the verge of setting the SUU single-season field goal percentage record. His current .626 accuracy mark would shatter the current record of .603, set by Scott Brown in 1978-79. Clifford also needs six rebounds to move into a tie for 10th place on SUU's single-season rebounding list. Cliff has 237, Marc Wilson pulled down 243 in 1977-78, with Dan Beus' 245 boards in 2000-01 ninth. Clifford had a career-best 16 rebounds and 13 points for his sixth double-double of the season on senior night vs. Centenary. The 16 boards were one short of reaching SUU's single-game top-10 list.
    Davis Baker, who posted career-highs of 28 points and nine rebounds (tied his high) vs. Centenary, is within reach of SUU's single-season top-10 for scoring. Baker has 507 points this season, 29 behind 10th-place Russell Otis' 536 in 1984-85. Baker's .891 free throw percentage ranks third on the SUU single-season list, behind Jeff Monaco's .910 in 1998-99 and Hal Welch's .892 in 1980-81.
    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 as well as the most made 3-pointers without a miss in The Summit League this year. Marek is currently seventh on the SUU career 3-point percentage list at .422. Marek could also break into the SUU career assists top-10; he needs nine to tie Maz Trakh (1984-86) in 10th place on the SUU career assists list.

    Jaguar Notes: IUPUI was in the middle of a four-game winning streak when the team's met on Jan. 29. Following the Jaguars' 79-65 win in Cedar City that night they went on to post a 60-56 win at UMKC and a 71-63 home victory over South Dakota State. Since the SDSU win, however, the Jags have lost every other game, losing at home to North Dakota State (91-69) winning at Centenary (79-67), losing at Oral Roberts (71-60), winning at IPFW (57-55) and losing at Oakland (81-76) before last Saturday's 71-66 win at Western Illinois.
    Three Jaguars carry double-figure scoring averages, led by Robert Glenn's (Jr, F, 6-7, 195) 14.0 ppg. Freshman Alex Young (F, 6-5, 195) averages 11.0 points and Leroy Nobles adds 10.2 ppg. Glenn has also blocked 50 shots this season. Jon Avery (Jr, F, 6-7, 205) and Glenn are the team's top two rebounders, with respective averages of 5.8 and 5.5 caroms per game, and Billy Pettiford (Jr, F, 6-7, 220) leads the team in assists, with 2.5 per game.
    As a team, IUPUI averages 66.1 points on .481 shooting (.340 threes) while allowing opponents an average of 63.7 points on .439 shooting (.378 threes). The Jaguars have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 31.3-to-29.4 caroms per game and have knocked down 65.4 percent of their free throws.