CEDAR CITY, Utah - Southern Utah University dropped a Summit League contest 87-61 to
the visiting IUPUI in the Centrum Arena Saturday evening.
The Thunderbirds dropped to 6-13 overall and
3-6 in Summit League play while IUPUI improved to 12-10 overall and 6-3 in
conference. SUU was led by senior guard Ryan Brimley's 19 points while freshman
forward Kyle Davis added 13 points. Thunderbird junior point guard Ray Jones
Jr. finished with nine points and a career-high eight assists.
Southern Utah shot 42 percent from the field
while the Jaguars finished the game shooting 57 percent. IUPUI used a strong
second half to overcome SUU's half time lead, shooting a sizzling 65 percent
and outscoring the Thundebirds 47-18 in
the second half. IUPUI a was led by Alex
Young's game-high 27 points who came into the game leading the Summit League at
19.4 ppg.
Southern Utah opened the game on fire from
the field as Brimley knocked down three form behind the arc to give SUU at
21-15 lead just over eight minutes in. The Thunderbirds then added an 8-0 run
to build a 10-point advantage with 8:51 left in the half.
IUPUI didn't go away though, continuing to
battle despite SUU holding another 10-point lead at the 5:26 mark. Following
SUU junior forward Jake Nielson's layup, the Jaguars put together a 15-6 run to
cut the Thunderbird lead to one before a couple free throws by sophomore center
Matt Hodgson gave SUU a 43-40 lead at the break.
The Thunderbirds held IUPUI to 1-7 form
behind the arc and shot 53 percent from the field to lead through the first 20
minutes. Brimley led SUU with 16 points and Davis added 11 for SUU. Young had
18 points for the Jaguars at the break.
Southern Utah scored on its first three
possessions of the second half but the Jaguars were able to match nearly every
basket before they caught fire. The Jaguars took its first lead since the
opening seconds of game on a long three from Stephen Jones at the 15:59 mark
and after a Jones Jr. layin, IUPUI added a layup to give them a 53-51 lead.
The Jaguars slowly expanded on their lead in the
next couple minutes before they erupted for a 22-0 run over a 10-minute stretch
to put the game out of reach.
Sophomore forward Tyson Koehler came off the
bench to register six points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. SUU
finished with seven blocks and a 18 assists as a team.
The Thunderbirds will hit the road for their
next two games, heading to the Dakotas to face North Dakota State University on
Thursday and South Dakota State University next Saturday.
