Southern Utah's men's basketball team heads to Troy, Ala., for a rematch with Troy University on Tuesday evening. The Trojans won the first match-up between the two, taking an 80-76 decision in Cedar City on Nov. 26. Outside of a Sears Bracket Buster game in March the game will be SUU's final non-conference road game of the season.
SUU will have had 10 days between games as the Thunderbirds took this week off for finals.
The Thunderbirds (4-5/0-1 Summit League) will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak that began with the first meeting against Troy. Following that game the T-Birds fell at Oral Roberts (61-55) in their Summit League opener, and last week the team suffered an 84-66 setback at Big Sky favorite Weber State.
Troy hosts Belmont Thursday night and has the weekend off before hosting the Thunderbirds. The Trojans (4-4, pending the outcome of Thursday's game vs. Belmont) had a three-game winning streak - which began with the win at SUU - snapped Saturday night when they were upended at Mississippi State, 106-68.
The Game: Tuesday, SUU (4-5) at Troy (4-4, pending the outcome of Thursday's game vs. Belmont), 7:00 p.m. (CST) in Sartain Hall (4,000).
Radio: All Southern Utah men's basketball games are broadcast live by KSUU (91.1 FM) as well as on the internet at www.suu.edu/ksuu. Art Challis is in his 39th season as the Thunderbirds' basketball play-by-play voice. Dr. Challis is joined on home and selected road broadcasts by former SUU standout Dean O'Driscoll.
The Series: Tuesday's game will be the fourth between the Thunderbirds and the Trojans. In addition to the Nov. 26 meeting the teams met twice during the 1993-94 season when Troy claimed an 87-85 win in overtime in Troy, Ala., and SUU prevailed in Cedar City, 95-69.
Practice Schedule: The practice schedule calls for the team to work out at 3:00 p.m. daily. Contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner for more information.
Media Availability: Players and coaches are available for interviews on Tuesdays prior to practice, between 2:30-3:00 p.m., with occasional adjustments due to scheduling conflicts. To contact a player or coach on another day or time contact Neil Gardner at gardner@suu.edu or 435-586-7753.
Video Highlights: Video highlights of SUU's Summit League home games will be available to accredited media outlets via SUU's FTP site. For information on the schedule and obtaining those highlights contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner.
Affiliations: Southern Utah is in its 15th and final season in The Summit League. All but two of SUU's sports compete in The Summit, with football a member of the Great West Conference and gymnastics an affiliate member of the Western Athletic Conference. Most of SUU's programs will move into the Big Sky Conference in 2012. Troy is a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
Videostreaming/Live Stats at www.suutbirds.com: All of Southern Utah's 2011-12 men's basketball home games will be video-streamed on the SUU athletic website at www.suutbirds.com. Live stats for all home games and most road games will also be available. Video streams are on a pay basis but there is no cost for live stats.
Thunderbird Club Luncheons: The Thunderbird Club's weekly no-host luncheon is held Mondays at noon in the Tradition Room in the home of President Michael Benson. The public is invited to attend the luncheons where Southern Utah's in-season coaches talk about their upcoming contests and review the past week's action.
Next Up: Next week SUU travels cross-country to Troy, Ala., for a Dec. 17, re-match with Troy University. Troy took an 80-76 win in Cedar City on Nov. 26.
The Coaches:
Head Coach
Roger Reid (Weber State '68) is in his fifth season on the Southern Utah bench.
Reid takes a career Division I mark of 196-161 - including a 44-85 record at SUU - into the game. His record includes six years as head coach at Brigham Young. He is 0-1 vs. Troy.
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 40-year coaching veteran who is also entering his fifth season with the program;
Johnny Brown (New Mexico '86), an 18-year veteran of the coaching ranks who is in his fifth year in Cedar City; and assistant
Kenya Crandell (Nebraska-Kearney '96) who is entering his 15th season as a collegiate coach and his fourth year at SUU.
Captains: This year's captains are SUU's three seniors: Ray Jones, Jr., Matt Massey, and Ramell Taylor.
Thunderbird Notes:
- Ray Jones, Jr., ranks 24th in the nation in assists, with an average of 5.9 per game. He dipped from 17th last week after tallying just three assists at Weber State, one more than his season-low.
- . As a team the Thunderbirds rank 17th in the nation and atop The Summit League with an average of 16.6 dimes per game. The team's 47.9 field goal percentage ranks 36th in the nation and is also best in The League.
- Jones, Ramell Taylor and Jackson Stevenett all average 4.8 rebounds per game, to share the team-lead.
- Wade Collie got the first start of his SUU career at Oral Roberts and wound up playing all 40 minutes in the contest. He finished the game with a career-high 12 points to go with five rebounds (which co-led the team), four assists and a team-best two steals. He started again at Weber State and wound up co-leading the team with five rebounds in 24 minutes on the floor.
- Jackson Stevenett scored a game-high 20 points at ORU. The output was his season-high and just four shy of his career-best. Stevenett hit 7-of-13 shots and 6-of-6 free throws in the contest, the team's best individual effort from the line this season.
- Matt Massey, who had scored in double figures in seven of the team's first eight games, went scoreless in 16 minutes on the floor at Weber State. It was the first time the senior from Brisbane, Australia had gone scoreless since the second game of the 2010-11 season when he didn't score at Cal State Bakersfield.
- As a team SUU hit 13-of-15 free throws at ORU for a season-high 86.7 percent conversion rate.
- The Thunderbirds were without their top 3-point shooter, Damon Heuir, at ORU and wound up 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. It was the second time this season the team went without a 3-pointer (SUU was 0-5 from long range vs. MSU-Billings). Heuir was serving a one-game suspension vs. ORU after violating a team policy.
- SUU has 149 assists, an average of 16.6 a game and 51 more than the nine opponents combined.
- Through the first nine games the Thunderbirds have out-rebounded their opponents by a 32.3-29.8 average. The Thunderbirds' loss at Weber State marked just the second time this season they had not won when winning the rebounding battle (SUU finished with 28 boards to the Wildcats' 27). The only other time was against Troy, when SUU out-rebounded the Trojans 40-28 but still came out on the wrong end of the decision.
- The Thunderbirds have three players with double-figure scoring averages. Heuir leads the way at 11.8 ppg, with Ramell Taylor at 11.2 and Stevenett at 11.1.
- SUU blocked a season-high three shots in the last game vs. Troy, two by Jones and one by Jordan Johnson.
- Jones had nine assists last time vs. Troy, one off his career-high.
- Heuir hit five 3-pointers in the first game vs. Troy, tying his personal high as well as the team's high this season. Heuir, who finished with a team-high 22 points vs. the Trojans, also had five threes vs. Bryant.
- Tyson Koehler had season-highs in points and rebounds vs. Troy, with six points and five boards. He hit all three of his field goal attempts. He tied his scoring high with six points at Weber State.
Scouting the Trojans:
Troy averages 78.9 points per game on .411 shooting (.388 threes), while allowing opponents an average of 77.2 ppg on .463 shooting (.391 threes). The Trojans have converted 66.4 percent of their free throws and have averaged 40.4 rebounds per game, with opponents pulling down 37.6.
Five Trojans carry double-figure scoring averages, led by guard Will Weathers (6-1, 171, Jr) at 12.9 ppg and swingman RJ Scott (6-4, 200, So) at 12.4. Guard Alan Jones (6-0, 180, Jr) and G/F Justin Wright (6-5, 220,Jr) both average 12.8 ppg, while Emil Jones (6-3, 185, Jr) is at 10.4 ppg. Ray Chambers (F, 6-6, 220, Jr) averages a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game while Jones is at 6.0 rpg. Weathers is also atop the team's assists list, with 6.6 per game.
Troy has an abundance of transfers on the squad, with nine junior college and two four-year transfers on the roster. Just three players came to the Trojans directly from high school and all three are freshmen this season.
