Men's Basketball 1/6/2012 5:14:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Thunderbirds Fall to First Place Jackrabbits

CEDAR CITY, Utah – Jan. 5 – Nate Wolters scored 28 points to help visiting South Dakota State come away from the Centrum Arena with a 74-68 victory over Southern Utah on Thursday. The score was tight throughout the contest as the two teams went back-and-forth in the first half before the Jackrabbits were able to build a slight advantage down the stretch and then hold off the Thunderbirds for their fifth consecutive win in Summit League play.

Ray Jones Jr. started with seven quick points on 3-3 shooting for SUU but then picked up his third foul near the 14-minute mark and was forced to sit for the remainder of the half. With their point guard watching from the sidelines the Thunderbirds put the ball in the hands of their leading scorer, Jackson Stevenett. The junior forward worked to create his own shot and was able to end the first half with 10 points to help Southern Utah to a 32-31 lead at the break.

“Jackson is a great example of consistency,” explained SUU Head Coach Roger Reid. “He just comes out and does his business.”

The two teams played a balanced opening period as the lead changed hands half a dozen times and neither side held an advantage greater than four points in the early going. South Dakota State held a slight edge at the free throw line and on the glass in the first but Southern Utah outshot the Jacks by going nearly 44 percent from the floor. The Thunderbird defense highlighted the early play as four different players made big blocks to deny SDSU scoring opportunities and hold the Jacks to just 11-30 shooting from the floor in the first half.

Southern Utah held onto a slight advantage in the early moments after the break until Wolters got going and helped South Dakota State seize the lead near the 15-minute mark. The junior guard would go on to score 18 points in the final 20-minutes to up his total for the game to 28.

Down by 10, with just under three-minutes remaining, Stevenett knocked down another big jumper that was followed by a fast break two-handed slam by Matt Massey to pull the T-Birds within six at 69-63. Southern Utah then came up with a key stop on defense, but turnovers on its next two possessions would prove to be costly as the SDSU stretched its lead back to eight. Working against the clock SUU battled until the end but was unable to catch the visiting Jacks who held on for the 75-68 victory.

“Tonight we played a really good team and you can't afford to make mistakes and hope to beat good teams,” said Reid. “We played hard but we had some critical turnovers at key times that kept us from winning this game.”

South Dakota State held a significant advantage at the free throw line where they converted 21 of 31 attempts to just 10 of 11 for SUU. Both teams did a good job protecting the ball as the Jacks committed just eight turnovers and while Thunderbirds gave the ball away just 11 times in the game.

Matt Massey finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to turn in his first double double of the season and was the only Thunderbird to finish in the double figures apart from Stevenett. Chad White scored 13 off the bench for SDSU.

Thursday's loss drops Southern Utah to 2-3 in conference play this year while South Dakota State starts the season 5-0 in the Summit League. The Thunderbirds will be home again this Saturday as they host North Dakota State in the backend of a basketball doubleheader. The SUU women will face NDSU in the Centrum at 5 p.m. and the men will tip things off against the Bison immediately after at 7:30.

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Players Mentioned

#34 Matt Massey: C; 6' 9"; Senior

#21 Jackson Stevenett: F; 6' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#34 Matt Massey
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C

#21 Jackson Stevenett
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F

Players Mentioned

#34 Matt Massey

#21 Jackson Stevenett

Players Mentioned

#34 Matt Massey

#21 Jackson Stevenett