Southern Utah's men's basketball team will be looking to snap a two-game skid  Saturday night when the Thunderbirds host North Dakota State in the Centrum.

The Thunderbirds (7-8/2-3 Summit League) are coming off a 75-68 home loss to Summit League co-leader South Dakota on Thursday night. The Thunderbirds have lost two straight, including a 79-58 setback at IPFW on Tuesday, after running off three wins to end the 2011 calendar year. Prior to Tuesday's loss the Thunderbirds had posted a pair of road wins, 81-75 in overtime at South Dakota on Dec. 28 and 91-77 at UMKC on Friday. The Thunderbirds had also posted a 62-51 win over UC Davis at home, on Dec. 22.

North Dakota State (10-4/3-2 Summit League) is coming off an 89-90 loss at Oral Roberts on Thursday night. Heading into that game the Bison had won two straight and three of their last four, including home wins over Oakland (96-69) and IPFW (84-68) last weekend.

The Game: North Dakota State (10-4/3-2) at SUU (7-8/2-3), 7:05 p.m. (MST) in the Centrum Arena (5,300), Cedar City, Utah.

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: North Dakota State holds a 5-4 edge in the series with the Thunderbirds. Last year the teams each defended their home courts, with the T-Birds claiming a 77-68 win in Cedar City and the Bison avenging that setback with an 87-75 triumph in Fargo, N.D. The teams have each won three times on their home court and once on the road, and NDSU has also claimed a neutral-site win in the semi-final round of the 2009 Summit League tournament.

Practice Schedule: When at home 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. North Dakota State is also a member of The Summit League.

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: SUU returns to the road next week for league games at IUPUI on Thursday and at Western Illinois (Jan. 14).

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 199-164 - including a 47-88 record at SUU - into the game. His record includes six years as head coach at Brigham Young. He is 3-6 vs. IPFW.

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:

• Jackson Stevenett led SUU in scoring for the third time in four games vs. South Dakota State when he scored 25 points, one shy of his career-high. He was also second on the team in rebounding with eight vs. the Jackrabbits, which is also one short of his career-best. He hit 11-of-15 shots, his only 3-point attempt and both his free throws, blocked a shot and had a steal.
• Matt Massey pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds and scored 17 points vs. South Dakota State for his first double-double of the season.
• South Dakota State attempted 30 free throws to SUU's 11 Thursday night. It was the largest differential in an SUU game this season. SDSU guard Nate Wolters shot 19 free throws and connected 14 times; both totals are opponent-highs this season.
• Four T-Birds sport double-figure scoring averages: Stevenett at 14.1, Taylor at 12.4 ppg, Massey at 11.4 and Heuir at 10.6. In conference games Stevenett is averaging 21.0 ppg, Massey checks in at 11.8 ppg and Taylor is at 10.2 ppg
• Stevenett averages a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game while Taylor averages 4.9 and Massey 4.3.
• Either Stevenett or Ramell Taylor has led SUU in scoring the last six games, in seven of the last eight and in all five Summit League games.
• Stevenett led the T-Birds in scoring, rebounds and blocks and co-led the team in steals at IPFW.
• Taylor tied his season scoring high with a team-high 21 points at UMKC. He also led the team with 21 at Troy, one shy of his career-high (vs. Utah State last year).
• All five starters scored in double-figures at UMKC. It was the first time this season the team had five players score in double figures.
• The Thunderbirds have out-rebounded their opponents by a 32.3-29.2 average.
• SUU has 231 assists, an average of 15.4 a game and 55 more than its opponents combined. The team tied its season-low with just seven assists at IPFW.
• Since hitting just 13-of-26 free throws against Southern Virginia the Thunderbirds went seven straight games without dipping below 70 percent from the line until converting just 18-of-26 at IPFW, 69.2 percent. They bounced back by hitting 10-of-11 vs. South Dakota State.
• Even with the off-night at IPFW, SUU's free throw percentage has improved from .664 to .737 since the Southern Virginia game.
• Heading into the week Ray Jones, Jr., ranked 24th in the nation in assists, with an average of 6.0 per game. As a team the Thunderbirds rank 25th in the nation and atop The Summit League with an average of 16.3 dimes per game. The team's 49.0 field goal percentage ranked 18th in the nation and second in The League heading into the week.

Scouting the Bison:

NDSU has averaged 76.1 points per game on 50.7 percent shooting (.391 threes) while holding opponents to an average of 64.6 points on .394 shooting (.300 threes). The Bison have connected on 68.9 percent of their free throws and have out-rebounded their opponents by an average of 35.8-to-33.0 per game.

Four Bison carry double-figure scoring averages, led by wingman Taylor Braun (6-7, 205, So), who checks in at 14.9 ppg after leading the Bison with 25 points at Oral Roberts on Thursday night. Freshman Lawrence Alexander (G, 6-3, 175) averages 12.6 ppg, while Marshall Bjorklund (F, 6-8, 240, So) is at 12.0 ppg and Mike Felt (G, 5-8, 155, So) averages 11.1 points per game. Bjorklund also paces the team in rebounding with 6.9 caroms per game, with Braun second at 6.5. Alexander has a team-high 78 assists, an average of 5.6 per game.

NDSU is 2-4 on the road this season, 1-2 in Summit League games. I addition to Thursday's loss at ORU, the Bison also lost at Western Illinois (55-51 on Dec. 1). The win was an 84-79 triumph at IUPUI on Dec. 3.