Southern Utah's men's basketball team heads back on the road this week to take on IUPUI and Western Illinois. The week's games will mark the end of a Summit League-opening stretch which has seen the Thunderbirds play six of their first eight conference contests on the road. Following this week SUU will finish the conference season playing seven of the final 10 at home.

The Thunderbirds (7-9/2-4 Summit League) are coming off a heartbreaking 72-69 home loss in overtime to North Dakota State on Saturday night. The Thunderbirds played three games last week and came up on the wrong end of all three, falling at IPFW on Tuesday (79-58) and to South Dakota State (75-68) at home on Thursday. Heading into the IPFW game SUU had put together a modest three-game winning streak, with a 62-51 home win over UC Davis, an 81-75 victory in overtime at South Dakota and a 91-77 triumph at UMKC.

IUPUI (8-10/2-4 Summit League) has lost two straight after seeing a six-game winning streak come to an end at IPFW last Thursday. The Jaguars had strung together four straight non-conference wins as well as home victories over Western Illinois (75-68) and UMKC (83-74 in overtime) before falling at IPFW (72-67) and then at Oakland (93-81) on Saturday night.

Western Illinois (9-5/4-2 Summit League) hosts Oral Roberts Thursday night prior to Saturday's match-up with SUU. WIU posted a 75-65 win at IPFW last Saturday to give the Leathernecks three straight wins, with two coming on the road. Since the 75-68 loss at IUPUI on Dec. 30, WIU has posted a home win over South Dakota (67-44) and road wins at Oakland (71-61) and IPFW.

The Games: Thursday: SUU (7-9/2-4) at IUPUI in The Jungle (2,000), 7:00 p.m. (EST) Indianapolis, Ind. Saturday: SUU at Western Illinois (9-5/4-2, pending the outcome of Thursday's game vs. ORU), 7:00 p.m. (CST) at Western Hall (5,139), Macomb, Ill.

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: 

IUPUI holds a 19-11 edge in the series that has seen the teams meet four times in tournament games (the most tourney match-ups against any Summit League foe) in addition to the home-and-home series. SUU is 5-8 vs. the Jaguars in Indianapolis after notching an 80-68 win at IUPUI last season. That win snapped a three-game Jaguar winning streak against the Thunderbirds and avenged an 87-61 IUPUI win in Cedar City earlier in the season.

SUU's series with Western Illinois is one of the longest-running against any member of The Summit League. The Thunderbirds and Leathernecks have met 31 times, with SUU coming out on top of 19 of those meetings, including a 68-63 win in Macomb last season. The home team has won the majority of the games in the series, however, as the Thunderbirds have a 13-1 edge in games played in Cedar City, while WIU is 11-4 against SUU at home in Macomb, Ill. SUU is also 2-0 in conference tournament games against WIU. SUU swept the season series with the Leathernecks last year, with a 69-48 win in Cedar City as well as the win at WIU.

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. IUPUI and Western Illinois are also members 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 home next week to begin a four-game homestand. The Thunderbirds host Oakland on Jan. 19 and IPFW on Jan. 21.

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 199-165 - including a 47-89 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:

• Ray Jones, Jr., scored 15 points vs. North Dakota State to lead the Thunderbirds in scoring. It was the first time anyone other than Jackson Stevenett or Ramell Taylor had led the team in scoring in the past seven games and the first time anyone other than Stevenett or Taylor had led the team in a Summit League game.
• Damon Heuir led the T-Birds with nine rebounds and five assists vs. NDSU. The rebounds were a career-best while the assists marked a season-high. He also scored 12 points, breaking a two-game stretch when he didn't score in double figures.
• SUU combined to block a season-high six shots against the Bison. Ramell Taylor had a personal-best three rejections in the game while Jaren Jeffery swatted two, tying his personal-high.
• Four T-Birds sport double-figure scoring averages: Stevenett at 13.9, Taylor at 12.4 ppg, Matt Massey at 10.8 and Heuir at 10.7. In conference games Stevenett is averaging 19.3 ppg, Taylor is at 10.5 ppg, Massey averages 10.2 and Heuir checks in at an even 10.0 ppg.
• Stevenett and Taylor have each pulled down 80 rebounds to co-lead the team with 5.0 per game. Massey averages 4.2 caroms per contest.
• Heading into the week Ray Jones, Jr., ranked 33rd in the nation in assists, with an average of 5.5 per game. As a team the Thunderbirds rank 36th in the nation and atop The Summit League with an average of 15.4 dimes per game. The team's 48.6 field goal percentage ranked 19th in the nation and second in The League heading into the week.
• The Thunderbirds have out-rebounded their opponents by a 32.4-29.4 average.
• SUU has 246 assists, an average of 15.4 a game and 60 more than its opponents combined.

Scouting the Jaguars:

IUPUI has averaged 74.3 points per game on 42.1 percent shooting (.334 threes) while allowing opponents an average of 73.9 points on .464 shooting (.332 threes). The Jaguars have connected on 77.0 percent of their free throws and have been out-rebounded their opponents by an average of 37.0-to-34.9 caroms per game.

Two Jags carry double-figure scoring averages, pre-season Summit League player of the year Alex Young and Stephen Thomas. Young (G/F, 6-6, 212, Sr) averages 20.1 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game, while Thomas(G, 6-1, 172, Sr) scores at an 11.6 ppg clip and leads the squad with 4.1 assists per game. In league games Young is at 21.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg, Thomas is at 13.5 ppg and 3.5 apg and Ian Chiles (G, 6-1, 188, So) averages 10.7 ppg.

The Jaguars are 8-3 at home this season, 2-2 in Summit League games. IUPUI opened the conference season by losing at home to both South Dakota State (97-93, OT) and North Dakota State (84-79) before beating Western Illinois (75-68) and UMKC (83-74, OT).

Scouting the Leathernecks:

Western Illinois averages 66.1 points on 56.6 percent shooting (.387 threes) while holding opponents to 58.8 ppg on 41.5 percent shooting (.346 threes). The Leathernecks have knocked down 68.8 percent of their free throw attempts and have out-rebounded their opponents by an average of 32.0-to-30.6 per game.

Three Leathernecks, forwards Obi Emegano and Terell Parks and guard Ceola Clark carry double-figure scoring averages. Emegano (6-3, 215, Fr) leads the way at 13.9 ppg, while Clark (6-3, 190, Sr) averages 13.5 and Parks (6-7, 215, Jr) has scored at a 13.0 ppg clip. Parks also leads the team with 9.2 rebounds per game while Clark dishes out a team-best 4.9 assists. Emegano averages 15.8 points in conference games, while Clark is at 13.8 ppg and 5.2 apg and Parks averages 13.7 points and 9.5 rebounds.

The Leathernecks are 6-1 at home this season, 2-1 in conference games, with wins over North Dakota State (55-51') and South Dakota (67-44) and a loss to South Dakota State (67-66).