POCATELLO, Idaho – In a game that eerily similar to January's match-up, Southern Utah collected its second consecutive Big Sky road win at Idaho State, 71-67. The Thunderbirds (7-16, 4-8) beat ISU (6-19, 3-10) earlier this season in the Centrum Arena by the same score and in similar fashion. SUU showed poise down the stretch and held off a late Idaho State run for the victory Saturday Night, improving to 4-8 in the Big Sky Conference; just one game back of the coveted eighth spot.
Southern Utah held a 60-52 lead with just over five minutes to play and seemed to be in position to collect their second road victory of the season. However, Idaho State showed resilience, cutting the SUU lead to one at 62-61 with three minutes to play. SUU guard, Race Parsons, converted two critical free throws and hit a three-point jumper with two minutes remaining to re-establish a six-point lead. The Bengals brought the game back to two with under a minute to play, but free throws by sophomore, Trey Kennedy and a big-time layup by freshman, Tyler Rawson closed the door on Idaho State.
Head Coach Nick Robinson praised his teams' play saying, “Our guys played extremely well the entire game. We were consistent offensively, taking care of the ball and hitting great shots.”
A.J. Hess started the Thunderbirds' scoring with two three-point shots in the opening minutes of the game. SUU went back and forth with Idaho State for a solid part of the first half. Rawson, converted a three-point jumper, followed by a three by freshman, James McGee, but Bengals guard, Ben Wilson kept ISU close with back-to-back field goals that tied the game at 14-14. Hess scored on a layup to give the Thunderbirds the lead back midway through the first half.
Idaho State took charge 20-16, but back-to-back jumpers by Parsons and Juwan Major tied the game at 20. The Thunderbirds took the lead 27-24 after Hess' three-point shot with 5:05 remaining in the half. SUU was able to push its lead to 37-30 at halftime after Parsons converted a three with just five seconds left in the half.
The first half saw the Thunderbirds commit just five turnovers, while shooting 50 percent from the field. Surprisingly, SUU lost the battle in the paint, 18-8 in the first half, but converting eight three-pointers is a big reason why. Hess led all scorers at halftime with 11 and the ball moved well for the Thunderbirds who accrued eight assists in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Both teams struggled coming out in the second half. The Thunderbirds scored just four points in the first six minutes of the half, while Idaho State was able to score seven. SUU's shots started falling at the 14-minute mark when guard, Travon Langston, scored five straight points and gave Southern Utah an eight-point lead. Junior, Casey Oliverson got his first field goal of the night with 10:40 remaining in the game and stretched the SUU lead to 53-45.
The Southern Utah lead was cut to four with just over nine minutes remaining in the game, as the Bengals scored on back-to-back layups. Parsons hit a three for SUU to push the lead back out to seven for the Thunderbirds, but for every shot the Thunderbirds made, Idaho State answered, keeping the SUU lead to single-digits. During the final seven minutes of the game, Idaho State cut into the SUU lead. The Bengals scored 15 points, nine of which came from the free throw line.
Robinson continued to talk about the great SUU ball control throughout the night and the second road win, “Ball movement tonight was very good, and our guys took care of the ball. There was a maximum effort by multiple guys tonight and it is great to get a road-sweep.”
The Thunderbirds finished the game with 13 three-pointers, which they converted at 56.5 percent. SUU was also able to take care of the ball, which has plagued them for a good part of the year, finishing with just 12 turnovers. Both Kennedy and Langston finished with four assists, as the team racked up 16 throughout the game. Idaho State's Chris Hansen had a big second half and led the game in scoring with 21. The Thunderbirds had Hess (16), Parsons (14) and Rawson (11) all in double figures.
SUU returns home next week for games against Eastern Washington and Idaho on Thursday and Saturday respectively. The Thunderbirds trail Weber State and Idaho by one game for that sought after eighth seed in the Big Sky Conference.
