CEDAR CITY, Utah - After hitting the road for the first two games of the regular season, the Thunderbird men's basketball team will return home on Thursday to face off against the Spartans of San Jose State.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds played a pair of games over the weekend, squaring off against both the Oregon State Beavers and the Boise State Broncos.
In Corvallis, the Beavers of the Pac-12 topped the Thunderbirds 99-82. Jadon Cohee led the Thunderbirds in scoring in the contest, dropping 21 points in 36 minutes of play. Brandon Better had 18 points coming off the bench for the T-Birds, and James McGee dropped in 15 with two made three-point jumpers. Christian Musoko led SUU in the rebounding category, pulling down 11 boards in 13 minutes of playing time. The Thunderbirds outscored the Beavers in the second half 54-48.
The Thunderbirds started hot against Boise State on Sunday, but eventually fell to the Broncos 99-69. Jamal Aytes was huge for the Thunderbirds, scoring 27 points and finishing 11-of-15 from the field. He also pulled down seven boards for the T-Birds. Cohee was impressive again as well, scoring 19 points for the Thunderbirds.
Words From Coach Simon
On what the biggest takeaways of the first two games were…..
"I think we got a lot of our first game jitters out of our system, because for many of those guys it was their first time playing a Division I game," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "I think that experience, and playing in those bigger environments for the first game calmed the waters a little bit and now we can get back to the drawing board to see exactly what we need to work on and the level of discipline it takes to win games. It was good for us."
On the benefits of starting the season with a tough road swing…..
"You don't get any false pretenses to who you are," he said. "To play teams that are going to challenge you and make you pay for mistakes is a huge advantage for us because as we get into the meat of our schedule and in conference play, we won't see the athletes at every position at 6' 5'' or 6' 8'', and all the things we got to see this first weekend. We want to turn the heat up as much as we can, and hopefully it will pay off in conference play."
On the performance of Jadon Cohee…..
"That was good, he battled," he said. "He's such a competitive player and he wants to win, he wants to be good and that's one of his biggest strengths. So it was good to see that and he wants to lead his team to a lot of wins."
On what he's seen from San Jose State…..
"They're big at every position, a big physical team," he said. "They're highly competitive. They've got a couple guys with some experience that have done it at a high level in the Mountain West, so for us it will be another test of our guys versus teams from a bigger league with guys that have size and strength at every position. From that standpoint it will be really good for us, and it will be good to go against another team that has a lot of guys back. And they got us at their place last year, and we want to show that we've improved over that time."
Opponent Preview: San Jose State Spartans
Out of the Mountain West Conference, the San Jose State Spartans will travel to the America First Event Center for a showdown with the Thunderbirds on Thursday.
The Spartans have started the season 1-1, with a victory coming against Antelope Valley and a loss coming against San Diego.
Following their bout with the Thunderbirds, the Spartans will play at home against Saint Mary's and fellow Big Sky team Idaho State.
Through two games, Ryan Welage has been the go-to guy for the Spartans. He's averaged 23.5 points in their two games so far, and has shot 56 percent from the field. He's also 4-of-5 this season from behind the three-point line. Also aiding his efforts is his 15-of-18 number from the free throw stripe. He's reached those numbers with an average of just 26 minutes per game.
Last season the Spartans finished 14-16 overall with a 7-11 mark in Mountain West Conference play.
Tip Time
The Thunderbirds and Spartans will tip off at 6:30 p.m. MT on Thursday, November 16 at the America First Event Center.
Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along
All of Southern Utah's home games this season will be streamed live on WatchBigSky.com and the PlutoTV App ch. 236.
All games will be available over the airwaves locally on KSUB 590 AM with legendary Thunderbird athletics broadcaster Art Challis on the call.
Live stats are available on suutbirds.com
Follow Us
Season tickets for the 2017-18 SUU men's basketball campaign can be purchased at tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
Ticket Information
Season tickets for the 2017-18 SUU men's basketball campaign can be purchased at tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
