CEDAR CITY, Utah - Following a big victory against San Jose State at the America First Event Center, the Thunderbird men's basketball team will be back on the court in Cedar City for a showdown with Benedictine University at Mesa on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The game will be part of a double-header with the SUU women's basketball team.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds started their regular season home slate off on the right foot last week, as they knocked off the Spartans of San Jose State 81-69. The win was SUU's first against a Mountain West Conference opponent since 2006.
Jadon Cohee led the Thunderbirds with 19 points in the contest. Brandon Better dropped 15, all in the opening half. Christian Musoko finished the night with 10 points in 17 minutes.
Dre Marin had a breakout performance passing the ball, dishing out seven assists in the contest. Marin and Cohee combined for 11 assists and just two turnovers.
Stat Leaders
Through three contests in a Thunderbird uniform, Cohee is leading the Thunderbird offensive attack by averaging 19.7 points per game. In total, Cohee has scored 59 points this season.
Better is averaging 11.7 ppg, and both Jamal Aytes and James McGee are averaging just a shade over 10 ppg. Better leads the team with seven three pointers through three games.
Dre Marin leads the team with 11 assists through three games, and Musoko has pulled down 16 total rebounds to lead the T-Birds.
Words From Coach Simon
On the performance against San Jose State…..
"You go in those first two games with eight scholarship guys, some playing out of position and having to overcome some stuff," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "They never said 'woe is me', they came up with a checklist of what we had to fix, a couple guys got healthy … So to have that tangible success coming off three great days of practice fixing our ills and applying it to a game is all you can ask for as a coach."
On what the team's mindset was against the Spartans…..
"It's a building block, we're learning how to win and are raising the bar," he said. "Our expectation was to win, we came in this thing and made it very clear and we weren't afraid to say it."
On the play of Christian Musoko so far this season…..
"He had a mindset come last spring that he was going to be a guy," he said. "He worked all summer, he put hours in running at 6:30 in the morning, I mean he worked. And now we're at a point where if you throw it in there, it's a bucket. He did it against high level Pac-12 guys and he did it again [last Thursday], and every time we needed one in the second half we knew we could go to him and he would make that basket."
Opponent Preview: Benedictine University at Mesa
The Redhawks will come to Cedar City with a 4-2 record this season. They've picked up wins over SAGU-American Indian University, West Coast Baptist, Life Pacific College and Westcliff University.
The Redhawks fell in their most recent contest against Arizona Christian 100-92. Devin White led the Redhawks in scoring with 23 points of 7-of-11 shooting. Jorge Cano also went over 20, finishing the game with 21 on 8-of-8 shooting from the field.
Benedictine finished the 2016-17 season with a 16-12 overall record and a 11-3 mark in conference play.
Tip Time
The Thunderbirds and Redhawks will tip off at 8:00 p.m. MT on Tuesday, November 21 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
Follow the Thunderbirds all season @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
Read all about the Thunderbirds on www.suutbirds.com.
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.
