CEDAR CITY, Utah - After playing five of their first seven Big Sky Conference games at home, the Thunderbird men's basketball team will hit the road to take on the University of Montana and Montana State University.   

Last Time Out

After falling to the Idaho Vandals in a close contest last Thursday, the T-Birds bounced back strong to knock off the Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday 66-62.

Brandon Better led the team in scoring, finishing the game with 13 points. Jamal Aytes was the only other T-Bird to get over double figures in scoring with 11.

Defense was the biggest key for SUU, as they only shot 35 percent in the contest and still were able to pull out a victory.

EWU's Bogdan Bliznyuk led the Eagles with 18 points, but fouled out in only 27 minutes of action.

Stat Leaders

As far as the Big Sky Conference is concerned, the Thunderbirds have the fourth best scoring offense in the conference averaging 78.1 points per game this year. The Thunderbirds are third in the Big Sky in terms of free throw percentage at 76 percent, as well as third in three point field goal percentage at 37 percent.

Jadon Cohee leads the T-Birds with 3.7 assists per game, and a total of 66 on the year. That puts him fourth in the Big Sky in that category.

Dwayne Morgan has led the Thunderbirds in scoring since joining the team at the beginning of Big Sky Conference play, averaging 15.1 ppg in that seven game span.

Opponent Preview: Montana Grizzlies (14-5, 7-0 Big Sky)

The top team in the Big Sky Conference currently resides in Missoula, Montana, as the Grizzlies are undefeated in league play so far.

The Grizzlies took the first contest against Southern Utah this season, when they knocked off the T-Birds 79-49 in Cedar City. Ahmaad Rorie was the story for the Grizzlies that day, finishing with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Montana's seven game winning streak is the longest in the Big Sky Conference, and was extended when the Grizzlies knocked off Montana State 67-52 last weekend. Jamar Akoh had 15 points in that contest, and Bobby Moorehead finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Opponent Preview: Montana State Bobcats (11-9, 4-3 Big Sky)

Riding a three game slide, the Bobcats of Montana State will look to pick up a win against Northern Arizona before hosting Southern Utah on Saturday.

After winning their first four Big Sky games of the year, the Bobcats have fallen in order to Portland State, Sacramento State and Montana.

When the T-Birds and Bobcats squared off earlier in the year, both Tyler Hall and Harald Frey had big contests. Hall finished with 36 points, hitting eight triples in the game, and Frey dropped in 30 points along with finishing with six assists and four steals.

Big Sky At A Glance

The Grizzlies have a two-game lead on the rest of the Big Sky Conference, sitting at 7-0 in league play.

Both Idaho and Weber State have 5-2 Big Sky records, and both are riding multiple game winning streaks. After those two, Northern Colorado, Montana State, Idaho State and Eastern Washington all sit at 4-3 in the league.

Through seven games, Northern Arizona is still seeking their first Big Sky victory of the season.

Words From Coach Simon

On the biggest differences this time around playing Montana...

"We were so out of sorts in that first game," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "Brandon (Better) wasn't here, Jadon (Cohee) was sick and we had some guys that weren't where we wanted them to be and we weren't able to overcome it. But this is a new day. We feel like we're in a different place. Dwayne (Morgan) has gotten more practices, more continuity under his belt, and we have a good team. So we'll be a little more on attack than we were last time around."

On what has made Montana so good this season...

"They have great continuity, they've had that group together for a while and you can tell," he said. "Their guys are comfortable with each other, they have good role definition, and they have good talent. They can roll eight quality players at you and not have any drop off."

On what he expects this time around from Montana State...

"I think it'll be more of the same," he said. "They're a good team, they have great players and their coaches do a good job so it'll be another dog fight without question. We've got to do a better job making them miss, and offensively we need to continue to share the ball and play our game."

On what SUU can do to slow down Tyler Hall and Harald Frey this time around…

"I think we're just a better defensive team as it is right now, guys are figuring this thing out a little bit and the defensive chemistry is much better," he said.

Tip Time

Thursday's contest against Montana is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. MT, while Saturday's contest against Montana State will begin at 2 p.m. MT.

Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along

SUU's contests against Montana and Montana State will stream live on the PlutoTV App and online at WatchBigSky.com.

A link to live stats will be provided on www.suutbirds.com prior to tip off.

All games will be available over the airwaves locally on KSUB 590 AM with legendary Thunderbird athletics broadcaster Art Challis on the call.

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

Single game tickets for the 2017-18 SUU men's basketball campaign can be purchased at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.