CEDAR CITY, Utah -- With just two home games left on the 2017-18 schedule, the Thunderbird men's basketball team will look to end their season in the America First Event Center on a high note as they host the Portland State Vikings (Thursday) and the Sacramento State Hornets (Saturday).  

Last Time Out

The Thunderbirds have returned from a road trip to North Dakota and Northern Colorado, where they were unable to pick up a victory.

Jadon Cohee was SUU's leading scorer against the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota, finishing with 14 points and shooting 4-of-4 from behind the three point line. Dwayne Morgan and Jamal Aytes both finished with 11 points in the contest and Jacob Calloway finished with 10 rebounds.

On Saturday Aytes led the scoring effort for SUU with 19, while James McGee finished with 17 and Cohee dropped in 16.

Senior Day

Saturday's contest against the Sacramento State Hornets will be Senior Day in the America First Event Center for three Thunderbirds, as Aytes, McGee and Christian Musoko will all be playing their final regular season game in the venue.

Aytes has only been with the Thunderbird basketball program for a year, but has made his presence felt in a big way. The former UNLV Runnin' Rebel and BYU Cougar has averaged 12.7 points per game this season, and has scored in double digits in SUU's last 12 contests. Aytes had a season high 27 points against Boise State in SUU's second regular season game of the season, and has scored 20 or more points in a contest four times for SUU this year.

When his career at SUU comes to a close, McGee will be remembered as one of the best scorers in the history of the program. After redshirting the 2013-14 campaign, McGee played in 27 games for SUU as a freshman and led the team in three point percentage. As his career went on, McGee played a much bigger role for the Thunderbirds culminating in him joining the 1,000-point club for the T-Birds when they knocked off Montana State in their first ever Big Sky Conference Tournament victory. This season as a senior McGee has averaged 9.3 points per contest, and scored a season high 25 points against Benedictine Mesa.  

After being part of a NJCAA National Championship team at Salt Lake Community College, Musoko transferred to SUU where he's played the last two seasons for the T-Birds. As a junior he had an immediate impact on SUU, starting 23 games in his first year with the team. Musoko scored a season high 15 points against Weber State this season, and pulled in a season high 11 boards against Oregon State.  

Record Book Watch

On Saturday McGee reached 1,253 career points, which moved him into sixth all-time on the SUU scoring list. McGee passed Robert Lee, who played for the T-Birds from 1974-1977 and scored 1,249 points.

Former T-Bird Jackson Stevenett sits fifth in the SUU record book with 1,273 points, and Skip Mead sits fourth with 1,275 career points. This means McGee only needs 23 more points to become the fourth all-time leading scorer in Southern Utah men's basketball history.

Opponent Preview: Portland State Vikings (16-11, 6-8 Big Sky)

After an impressive non-conference outing with victories over two Pac-12 teams (Stanford and Cal) the Portland State Vikings are 6-8 in Big Sky Conference play and are looking to find some momentum before heading to Reno.

This will be the first time the T-Birds and Vikings have matched up this season.

The Vikings split their last homestand, falling to Weber State 95-86 before knocking off Idaho State 91-77 two days later.

Ryan Edwards was the offensive leader for the Vikings against Idaho State, finishing with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Deante Strickland had 18 points in the contest and Brandon Hollins had a double-double effort with 13 points and 16 rebounds.

PSU coach Barret Peery is in his first season with the program, being named the 13th head coach in the history of the program in April of 2017. Peery spent a year at Santa Clara as Associate Head Coach in 2016-17 before heading to Portland. He also served as an Assistant Coach for Southern Utah from 1998-2002.

Opponent Preview: Sacramento State Hornets (6-21, 3-11 Big Sky)

After making a trip to Flagstaff, the Sacramento State Hornets will make their way to Cedar City for a contest against the T-Birds. This will be the first time SUU and Sacramento State have matched up this season.

The Hornets will make their way to Arizona riding a six game losing streak, which started with a loss against Eastern Washington on February 1.

Justin Strings is the top scorer for the Hornets, averaging 18.3 ppg to this point of the season. The senior forward has started all 27 games for the Hornets. Sophomore Joshua Patton is the second leading scorer for the Hornets, averaging 10.6 ppg.

Hornet coach Brian Katz is in his 10th season with the program, and is the winningest coach in Sacramento State's Division I history. In 2015 he was named National Mid-Major Coach of the Year.

Big Sky At A Glance

The Montana Grizzlies are no longer unbeaten, as the previous 13-0 leaders in the Big Sky Conference fell to both Eastern Washington and Idaho last weekend to move to 13-2 in league play.

As a result, the Grizzlies and the Wildcats of Weber State now have the same amount of losses in league play. The two teams will also play each other the last week of the regular season with potential seeding for the tournament on the line.  

Words From Coach Simon

On the Thunderbird seniors…

"Those guys are the backbone to the program," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "Individually, James is a veteran here, one of the all-time leading scorers, a great leader, a tremendous teammate and somebody we enjoy being around so we're certainly going to miss him. Christian was having an outstanding season, he's quite a weapon being one of the better bigs in the entire league. He's going to get his degree, and he's done everything right for us here in his senior year, so we're very happy for him. Jamal as a graduate transfer has been a huge asset for us scoring and rebounding. He's having an outstanding season numerically as well as stepping up in big games."  

On Portland State…

"Portland State had some big wins in the non-conference," he said. "They play a brand of basketball that is very up and down, they'll press, get up a lot of shots and we're going to have to play with poise and knock down the shots we get in this game."

On Sacramento State…

"They're well coached by a veteran in this league, they've got a good roster that's very big, and they're a stark contrast to Portland State which makes preparation on one day tough. But we're going to have to be on our game and play clean basketball."

Promotions

Thursday night in the AFEC will be Dollar Night, where Thunderbird fans can get into the contest for just $1. ThunderKids members are also admitted for free on Thursday night.

Saturday the Thunderbird seniors will be honored during pregame, with Hall of Fame recognition set for half time. Admission for children 12 years and younger is free of charge.

Tip Time

Thursday's game against Portland State will tip off at 7 p.m. MT, while Saturday's game against Sacramento State is set to start at 12:30 p.m. MT

Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along

Both games can be streamed on the PlutoTV App or WatchBigSky.com.

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

All games will be broadcast 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.   

Road To Reno

Tickets for the Big Sky Men's and Women's Basketball Championships can be purchased at www.RoadtoReno.com.