CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team will head to Greeley, Colorado for a date with the Bears of Northern Colorado on Thursday, January 24. This will be SUU's first of four straight contests on the road.
The T-Birds are currently riding a four game winning streak dating back to their victory against Weber State on January 5.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds swept their last homestand, knocking off Northern Arizona, Portland State and Sacramento State in the span of a week.
In their most recent contest, the T-Birds knocked off the Hornets 76-71.
Cameron Oluyitan led the Thunderbirds in scoring, dropping in 21 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the field and hitting all three attempts behind the three point line.
Andre Adams had a near double-double, finishing with 17 points and securing nine rebounds in the process. Jacob Calloway finished with 15 points, while Brandon Better put home 12.
Statistical Leaders
Through 16 contests, the junior Oluyitan leads the Thunderbirds in scoring averaging 14.4 points per game. Oluyitan also leads the team in steals with 19 on the season. He's the only Thunderbird to start in every contest.
Better is second on the team in scoring with 11.5 ppg. Dwayne Morgan was averaging 13 ppg for the T-Birds before suffering a season ending injury.
Adams is the team's leading rebounder in terms of both average and total, sitting with 6.1 rpg and 98 total. Freshman forward Harrison Butler is close behind with an average of 5.8 and 87 total.
Dre Marin leads the team in assists with 38.
Opponent Preview: Northern Colorado (12-7, 6-2 Big Sky)
The Bears of Northern Colorado will host the Thunderbirds fresh off a victory against Idaho State, a contest they won 77-53.
Jordan Davis is the leading scorer in the Big Sky Conference, averaging 24.1 ppg so far this season. In terms of total points, he has 100+ more than any other player in the league though 19 games. He's also fourth in the Big Sky in assists, averaging 4.7 per contest.
UNC won their first four Big Sky matchups, and have traded off wins and losses since that point.
The Bears are coaches by Jeff Linder, who has been the head coach at UNC since the 2016-17 season.
Last Season/Series History vs. The Bears
The Thunderbirds and Bears squared off just once during the 2017-18 season, in a contest that went to UNC 97-80. Former T-Birds Jamal Aytes and James McGee led the scoring effort for SUU, dropping in 19 points and 17 points respectively. Former UNC Bear Andre Spight had 40 points in the contest for the Bears.
The T-Birds and Bears have squared off 11 times, dating back to their first matchup during the 2009-19 season. The Bears hold a 9-2 advantage over SUU all-time.
Quotes From the T-Birds
Todd Simon on the Bears...
"Jordan Davis is arguably the best player in the league, he's a phenomenal talent, can really score," he said. "They have tons of shooters on the floor, right now they're on top on the standings and we've got to chase them. It's a place our guys know, and we'll be ready."
Brandon Better on heading out on the road...
"Even though we struggled at the end there (against Sacramento State) we still feel good about the progress we've made," he said.
Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along
Thursday nights contest against Northern Colorado will tip off at 7 p.m. MT at the Bank of Colorado Arena.
Live streams for all of Southern Utah's home contests and Big Sky Conference matchups will be available on the PlutoTV App and WatchBigSky.com.
A link to livestats will be available at www.suutbirds.com prior to tipoff.
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.
Tickets
Individual game tickets for the 2018-19 Season are available at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
