CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Facing their third and fourth straight contests on the road, the Thunderbird men's basketball team will head to Cheney, Washington to face off against the Eastern Washington Eagles before making their way to Moscow, Idaho, for a date with the Idaho Vandals.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds and Lumberjacks played a second contest that went right down to the wire last Monday, but NAU was able to come out on top 80-77 in overtime.
Andre Adams was the top player for the T-Birds in both scoring and rebounding, dropping 21 points and pulling in 10 rebounds. Brandon Better finished the contest with 18 points hitting five triples.
Opponent Preview: Eastern Washington (6-13, 4-4 Big Sky)
The Eagles of Eastern Washington will welcome the Thunderbirds to Cheney fresh off an overtime victory against Sacramento State 94-92.
Despite only appearing in nine games for the Eagles, Mason Peatling has been the top scorer for EWU averaging 15.9 points per game.
Jesse Hunt and Jacob Davidson both average in double figures for the Eagles, sitting at 14.3 and 12.5 ppg respectively. Hunt is also the team's leading rebounder.
Shantay Legans is in his second year as head coach of the Eastern Washington Eagles, picking up 20 victories in his first year as the head coach of the Eagles.
Last Season/Series History vs. The Eagles
The T-Birds and Eagles met three times during the 2017-18 campaign, with one victory going to SUU and the other two going to EWU.
The Thunderbirds picked up their victory at home, behind 13 points from Better and 11 from former T-Bird Jamal Aytes.
Eastern returned the favor in Cheney, as former Eagle Bogdan Bliznyuk dropped 32 points and pulled in 15 assists en route to a 23 point victory.
The two teams met a third time in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament, where despite strong performances from Dwayne Morgan (15 points), Dre Marin (13 points) and former Thunderbird Jadon Cohee (15 points) the T-Birds fell 82-70. In that contest, EWU's Bliznyuk become the league's all-time leading scorer.
Overall, SUU and EWU have met 16 times. The T-Birds own five of those victories, while the other 11 went to Eastern Washington.
Opponent Preview: Idaho (4-15, 1-7 Big Sky)
Sitting at the bottom of the Big Sky Conference standings, the Vandals of Idaho will host Northern Arizona before the T-Birds make their way to Moscow.
The Vandals picked up their lone Big Sky victory on January 3 against Eastern Washington, but have dropped five straight contests since that point.
Trevon Allen has been the Vandal's leading scorer so far this season, averaging 14.8 ppg through 19 appearances and 18 starts. Cameron Tyson is second on the team, sitting at 13.1 pgg.
Don Verlin is in his 11th season as head coach of the Vandals, and his coming off one of the most successful season in the history of the program as they finished the year 22-9.
Last Season/Series History vs. The Vandals
SUU and Idaho met three times during the 2017-18 season, with the Vandals claiming the two regular season contests and the T-Birds emerging victorious in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
Better was the leading scorer for the T-Birds in the contest out in Reno, dropping in 27 points and finishing 13-of-14 from the free throw line.
The T-Birds and Vandals have met 21 times, with SUU earning 10 wins and Idaho winning the other 11.
Words From Todd Simon
On the biggest challenges of four straight road contests...
"It's just the routine," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "You don't get a chance to get shots up, guys are laying around, it's hard to stay active, you're doing forced routines as opposed to what you're comfortable with at home, I think those things are toughest. And of course the road environments, new surroundings, new shooting sight lines, and a combination of all that makes it hard to be on the road."
On the Eagles…
"They're a very talented team, they have a couple excellent front court players and they shoot it very well, which is a tough combination," Simon said. "It's a unique preparation, just like everyone else in this league is. It's a hard place to win at, but we're going to have to be ready, focused and disciplined.
On the Vandals…
"They've proved they can beat people, and they're not an easy prep, you've got to guard a lot of stuff," Simon said. "They have talent, it's just a little young talent, but young talent can figure it out for stretches at a time and beat anybody. So we have our hands full on our road trip."
Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along
Saturday's contest against Eastern Washington will tip off at 3 p.m. MT
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.
