CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird basketball program, after starting the season with back-to-back victories, will face off against the Brigham Young University Cougars this Wednesday in Provo as part of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational Mainland Series. Tip off from the Marriott Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT on BYUTV.
Last Time Out
With two seconds remaining in double overtime, senior Cameron Oluyitan hit a jump shot for the Thunderbirds to put them on top of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and ultimately give Southern Utah a 79-78 victory over their Big 10 Conference counterpart last Saturday.
The Thunderbirds weren't able to put up a lot of points early on, and midway through the opening half went on a four-plus minute scoreless streak to fall behind 19-12 early.
Nebraska stayed in control for the majority of the first half, including a 16-2 run over an eight minute stretch while forcing the Thunderbirds into a 1-of-15 slump from the field.
As the half came to a close Dre Marin hit a triple for the Thunderbirds and Maizen Fausett threw down a dunk to cut the Cornhusker lead to nine.
The T-Birds hit five of their last six shots of the opening half, while the Huskers hit three of their four, and the home team took a 37-26 advantage into the break.
Fausett led all players at the half with 11 points.
The Thunderbirds rushed out to a 9-2 run at the start of the second half, and cut the Nebraska lead to seven with 11:57 to play. They held the Huskers to 1-of-7 shooting from the field during that time as well.
Southern Utah continued to climb back in the contest, and cut the Nebraska lead to just one point with 7:43 to play when Jakolby Long hit a layup. The Cornhuskers quickly responded with back-to-back jumpers to take a 58-53 advantage with 6:39 remaining.
The game stayed incredibly close down the stretch, and with just five seconds to play Dwayne Morgan went to the free throw line to take a 69-66 lead. Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, the Cornhuskers hit a last-second triple to force overtime.
Neither team was able to create a big enough advantage in the first overtime period, and after five minutes the score stayed tied 72-72.
Ultimately, the T-Birds won in double overtime 79-78 thanks to Oluyitan's jumper.
Team Accomplishments
The victory over Nebraska set a number of milestones for the Thunderbirds.
It was Southern Utah's first road victory against a Power Five opponent since 1996 when they beat Colorado. The T-Birds beat Utah in 2006, but they were a member of the Mountain West Conference at the time. SUU's last victory against P5 team came at home in 2003 when they beat Washington State.
It was also Southern Utah's first victory against an opponent from the Big 10 Conference, and only the second-ever road win against a Big 10 opponent in the history of the Big Sky Conference by a member institution.
Stat Leaders
Through two games Morgan leads the Thunderbird scoring effort with an 18.5 points per game average. He also is averaging seven rebounds per game and has racked up six steals.
Marin is second on the team with a 15 ppg average. Oluyitan is averaging 13 ppg and leads the team with seven assists. Like Morgan, he is averaging seven rebounds a game.
Harrison Butler leads the team in rebounding with 17 total and an 8.5 rpg average. Andre Adams pulled down 11 boards for SUU in his first contest of the year against Nebraska.
Opponent Preview: Brigham Young University (1-1, 0-0 WCC)
The Cougars of Brigham Young University have started their 2019-20 campaign with a win and a loss, knocking off Cal State Fullerton before falling to San Diego State.
TJ Haws leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 15 ppg. Alex Barcello is second on the team in scoring with 14 ppg.
Mark Pope is in his first season as head coach of the Cougars after coaching Utah Valley to three-straight postseason appearances.
Series History vs. BYU
The Thunderbirds and Cougars have played each other 11 times as Division I foes, with BYU claiming all 11 victories dating back to 1992.
The last time the two teams met was 2007, when then ranked No. 21 BYU topped SUU 70-55.
Words From Coach Simon
On the win at Nebraska…
"I was just proud of our effort for 50 minutes," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "We were really resilient, and guys stayed together. We were able to overcome a very cold shooting day. Our looks were great, but they weren't going in, and that's not going to be characteristic of this team. But we found other ways and we didn't let that affect us on the defensive end. Any time you can go into a Big 10 arena and hold them to 37 percent shooting and 19 from three, you're going to feel pretty good."
On BYU...
"BYU is explosive, and they're very good at home," Simon said. "They've got a lot of guys that can make threes, and they're a very highly thought of team this year. It's going to be quite a challenge."
How To Watch / Listen / Follow Along
Wednesday's game against BYU can be viewed on BYUTV and www.byutv.org.
A link to live stats and an audio feed will be available on www.suutbirds.com prior to tip.
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
Tickets for the contest against Brigham Young are available through Southern Utah and can be purchased at www.tbirdtickets.com.
Season Tickets for the 2019-20 season, as well as single game tickets, are available for purchase at the America First Event Center Ticket Office and online at www.tbirdtickets.com.
