CEDAR CITY, Utah -- With finals week in the rearview mirror, the Thunderbird men's basketball team will be back on the court this Saturday, December 14, to square off against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos inside the America First Event Center.
Tip off in Cedar City is set for 2 p.m. MT.
Last Time Out
When the T-Birds were last on the court, they knocked off in-state foe Utah Valley at home 73-72 thanks to a strong late-game performance.
With eight seconds remaining in the contest, John Knight III laid the ball in to put the T-Birds up by one score, and the defense was able to hold UVU on the other end to secure the win.
After the T-Birds went up 4-0, the Wolverines jumped back quickly with an 11-0 run of their own to take an early lead.
They were able to keep it rolling as well, taking a 20-10 lead by the second media timeout.
As the first half wore on, the Thunderbirds climbed back into the contest. By halftime, the T-Birds had cut the UVU lead to four at 38-34.
Through the second half the Wolverines continued to lead, and did so until there was just about two minutes left in the contest. At that point, Cameron Oluyitan stole the ball from UVU and jammed it home on the other end. Despite another UVU score, that possession helped lead to Knight's game-winner.
Stat Leaders
With nine games completed in the 2019-20 campaign, either Dwayne Morgan, John Knight III or Cameron Oluyitan could be considered the team's leading scorer. Both Morgan and Knight III are averaging 12.3 points per game, while Oluyitan has the most total with 107 total. Oluyitan has played in nine games, while Knight has played in eight and Morgan has appeared in seven.
Harrison Butler continues to be the team's leading rebounder with 72 total and an average of eight per game.
Oluyitan leads the team with 20 total assists and steals with 16. He is also third in the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage at 89 percent.
The T-Birds currently sit third in the Big Sky Conference in scoring offense, scoring defense and scoring margin. They are second in field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense. Southern Utah also leads the Big Sky in rebound margin.
Opponent Preview: UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (6-3, 0-0 Big West)
The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara will travel to Cedar City winners of five straight contests, including victories over Portland State and CSU Bakersfield.
Freshman Amadou Sow leads the Gauchos by averaging 15.9 ppg. He is followed by Max Heideggar's 14.0 ppg and JaQuori McLaughlin's 13.7 ppg.
Sow is also the team's leading rebounder with 8.3 rpg.
Joe Pasternack is in his second season with UCSB. Last year, in his first season, the Gauchos tied a school record with 23 wins and equaled the NCAA's largest increase in regular season victories from one year to another.
Words From Coach Simon
On the team's last week…
"It was an exciting game," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "The atmosphere has taken a life of its own, and is something we can build off. It got the players pretty excited, and now we've got a huge matchup with Santa Barbara. We have to continue to get better, but that was certainly an exciting game for us."
On UCSB…
"They're a very good team," he said. "They're going to be in contention for the Big West championship. They're battle tested, they've won significant games on the road, and so this will be quite a matchup. They're upperclassmen driven, they've got a phenomenal big man, so it's going to be a tough test."
On John Knight III's emergence…
"John's an aggressive, get to the rim guy," he said. "He's a super athlete, and a unique player that you can use in certain ways, but he can create his own offense off the break and really triggers us to get out and run. He's been a good weapon for us, and as he continues to get healthy we'll be able to take advantage of him more and more."
On being at home for two straight weeks...
"With those six early road games we had it takes you out of the weight room, out of the classroom and out of your routine," he said. "So we've had a chance to exhale here and get healthy. We've been pretty banged up and haven't had a lot of true, solid practices so we're hoping by Christmas time we'll be mended up and ready for Big Sky play."
Promotions
Saturday's contest against UCSB is set to tip off at 2 p.m. MT.
The game is SUU's annual Christmas in the AFEC game, which will include a visit from Santa Clause at halftime.
How To Watch / Listen / Follow Along
Saturday's game with UCSB will be livestreamed online on both PlutoTV and www.WatchBigSky.com.
The game can be heard on local airwaves and online on KSUB 590 AM with legendary Thunderbird broadcaster Art Challis on the call.
Live stats can be found online at www.tbirdstats.com.
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
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.
