CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team will wrap up their 2019-20 non-conference schedule this week, as they travel to Long Beach, California, for a matchup with Long Beach State. 

The T-Birds will go into the contest against LBSU with a 6-4 overall record.  

Tip off in the Golden State is set for 8 p.m. MT. 

Last Time Out

When the T-Birds were last at home they secured an undefeated home non-conference record, knocking off the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara. Coming into the contest, UCSB was on a five-game winning streak. 

For the second-consecutive home game Southern Utah's John Knight III scored the go-ahead basket for the Thunderbirds, which eventually gave them a 62-61 victory. There were just 54 seconds on the game clock when he made the shot, and after some free throws back-and-forth the T-Birds snapped UC Santa Barbara's five-game winning streak.   

The first half started incredibly close, as it stood at 18-18 with 7:34 remaining in the opening frame

In the closing minutes of the first half the T-Birds went on a 6-0 run, and eventually took a 32-29 lead into the halftime break. 

The T-Birds built an eight point lead in the second half, and were in control with 8:24 to play. UCSB quickly climbed back into the game, however, and the contest was tied with under two minutes to play. 

As the game came to a close, the Thunderbirds made the right plays down the stretch, including Knight's go-ahead basket with under a minute remaining to claim the victory. 

Home Non-Conference Success 

With the victory over UCSB, the T-Birds have now won 12-straight regular season non-conference home games, with their last loss coming against IUPUI in 2016. That was Todd Simon's first season leading the T-Birds. 

Since then they've knocked off the likes of San Jose State, Pepperdine, Central Michigan, Utah Valley and UC Santa Barbara inside the America First Event Center. 

Stat Leaders

Following the contest against UCSB, Knight III became SUU's leading scorer with an average of 13 points per game and 117 total. Cameron Oluyitan follows closely behind with a 11.4 ppg average, and 114 total. 

Through 10 contests Harrison Butler remains the leading rebounder for the T-Birds, pulling in an average of 8.2 per game. He averages six defensive rebounds per game and 2.2 offensive rebounds per game. 

Oluyitan also leads the team in assists (20) and steals (16). 

Opponent Preview: Long Beach State (3-8, 0-0 Big West) 

Long Beach State will play host to the Thunderbirds after falling in each of their last four matchups, which included contests against Power 5 opponents Wake Forest and USC. 

They will not start Big West play until January 8. 

Chance Hunter is the leading scorer for LBSU, averaging 14.5 ppg. Michael Carter III and Colin Slater both average in double figures for them as well, at 12.6 and 10.8 respectively. 

Carter III leads the team in assists by a large margin, dishing out 3.4 a game on average. Joshua Morgan is a force inside for LBSU as well, with 23 blocks to his credit this year. 

Dan Monson has been the head coach at Long Beach State since 2007, and has over 200 career wins and three Big West Championships. 

The two teams have met four times, with the Thunderbirds holding a 3-1 series advantage. LBSU, however, won the last matchup in 2018. 

Words From Coach Simon

On the home non-conference winning streak…

"A big priority for us is to protect our home floor, I think that's a huge piece to building a program and building excitement," Simon said. "We're extremely proud of that, and now we need to translate that into league play."

On John Knight III's clutch gene…

"He's a very good player, and he's such a good offensive weapon for us," he said. "We like to put him in positions where he can collapse a defense, and it's been fortunate that he's been able to find creases at the rim late in games. And as teams start to pack it in on him, he has the ability to find guys, so he's certainly a great late game weapon for us." 

On Long Beach State…

"They're a talented team with a very good coach," he said. "They change defenses to keep you off your rhythm. They have a lot of athletes, they're just going through it right now with a lot of new faces. When you've got a lot of new faces, it takes a little time to gel and get over the hump. But their schedule has been unforgiving. They've played four Pac-12 teams, and you're not going to have a tremendous record when you're playing all those high majors. This is like a league game for us on the road, so we'll have to be on our best game to get them." 

On the Big Sky…

"There's a lot of parity this year, and it's a good league," he said. "There's been a lot of big wins through the league. I think it's going to be tough to win on the road from top to bottom. There's a lot of surprises, so we're going to have to be at our best. We'll have to really dial in on the things that travel, defending and rebounding, and protect our home floor." 

How To Watch / Listen / Follow Along

Saturday's game with LBSU will be livestreamed on www.bigwest.org/watch. 

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.