PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Thunderbirds wrapped up their second-to-last Big Sky Conference road trip of the season on Saturday night in Portland, Oregon, where they fell to the Portland State Vikings 78-69.
The contest started incredibly slow as neither team scored until there was 16:11 left in the first half and Andre Adams put in his first bucket for SUU. Neither team scored again until the 13:22 mark when SUU went up 4-0. After that point both teams got going, and the first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Vikings take a 31-28 lead into the halftime break.
"Defensively we started out with some energy, but we weren't making any shots and I think we let that affect us," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "We've got to be better than that, we've got to find a way to make shots on the road which has been a struggle for us."
Dre Marin immediately tied the contest with a triple to start the second half, but over the first seven minutes of the second frame the Vikings were able to build a nine point advantage at 49-40. While the T-Birds were able to cut into PSU's lead on a few occasions, that lead never slipped below five and the Vikings were able to earn the season split with Southern Utah.
Freshman Harrison Butler carried the scoring load for SUU, finishing with 16 points and earning a double-double with 10 rebounds as well.
"He was on point, and he starts because he gives us so much rebounding which is a big reason why we value him so much," Simon said. "He was a big deal for us on the glass and it's huge that he can continually give that to us."
Jacob Calloway finished the night with 14 points, and Andre Adams was the third T-Bird in double figures with 12 points of 6-of-7 shooting.
The loss moves the Thunderbirds to 12-12 on the season and 7-8 in Big Sky Conference play. The T-Birds are now 4-10 on the road.
Holland Woods led the scoring effort for Portland State, finishing the night with 19 points.
The Thunderbirds will return home next week to host the Eastern Washington Eagles (Thursday, February 21) and the Idaho Vandals (Saturday, February 23).
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.
Individual game tickets for the 2018-19 Season are available at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
