CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team continued their home dominance on Saturday afternoon, as they knocked off the Idaho Vandals 85-76 inside the America First Event Center.

For SUU, that marked its 10th overall home victory and its seventh-straight in Cedar City.

The T-Birds also notched their ninth Big Sky Conference victory, which is the most league wins the program has had since transitioning into the conference.

Southern Utah also earned it's 14th overall victory, which is the most the program has had since the 2011-12 season when they hit the same number.  

"It was a solid performance today," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "Anytime you can get a win it's a good performance, but we felt like we controlled the game for the most part which is a sign of our maturity."

Both teams shot it well in the opening minutes of the contest, and the majority of the first half was a back-and-forth affair between the Thunderbirds and the Vandals. Late in the opening frame the T-Birds found their momentum, and built a double-digit lead with just over five minutes to play in the first half. SUU took a nine point lead into the half, 43-34.

With 16:21 to play the Vandals had cut the Thunderbird lead to five, but a quick 6-0 run put SUU on top by a comfortable margin and they were able to stay ahead by seven or more the rest of the way.

Harrison Butler had a career-high 21 points for Southern Utah, and matched his rebounding career high with 13 to finish the day with a double-double for the T-Birds.

Cameron Oluyitan finished the contest with 17 points. Dre Marin scored 14 points for SUU, to go along with five assists and four rebounds. Brandon Better finished with 13 points and went 5-of-5 from the free throw line for the Thunderbirds.

SUU's bench outscored Idaho's 22-12, and the T-Birds held a 13-4 advantage in terms of second chance points.

Jared Rodriguez finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds, and was a big key for the Vandals staying competitive in the contest.

The T-Birds will now turn their attention to the road, as they head to the Treasure State to face off against Montana (March 2) and Montana State (March 4). The T-Birds fell to both of those teams to start their Big Sky slate in early January.

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. \

Plays of the Game