CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team will face off against the Idaho State Bengals in the First Round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. The T-Birds and Bengals will square off on Wednesday, March 13 in Boise, Idaho.

The T-Birds earning the No. 7 seed in Boise means for the first time since joining the conference they will be the higher seed in their first round matchup.

SUU and ISU split their season series, both winning its home matchup.

Last Time Out

Southern Utah's final regular season contest didn't' go as planned, as they fell to the Bears of Northern Colorado 70-53 last Monday.

Harrison Butler led the T-Birds with 12 points, followed by Dre Marin with 11 and Cameron Oluyitan with 10.

For the Bears, Jordan Davis finished with 28 points.

Opponent Preview: Idaho State (11-18, 7-13 Big Sky)

The Bengals of Idaho State will enter the conference tournament winning two of their last three contests, knocking off both Weber State and Idaho in Pocatello.

Brandon Boyd leads the Bengals in scoring, averaging 14.4 points per game this season.

Season Series vs. The Bengals

When SUU and ISU squared off in Idaho, the Bengals won 88-68. Oluyitan finished with 12 points, while Andre Adams had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

In Cedar City the T-Birds came out on top, led by another double-double by Adams of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Oluyitan finished with 14 points, while Marin and Jacob Calloway both had 13.

Boise At A Glance

The first three contests of the Big Sky Conference Tournament are set, as the No. 8 Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona will play the No. 9 Hornets of Sacramento state, and the No. 6 Montana State Bobcats will play the No. 11 Idaho Vandals.

Words From The Thunderbirds

Todd Simon on taking a breather before heading to Boise...

"First we've got to take an exhale," he said. "We were traveling in minus-1,000 degree Montana from Friday to Tuesday, and guys are sick and banged up. … We've got to regroup. Let our student-athletes recover. When you see those injuries and rolled ankles that's a direct result of what we're facing. … They're fighting, they're battling and we need everybody on the roster."

Brandon Better on the status of the program...

"I feel like it's definitely elevated," he said. "When we got here we wanted to be respected, and raise the status of the team. I think we did that, but we didn't do as much as we wanted to. I feel like for years to come the team's behind us will."

Matt Johnson on moving forward…

"We're ready to play," he said. "We've got a BYE on Saturday, we'll come out fresh and ready to play."

Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along

Tip off is set for roughly 11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. MT in Boise, Idaho. The contest will being 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first matchup between Northern Arizona and Sacramento State.  

Live streams for all Big Sky Conference Tournament games, expect for the Championship, will be available on PlutoTV and the PlutoTV App.

A link to livestats will be available at www.bigsky.statbroadcat.com prior to tipoff.

Tickets for the Big Sky Championship are available on www.tbirdtickets.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.