CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team is hitting the road this weekend for a pair of Big Sky contests against the Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday (January 25) and the Idaho Vandals on Monday (January 27).
Last Time Out
When the Thunderbirds were last on the floor, they knocked off the Hornets of Sacramento State in a massive bounce back win, 74-49.
The first half belonged to the T-Birds, as they held a 33-18 lead heading into the break.
The Hornets didn't hit a shot from the field for the final 12 minutes of the opening half, and shot just 17 percent over the first 20 minutes.
Sacramento State improved their shooting in the second half, hitting 43 percent of their shots, but the Thunderbirds were hotter hitting 54 percent of their field goal attempts.
The Thunderbirds ended up outscoring the Hornets by 10 in the second half, and secured a 74-49 victory at home.
Stat Leaders
After last weekend's contests, Cameron Oluyitan has solidified himself as the team's leading scorer, averaging 14.0 points per game with a total of 238 this season.
John Knight III is second in the scoring category with 13.5 ppg and 216 total this year.
The duo are 16th and 17th in the Big Sky Conference respectively in terms of scoring.
Harrison Butler remains the team's leading rebounder with an average of 7.2 rebounds per game. He is currently sixth in the Big Sky in terms of rebounding average and sits third in the league in terms of defensive rebounding. Maizen Fausett is second on the team with 5.9 rpg.
Oluyitan and Knight III both lead the team in assists per game average, both dishing out an average of 2.4 per contest.
Oluyitan also leads the team in total steals with 23.
In his first season with the Thunderbirds, Daouda (David) N'Diaye leads the squad in blocks with 20 total and an average of 1.7 per game.
By The Numbers
With another week of games in the books, the T-Birds remain one of the best teams in the nation in terms of field goal percentage defense, allowing opposing teams to shoot just 38 percent.
They're also 19th in the NCAA in defensive rebounds per game with 28.76 this year. In terms of rebound margin, they're 30th in the nation.
SUU has been solid defending the three-point line, allowing opposing teams to shoot just 29.1 percent from behind the arc.
Opponent Preview: Eastern Washington Eagles (11-6, 4-2 Big Sky)
The Eagles of Eastern Washington will play host to the Thunderbirds as one of the top four teams in the league. They've won three of their previous four contests, falling only to the league-leading Montana Grizzlies in that stretch.
Reigning Big Sky Player of the Week, Jacob Davidson, is the leading scorer for the Eagles, scoring an average of 17.9 points per game.
Kim Aiken is also a major threat for the Eagles, along with Mason Peatling, averaging 15.2 ppg and 14.9 ppg respectively.
Aiken is the team's top rebounder with 10.7 rpg so far this season. That number makes him the top player in the Big Sky in that category.
The Eagles currently have the second-ranked scoring offense in the NCAA, averaging 83.2 ppg.
EWU head coach Shantay Legans is in his third season as head coach of the Eagles. Under Legans, the Eagles have played in the previous two Big Sky Conference Championship Games, only to be outed by the Montana Grizzlies on both occasions.
The Eagles have also knocked the T-Birds out of the tournament back-to-back seasons, both in the semifinals of the league tournament.
EWU holds a 13-6 advantage over SUU in the all-time Division I series, and have won 12 of the previous 14 matchups against the T-Birds.
Opponent Preview: Idaho Vandals (5-12, 1-5 Big Sky)
The Idaho Vandals will host the Bears of Northern Colorado before welcoming the T-Birds to Moscow.
The squad currently sits near the bottom of the Big Sky Conference standings, but their five losses in the league have come by a combined 13 points. All but one came by three points or less.
Trevon Allen is the team's leading scorer, averaging 19.8 points per contest. That puts him second in the Big Sky in terms of scoring average.
The Vandals don't turn the ball over very often, and are currently ranked 70th in the NCAA in fewest turnovers.
As Division I opponents the T-Birds hold an 12-11 advantage over Idaho in their series history. SUU is also currently riding a three game winning streak over UI.
Zac Claus is currently serving as the interim head coach of the Vandals. He took that role in July of 2019.
State of the Big Sky
The Montana Grizzlies reside as the top team in the Big Sky Conference, holding a 6-1 record through seven games in league play.
Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah all sit at 4-2 going into this weekend of play.
Jerrick Harding is holding onto his title of the league's top scorer, averaging 20.7 points per game so far this season.
Words From Coach Simon
On SUU's performance last weekend…
"They didn't like how it looked on Thursday, and got back to defending and doing what we do on Saturday, and the results showed," SUU head coach Todd Simon said.
On Cam Oluyitan's performance over the past two weeks…
"Cam's a very good player on both ends of the floor, and he's playing at a high level," Simon said. "He's an all-league guy, and probably doesn't get the credit he deserves publicly, but I think the coaches all know how important he is on both ends of the floor for us."
On the Eagles…
"I think they're a very good team," Simon said. "Obviously one of the favorites in the league, but they've been good for quite some time now, so we're going to have our hands full. We're going to have to play our game and play it at a high level."
On the Vandals…
"Coach Claus has them playing good basketball," Simon said. "They're competitive, they're going to beat people, and they're tough at home. So we're going to have to play a really good game. This league's as deep as it's been for a while, and their record isn't an indication of how good they've been."
How To Watch / Listen / Follow Along
All Big Sky Conference games will be available to stream on both the PlutoTV App and www.WatchBigSky.com.
A link to live stats, live video and any available radio feeds will be available on www.suutbirds.com prior to tipoff.
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.
