CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah men's basketball will open play in the tournament portion of the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off on Tuesday November 23 against Yale University. The Thunderbirds are playing in the Palms Division of the tournament and will play either Bowling Green or Milwaukee for their second game on Wednesday November 24.
Last Time Out
The last time the Thunderbirds were on the court, they played the California Golden Bears in Berkeley on November 18. They took their Pac-12 foe to double overtime, but ended up losing 75-68.
John Knight III provided a large portion of the offense for the Thunderbirds, scoring 31 points, the highest individual scoring mark in the Big Sky Conference so far this season. The Mississippi native also had three steals and was only off the court for 49 seconds of play during the entire contest.
Four of the five starters for the Thunderbirds played for more than 44 minutes and all five combined for 65 of Southern Utah's 68 points. Dre Marin was the leading rebounder for SUU, pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds.
Southern Utah is now 1-3 on the season and have dropped their last three contests.
Scouting Report: Yale University (3-2)
The Bulldogs are 3-2 so far in their return to college basketball. They did not compete in 2020-21 after the Ivy League decided to forgo winter sports last year due to COVID-19 concerns.
In 2019-20, Yale won their fourth men's basketball title in the last six seasons, finishing the regular season with a 23-7 overall record and an 11-3 record in Ivy League play.
Azar Swain leads the team in scoring averaging 17.6 ppg. He is coming off back-to-back 20+ point games and also scored the 1,000th point of his career in the Bulldogs' win over Siena.
Game Day Information
Tuesday's game against the Bulldogs is set to tip off at 10:00 a.m. Mountain time (12:00 p.m. Eastern time). If the Thunderbirds win, they will play in the Palms Division championship game on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. Mountain time against the winner of Milwaukee vs. Bowling Green. If they lose, they will play the loser of that game at 9:00 a.m. Mountain time on Wednesday.
The Palms Division games will not be available to watch live, but fans can follow along with live stats here.
Tickets
Southern Utah men's basketball season tickets and single game tickets can now be purchased for the 2021-22 season at tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center box office.
Individual and group tickets for the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off are now available to purchase through fortmyerstipoff.com/tickets or by calling (239) 481-4849. The Thunderbirds will be competing in the Palms Division of the tournament on November 23 and 24 in Fort Myers, Florida.
Follow Us
Stay up to date during the 2021-22 Southern Utah Men's Basketball season by following @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
