CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah men's basketball team is set to open Big Sky Conference play this week as they travel to take on Eastern Washington on Thursday December 2 and Idaho on Saturday December 4.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds were in Fort Myers, Florida last weekend competing in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off. They beat Yale University 88-85 in overtime and Bowling Green 87-73 to win the Palms Division and take home some hardware.
John Knight III was named the MVP of the Palms Division and Maizen Fausett was named to the All-Tournament team.
The T-Birds shot .464 as a team over both of those games and outrebounded their opponents 81-68. They currently have the second-best scoring offense in the Big Sky, averaging 81 points per game, and are the best rebounding team in the conference with a rebounding margin of +8.8.
Big Sky Player of the Week
Southern Utah's Knight III was named the ROAR Organic Big Sky Men's Basketball Player of the Week for week three after his performance in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off last week.
Knight III was named the MVP of the Palms Division at the Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament, as he was a big piece of why the Thunderbirds were crowned champions of their division. The Mississippi native put up back-to-back 19-point performances in wins over Yale and Bowling Green. He had a field goal percentage of .737 over the two games, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists.
The senior also scored the game-winning free throws in Southern Utah's overtime win against Yale, drawing a shooting foul with .8 seconds left in the first overtime period.
Knight III currently leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring, averaging 19.3 points per game, over one point higher than the next player. He is also ranked third in field goal percentage (.595), fifth in steals (1.8 spg), and ninth in assists (3.5 apg).
Scouting Report: Eastern Washington Eagles (3-3)
The Eagles are coming off of a 76-71 win over Pac-12 opponent Washington State last Saturday, handing the Cougars their only loss of the season so far.
Freshmen Mason Landdeck and Ethan Price led the Eagles in scoring against Washington State with 24 points and 12 points respectively. EWU shot 46.3 percent from the floor and outrebounded WSU 38-34.
Redshirt freshman Steele Venters leads the Eagles and is ranked fourth in the Big Sky in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game. Eastern Washington has the third-best scoring offense in the Big Sky, averaging 80.0 points per game.
Scouting Report: Idaho Vandals (1-6)
The Vandals have had a rough start to the 2021-22 season, picking up just one win so far over George Fox University. Last week they dropped matchups with Utah Valley, Cal Poly, and North Dakota State.
Junior Trevante Anderson is the leading scorer for the Vandals, averaging 14.9 points per game. Fellow junior Phillip Pepple Jr. is the leading rebounder for Idaho, averaging 4.9 rebounds per game.
The Vandals are currently giving up the most points in the Big Sky, allowing an average of 85.4 points per game.
Game Day Information
Thursday's game against the Eagles is set to tip off at 7:00 p.m. Mountain time (6:00 p.m. Pacific time). Saturday's game against the Vandals is set to tip off at 3:00 p.m. Mountain time (2:00 p.m. Pacific time).
Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+ and live stats can be found 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.
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.
