CEDAR CITY, Utah – After scoring a big win over in-state rival Utah Valley, the Southern Utah University men's basketball team will take on Saint Katherine Saturday afternoon in the America First Event Center.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah vs Saint Katherine
Date: December 11, 2021
Tip-Off: 1:00 p.m. MT
Location: Cedar City, Utah
Venue: America First Event Center
TV: ESPN+
Live Stream | Live Stats | Tickets | Southern Utah Notes (PDF)
NOTES AND QUOTES
-SUU and Saint Katherine last met a season ago when the Thunderbirds earned a 95-47 victory in Cedar City. Tevian Jones led the way with 22 points while Dre Marin, John Knight III, Harrison Butler and Maizen Fausett all finished the game in double figures.
-The T-Birds enter Saturday's game on a five-game winning streak. SUU's longest winning streak under head coach Todd Simon is 10 games, which the Thunderbirds accomplished last season.
-Southern Utah's win over Utah Valley was its fourth straight against the Wolverines. SUU and UVU will play more often beginning next season as the Thunderbirds will join the Wolverines in the Western Athletic Conference.
-Nick Fleming recorded a career-high seven rebounds in SUU's win over UVU.
"This is a fun rivalry. Obviously this was a big game, and it's good to be back home after a seven-game road swing. We knew this game was going to be an absolute battle. They're very physical and we're very physical, and we figured it was going to happen on the defensive end. To our credit, they did a phenomenal job defending and found a way to win on our home floor which we've done a great job of for a long stretch now."
-Simon after his team earned a big win over Utah Valley
"This was a great 2-0 road trip to start conference play. We know every conference game will be a battle this year. I'm proud of our fight in our third-straight week on the road. These types of stretches will prepare us for tournament time. The keys for us today were getting stops down the stretch and pulling down 15 offensive rebounds. We also took care of the ball with only six turnovers. We are excited to head home for a big game against UVU on Wednesday."
-Simon after beating Idaho to start off 2-0 in Big Sky Play
ABOUT SAINT KATHERINE (3-4)
-The Firebirds enter Saturday with an overall record of 3-4. Like SUU, USK opened the season by beating Bethesda.
-Saint Katherine has played four Division I opponents this season in Arizona State, San Diego State, CSUN and Dixie State.
-Tavon Tarpley leads the Firebirds in scoring at 17.4 points per game. He is followed closely by Kody Clouet who averages 15.1 points per contest.
-Kevin Williamson is in his second year as head coach of the Firebirds. He is familiar with Southern Utah as he spent time as an assistant coach at Dixie State.
-Saint Katherine is located in San Marcos, California.
LAST TIME OUT
In front of an electric crowd at the America First Event Center Wednesday night, John Knight III and Maizen Fausett combined for 31 points to give the Southern Utah University men's basketball team its fourth-straight win over in-state rival Utah Valley by a score of 60-56.
Knight and Fausett led the way for the T-Birds on the night with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Fausett went the distance for SUU and played all 40 minutes while also adding five rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist. Dre Marin and Tevian Jones also gave the Thunderbirds a lift by scoring nine points apiece. Marin's six rebounds were second to Nick Fleming who came off the bench to record seven crucial rebounds.
Utah Valley jumped out to a 9-2 lead to open the game and appeared to have all the momentum in the early going. After a layup from Knight stopped the bleeding, Marin swung the momentum back into SUU's favor by completing a four-point play when he nailed a 3-point shot despite getting fouled. The free throw closed the gap to just one point and the T-Birds were right back in the game. The rest of the opening half was tight as both teams made runs and traded leads, but the Thunderbirds took a 33-28 advantage into the locker room at the break.
Southern Utah quickly upped its lead to eight to start the second half courtesy of five-consecutive points from Jones, but UVU took their turn at a run and fought back to take the lead. Utah Valley's All-American candidate Fardaws Aimaq scored seven in a row to put the Wolverines up by one.
The rest of the game was tight, but a 9-2 burst by the Thunderbirds gave them enough breathing room to close out the win in the final minutes. SUU center Jason Spurgin threw down dunks against Aimaq on back-to-back possessions to send the crowd into a frenzy, and Fausett drained a three to put SUU up by seven. Utah Valley fought hard to trim the deficit to three points, but Knight drained a free throw in the closing seconds to give Southern Utah a two-possession lead and put the game out of reach.
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