CEDAR CITY, Utah – When the Southern Utah University men's basketball team takes the floor Thursday night against Sacramento State, it will do so looking for its 20th-consecutive victory inside the America First Event Center.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah vs Sacramento State
Date: December 30, 2021
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m. MT
Location: Cedar City, Utah
Venue: America First Event Center
TV: ESPN+
Live Stream | Live Stats | Tickets | Southern Utah Notes (PDF) | Sacramento State Notes (PDF)
NOTES
-Southern Utah owns a 5-4 record over Sacramento State under head coach Todd Simon. In the last meeting between the two schools, Southern Utah claimed a 77-57 victory over the Hornets in Cedar City.
-The T-Birds will look to go 3-0 in Big Sky play with a win Thursday night. SUU's best start in conference play under Simon occurred a year ago when the Thunderbirds started 4-0.
-SUU is 2-3 in Big Sky Conference home openers under Simon.
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE (4-5, 0-2 Big Sky)
-The Hornets enter Thursday looking for their first conference win of the year. Sacramento State dropped contests to Montana and Montana State to open the season.
-Bryce Fowler leads Sacramento State in scoring with 16.8 points per game. He is followed by Zach Chappell and William FitzPatrick at 8.8 and 8.6 points per game, respectively.
-Brandon Laird currently serves as the Hornets' interim head coach. He is in his 10th season with Sacramento State.
LAST TIME OUT
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds took down the Dixie State Trailblazers 87-59 on Wednesday night. The win evens the score between Dixie and SUU this season and pushes the Thunderbirds to 19 consecutive wins inside the America First Event Center.
SUU started hot from the opening tip off, taking the jump ball into a Maizen Fausett layup. The Thunderbirds went on an 10-0 run before the Trailblazers could score their first points of the contest. Dixie matched SUU's scoring but could never find a lead after trailing early.
The Thunderbirds shot 55.3% on field goals in the first half taking a 50-17 lead into halftime. Dixie started the second half aggressive, keeping the T-Birds to 2 points through the first three minutes of the half. Both defenses got to show off with 22 total turnovers in the second half with John Knight III leading both teams with 4 throughout the game.
SUU more than doubled their three point totals from Saturday, knocking down 11 threes, led by Aanen Moody with four. The defense also showed they could stop Dixie's shooters with only 4 Trailblazer threes in 24 attempts.
Tevian Jones led Southern Utah scorers with 18 total points coming off of a 60% field goal percentage and a perfect 4-4 from the line. Fausett added 17 points of his own for the Thunderbirds with 10 total rebounds to seal the double-double.
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