CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball team swept its three-game homestand with a blistering 126-67 victory against Bethesda on Monday, Nov. 14 at the America First Event Center. The victory improved SUU's overall record to 3-1 on the season with Bethesda moving to 0-8. SUU now holds a 6-0 mark historically against the Flames, while completing a marathon stretch of three games in five nights heading into a showdown against reigning national champion Kansas on Friday, Nov. 18.
Team Tidbits
Southern Utah sizzled offensively, shooting nearly 60 percent with a 59.8-percent rate on 52-of-87 shooting. That's the third consecutive contest shooting more than 50 percent. SUU also had a night behind the arc, connecting on 11-of-31 three-pointers for a 35.5-percent rate.
The Thunderbirds owned the paint, winning the scoring battle inside 82-24, while also outrebounding Bethesda, 51-31.
Defensively, SUU held the Flames to just 38.6 percent shooting off a 27-of-70 effort. The 'Birds also converted 41 points off 23 turnovers.
For the second contest in a row, Southern Utah's bench outscored its opponent. Tonight, SUU's bench put up 68 points against Bethesda's 67. This just two days after Southern Utah's bench (52) beat Saint Katherine's team (48).
Individual Leaders
The Thunderbirds scored nearly at will during the game with a stunning seven double-digit scorers. Sophomore center Jason Spurgin and senior guard Dee Barnes led the way with 16 points each. Both stand as season highs, while Barnes matched his career high 16 points against Saint Katherine a year ago.
Freshman guard Martel Williams (15), freshman center Parsa Fallah (14), senior forward Maizen Fausett (13), graduate student guard Cameron Healy (11) and senior guard Harrison Butler (11) also cleared the double-digit mark in scoring. Fallah, whose previous career high as a T-Bird was eight, nearly claimed SUU's first double-double of the season with nine rebounds.
Sophomore guard Drake Allen had an all-around amazing game with nine points, eight assists, six rebounds and five steals.
Near Records
Southern Utah fell just 17 points shy of the school record for points in a game. SUU put up 143 points against Westminster as part of a 143-106 victory on Feb. 17, 1970. SUU also missed the margin-of-victory school record by nine points. The 'Birds beat South Alabama by 68 (140-72) on Dec. 10, 1994. Additionally, the Thunderbirds turned in 29 assists, just seven helpers shy of a pair of 36-assist efforts by the 1994-95 (vs. South Alabama) and 1980-81 (vs. New Mexico Highlands) teams. Southern Utah also connected on 52 field goals, missing the school record of 58 in the 1994 South Alabama contest as well.
First Half
Southern Utah wasted little time turning up the heat, unfurling a 10-2 run to start the contest, punctuated by a Healy triple with 18:34 to play in the first frame. Fausett amassed five points during that quick spurt.
Bethesda countered during the following 2:11 of play, cutting SUU's lead to 14-10 at 16:23, with an 8-4 run of their own. Spurgin accounted for each of Southern Utah's four points during this sprint.
After a bit of a lull in scoring by both teams, the 'Birds raced out to a double-digit lead with a 12-5 run during the next 3:07 of play to lead 26-15 with 12:29 left. Bethesda could not compete with Fallah's size inside the paint as Fallah turned in a trio of layups.
Bethesda would not go away easily, putting together a quick 8-0 run of their own in just more than a minute of play with back-to-back treys and a jumper to cut the lead to 26-23 with 11:10 left in the half.
The Thunderbirds responded with an 8-2 run of their own during the next 1:35 of play to take a 34-25 lead. Fallah led the way with four points from back-to-back layups to break into double-digit scoring for the first time this season with 10 points in the contest at the 9:12 mark.
Leading 39-28 with 6:05 left in the contest, SUU unleashed a monster 17-0 run during the next 2:39 to grab a 55-28 lead with 3:26 left. Allen rang up seven points during the sprint, punctuated with a Barnes dunk.
The T-Birds closed out the half on a dominant 13-5 run to lead the way 68-33 at the half. Williams collected five points during the final 2:47 of play.
After initially struggling to put away a feisty Bethesda Flame squad, the Thunderbirds clamped down on defense to win the shooting percentage battle, 58.0 (29-50) to 37.1 (13-35). The contest proved to be pretty clean with only 11 combined free throws in the half with SUU going 6-for-7 from the line and the Flames 2-for-4. The 'Birds owned the glass with their superior size, corralling 31 rebounds against 15 for Bethesda in the half. Southern Utah also dominated the paint points, 50-12. SUU converted 24 points off 13 turnovers for Bethesda.
Second Half
The Thunderbirds exploded out of halftime with a swift 10-5 run to lead by 40 points, 78-38, at the 16:16 mark. Spurgin continued to have the hot hand with six points during this sprint.
Southern Utah ripped off a 12-5 burst during the next 3:36 of play to jump out to a 90-43 lead with 12:05 left in the game. Lemetti and Williams each put up six points during the run.
The T-Birds cleared the century mark with 10:01 left in the contest after a blistering 10-1 run throughout 1:45 of play. Young threw down a dunk to close out this run.
Bethesda managed to remain even during the following 2:06 of play as the 'Birds and the Flames scored 7 points each. Barnes flushed another dunk to close out this period of play with SUU up 107-51 with 7:32 left in the game.
SUU countered during the following 2:20 with a sizzling 12-3 run. Young turned in five points as Southern Utah increased its lead to 119-54 with 4:37 left to play.
Bethesda closed out the final minutes of play on a 13-7 run as Southern Utah completed a jaw-dropping 126-67 victory. Freshman Andrew Marshall put the cherry on top with a trifecta with 42 seconds left to play as the student section of the America First Event Center let out a large cheer. That's Marshall's first points as a Thunderbird.
Southern Utah captured the second half of play, 58-34. SUU lit the net on fire with 62.2-percent shooting (23-37) in the final half against Bethesda's 40 percent (14-35) shooting. SUU had 15 assists while inducing 10 turnovers in the half.
Notable Plays
Next Up
Southern Utah makes a pilgrimage to Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan., to face the reigning national champion Kansas Jayhawks on Friday, Nov. 18. SUU tips off against the powerhouse squad at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
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