LAWRENCE, Kan. The Southern Utah men's basketball team nearly accomplished an epic upset in an 82-76 loss to the reigning national champion No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks at Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Friday, Nov. 18. The contest featured an amazing 25 lead changes in a game that drew national interest with upset alerts aplenty. SUU moved to 3-2 on the season with Kansas improving to 4-0.
T-Bird Tidbits
The box score definitely told the tale of how close this contest proved to be with SUU outshooting Kansas from the line, 69-63 percent, with both teams shooting 16 charity tosses.
SUU proved active on the glass as well, owning a 45-41 advantage including a strong 14 offensive boards. Those offensive rebounds nearly keyed an upset as Southern Utah amassed 17 second-chance points during the game. SUU also had the better bench, outscoring the Jayhawk subs, 12-4.
Top T-Birds
Senior guard Tevian Jones paced the Thunderbirds offensively with 25 points, shooting 9-for-27 from the field and 3-13 from beyond the arc. He also corralled six rebounds against the Jayhawks.
Senior forward Maizen Fausett (14) and senior guard Harrison Butler (12) also scored in double digits with Fausett just missing a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds. Butler came close to a double-double of his own with eight rebounds to go along with a game-high five assists.
First Half
Southern Utah jumped out to a 7-2 lead with 17:20 left in the first half with five points coming by way of a Jones jumper and three-pointer.
Kansas countered during the following 1:58 of play to take an 11-9 lead with 15:22 left. Jones continued to lead the way for the 'Birds with a jumper prior to heading into a media timeout.
In what proved to be a bit of a heavyweight match-up, the Thunderbirds fired back at the reigning champions during the next 3:19 of play with a 9-3 run to lead 18-14 with 12:21, keyed by a trio of three-pointers by Fausett (2) and Butler (1).
SUU pressed its advantage during the next 1:01 of play with a 4-2 burst to take a 22-16 advantage heading into another media timeout at 11:20. Butler (jumped) and sophomore guard Drake Allen (layup) each scored during this short run.
Heading into another media timeout at 7:56, the Thunderbirds held on to a 26-24 lead over the Jayhawks thanks to a Jones layup and free throw conversion as well as an Allen free throw.
The T-Birds forced a Kansas timeout at 4:32 in the first half with a 9-7 run to take a 35-31 advantage capped by a Butler trifecta.
Kansas responded down the stretch to take a 41-39 lead into the half. Jones (3) and Fausett (1) accounted for SUU's scoring during the final 4:38 of the stanza.
Southern Utah remained close largely due to an active defense that caused 10 Jayhawk turnovers in the initial half, converting them into 11 points. SUU also had more assists than Kansas, 9-7, while taking five more field goals and nine more three-pointers than the Jayhawks. The 'Birds also doubled up Kansas in blocks, 2-1.
Overall, the lead changed 13 times with Southern Utah leading a total of 11:33 minutes of the first half compared to Kansas' lead time of 6:44.
Jones returned from missing the Bethesda game with extra motivation, amassing a half-high 15 points in just 15 minutes of play. Butler, meanwhile, accounted for eight points, five assists and four rebounds in the initial half of play.
Second Half
Southern Utah battled back into a 46-45 lead with 15:42 left in the second stanza as the 'Birds opened the half with a 7-4 burst. Jones accounted for five of those points with an opening three-pointer as well as a layup, while sophomore center Jason Spurgin punctuated the run with a layup of his own.
The next 1:53 of the contest featured SUU holding serve as part of a 4-4 matchup with Kansas to lead 50-49 thanks to layups by Butler and freshman center Parsa Fallah.
Southern Utah went into a media timeout with 11:24 left in the game tied up with the Jayhawks, 53-53. Fallah (2) and Fausett (1) each scored during this 2:40 stint of play.
With the Phog Allen Fieldhouse crowd injecting Kansas with some energy, the Jayhawks went on a 9-2 run before Allen came through with a clutch layup to bring SUU to within 62-57 with 9:05 left in the contest. Graduate student guard Cameron Healy put away a jumper at the 8:09 mark to cut the Kansas advantage to 62-59 before a media timeout with 7:59 left to play.
The Thunderbirds responded with a quick 5-1 run to cut the Kansas gap to 63-62 with 7:41 left in the game as Fausett banked in a three. With SUU trailing 69-64, Fausett went to the bank again with another three-pointer to close to within 69-67 at the 4:03 mark.
After a pair of Spurgin free throws closed SUU to within 70-69 at the 3:33 mark, Kansas went on a 7-0 run to grab a 77-69 lead before an Allen layup cut the lead to 77-71 with 2:02 left. Jones then drilled a pair of free throws of his own to cut the Kansas lead to 77-73 with 1:31 in the game.
With 1:04 left in the game, Jones completed a three-point play with a jumper and a free throw to move SUU to within 77-76 and force Kansas into a timeout with 59 seconds to go.
That's as close as the Thunderbirds would come as Kansas closed out the game for an 82-76 victory.
Notable Plays
Next Up
Southern Utah heads to the North Shore Classic in Laie, Hawaii. SUU will compete in a pair of contests on Nov. 25 and 26. The Thunderbirds face Texas State on Friday first before competing against either Hawaii or Sacramento State on Saturday depending on the outcomes of the first day of action.
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