CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball team heads back out on the road to compete against Idaho State on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. MT. 

GAME INFO

Southern Utah vs. Idaho State
Date: Saturday, Dec. 3
Tipoff: 6 p.m. MT

PREVIEW

SOUTHERN UTAH (4-4)

Nationally-Ranked Offense!

Southern Utah's 91.2 points per game rank the 'Birds sixth in the nation!

Points Per Game - Team
1    Arizona    97.5
2    Bryant    95.7
3    James Madison    92.9
4    Missouri    92.6
5    UAB    92.1
6    Southern Utah    91.2

Points Per Game - Individual
1    Jordan Walker, UAB    25.0
2    Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy    23.3
3    Jalen Wilson, Kansas    22.8
4    Sam Sessoms, Coppin State    22.7
5    Foster Loyer, Davidson    22.6
12    Tevian Jones, SUU    21.3

T-Bird Tidbits
Southern Utah scores 91.2 points per game with its opponents managing just 74 points per contest, a 17.3 positive margin for SUU.  

The Thunderbirds shoot 48.6 percent from the field while connecting at a 33.6 percent rate from beyond the arc.  Additionally, the 'Birds show 68.2 percent from the charity stripe. 

The T-Birds corral 42.1 rebounds per contest, a full seven caroms more than their opponents per game. Additionally, SUU produces 15.8 assists and 11.4 steals per game.  

Individual Leaders
Four Thunderbirds average double-digit scoring this year with Tevian Jones leading the way with 21.3 points per game.  Harrison Butler (11.3), Jason Spurgin (11.0) and Maizen Fausett (10.1) also clear 10 points per game so far this year. 

Fausett (6.6) and Butler (6.3) account for the most rebounds per game for the 'Birds, while Drake Allen and Deng Dut each average a trio of assists per contest.  Meanwhile, Allen and Fausett also collect 2.1 steals per game. 

Climbing the Scoring Charts
Maizen Fausett managed to become just the ninth Thunderbird to join the 1200-point club with his three points against Montana State.  Fausett now owns a career 1,202 points, just three behind Davis Baker for eighth all-time on Southern Utah's career scoring charts. Senior guard Harrison Butler, meanwhile, pushed his career tally to 1,149 with 17 points this evening. 

Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
1,202; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,149; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)

LAST TIME OUT

CEDAR CITY, Utah. Senior forward Maizen Fausett provided the highlight of the night for Southern Utah by joining the 1200-point club as the men's basketball team fell to defending Big Sky champion Montana State, 86-83.  Southern Utah moved to 4-4 with the defeat, while Montana State improved to 4-5 in the thriller.

Top T-Birds
Senior guard Tevian Jones led the T-Birds with 20 points, pushing his career total to 1,061 along with 964 points in a T-Bird uniform. 

Four other Thunderbirds also scored in double figures as Butler (17), sophomore center Jason Spurgin (11), sophomore guard Drake Allen (11) and graduate guard Cameron Healy (11) each cleared double digits.

Butler nearly turned in a double-double with a game-leading eight rebounds as part of an iron-man 37 minutes of play.  

First Half
Down 2-0 at the 18:42 mark, Fausett cleared the 1,200 career point mark with a layup off a Spurgin assist to tie the game at 2-2. 

Montana State pushed its lead to 7-4 at the 16:02 mark with a 5-2 run during the following 2:56 of play.  Jones provided SUU's sole points during this stretch with a jumper at 17:21. The Bobcats expanded their lead with an 11-3 run during the next 3:16 of play, leading MSU up 16-7 at the 13:07 mark.  Jones, again, accounted for Southern Utah's scoring with a contested trifecta at 14:52.

Freshman center Parsa Fallah ended the run with a layup at 12:04 to cut the deficit to 16-9 at the 12:04 mark. Montana State countered with a 5-0 burst to expand its lead to 29-9 at 10:32.  Butler returned fire with a layup to move SUU within 21-11 at 10:16.  

The Thunderbirds clamped down on defense and stormed back with a 6-2 burst to force a Montana State timeout thanks to an Allen dunk to close the MSU lead to 23-17 with 8:33 in the half. Spurgin accounted for three points with a layup and a free throw. 

After inducing a fifth consecutive turnover by MSU, Southern Utah's Healy drained a trey at 7:23 to close to within 23-20. 

Play came to a close at the 6:53 mark as Montana State's Jubrile Belo drew an ejection thanks to a Flagrant Foul 2 as he delivered a low blow to Spurgin.  With Spurgin showing obvious signs of discomfort, referees called a timeout and went to replay to confirm the egregiousness of the offense.

Spurgin converted both of his tosses from the charity stripe, while Healy canned a driving layup with 6:33 to go to take a 24-23 lead to close out a 13-0 sprint. 

The Bobcats quickly countered during the next 1:08 of play with an 8-0 run of their own to take a 31-24 advantage with 4:48 left in the half.  

The squads traded free throws to head into a media timeout with MSU up 33-26 at the 3:45 mark. 

Coming out of the timeout, Southern Utah sliced the MSU advantage to 33-30 with a quick 4-0 run that included a tremendous senior guard Dee Barnes dunk thanks to a junior guard Deng Dut assist at the 3:34 mark.  

Montana State, however, responded with a 5-0 burst of its own to stretch its lead back to 38-30 with 2:54 to go.

The Bobcats closed out the half with an 8-4 run to increase their lead to 46-34 at the half.
 
Second Half
After Montana State opened the half with a trey to push its advantage to 49-35, Southern Utah unfurled a 10-0 surge to shave the deficit to 49-45 with 17:26 left in the contest.  Five separate T-Birds scored during this time period with Allen cashing in a three-pointer.  

The squads traded blows during the next 1:15 of play with both teams scoring four points apiece.  MSU led 53-49 heading into the media timeout at 15:47. 

Trailing 56-49 at 15:44 left in the contest, the Thunderbirds ripped off a scorching 9-0 run during the next 2:43 of play with Jones connecting on a pair of shots as SUU took the lead, 58-56, to force another Montana State timeout with 12:15 in the game. 

The Bobcats responded with a 9-2 run during the next 2:14 of play to retake a 65-60 lead at the 9:33 mark. Butler drilled a three with 8:50 to play to close within 65-63.  The teams then traded two points each with MSU up 67-65 heading into a media timeout at 7:47. 

Southern Utah pushed its lead to 71-67 with 5:56 left in the game after Jones went 2-3 at the line after being fouled beyond the arc to end an 8-0 run by Southern Utah. SUU and MSU then traded three-pointers with the T-Birds leading 74-70 with 4:55 to play as Montana State called another timeout.    

Montana State chipped away at SUU's lead during the next 2:38 of play as the Thunderbirds went into the final media timeout of the game with a 76-73 lead thanks to a circus jumper from Jones at the 3:18 mark.  

After MSU tied the contest up at 76-76 at the 2:49 mark, Butler drove to the hoop for a layup that not only put Southern Utah up 78-76 but also drew a foul. Butler converted the And 1 to put SUU up 79-76. 

A quick 5-0 run from MSU put the Bobcats up 81-79 with 1:40 left to play.  Southern Utah responded with a 4-2 burst to tie the contest at 83-83 with 30 seconds in the game thanks to a nimble layup by Spurgin. 

After SUU forced a stop with 10 seconds left, Montana State managed to turn the Thunderbirds over with a layup and a free throw to win the contest, 86-83. 

IDAHO STATE (2-6)

Idaho State broke a five-game losing streak during its most recent game - a 75-65 victory against UMKC on Nov. 29.  The Bengals' other win came by way of a 97-56 triumph against Westcliff.  

Idaho State scores 71.8 points per game, against 68.4 points scored by their opponents. The Bengals shoot 42.6 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from three-point range as well as 74.8 percent from the line. 

Idaho State accounts for 33.4 rebounds per game, while also tallying 7.6 steals per contest. 

Individually, three Bengals score in double figures with Miguel Tomley (15.4), Brock Mackenzie (14.9) and Jared Rodriguez (10.3) leading the way for Idaho State.  Jay Nagle (5.1) and Rodriguez (4.9) pace Idaho State on the boards, while Tomley dishes 2.5 assists per contest. 

HISTORY

Southern Utah owns the lifetime series against Idaho State, 23-12.  The Thunderbirds will look to extend a current six-game winning streak against the Bengals that began with a 78-72 victory on Feb. 9, 2019, with the most current triumph on March 3, 2022, with a similar 79-71 win. 

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