CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball squad, fresh off a winning non-conference slate, opens its inaugural season as part of the Western Athletic Conference this week. SUU initially heads to Las Cruces, N.M. to compete with New Mexico State on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. MT. The 'Birds then return to the friendly confines of the America First Event Center as they host UTRGV on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. MT to close out 2022.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah vs. New Mexico State
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 28
Tipoff: 7 p.m. MT
Southern Utah vs. UTRGV
Date: Saturday, Dec. 31
Tipoff: 1 p.m. MT
PREVIEW
SOUTHERN UTAH (8-5)
Non-Conference Success!
Southern Utah had an amazing non-conference slate, ranking in the top 10 in the nation in multiple categories as well as posting a school-record sixth-straight winning non-conference schedule.
For more on that, let's hear from head coach Todd Simon!
National Rankings!
Southern Utah ranks amongst the elite in the country in several statistical categories:
Points Per Game - Team
1, James Madison, 93.2
2, Arizona, 90.2
3, Southern Utah, 90.0
4, Missouri, 88.8
5, UAB, 86.9
Defensive Rebounds Per Game - Team
1, Alabama, 32.75
T6, Southern Utah, 29.54
Fast Break Points - Team
1, High Point, 21.17
11, Southern Utah, 17.77
Scoring Margin - Team
1, Sam Houston, 27
16, Southern Utah, 17
T-Bird Tidbits
Southern Utah outscores its opponents by more than 17 points per game (17.2). SUU averages 90.0 points per game, while holding its opponents to just 72.8 points a contest.
SUU shoots 47.7 percent from the field as well as 32.0 percent from three-point territory. The 'Birds also score 74.1 percent of their shots from the charity stripe, taking 18.5 free throws per game.
Additionally, Southern Utah averages 41.8 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 10.2 steals and 3.5 blocks per contest.
Individual Leaders
A pair of Thunderbirds average double-figure scoring with senior guards Tevian Jones (19.8) and Harrison Butler (13.8) leading the way. Sophomore center Jason Spurgin (9.8), senior guard Drake Allen (9.7) and senior forward Maizen Fausett (9.5) all nearly average double digits as well.
Butler (6.9) and Fausett (6.3) pace the squad on the boards, while Butler and Allen both average 2.5 assists per contest to top the Thunderbirds.
Career-Scoring Charts
The usual suspects led the way for the Thunderbirds in scoring against Colorado last week. Senior guard Harrison Butler, fresh off joining the 1200-point club, moved to eight all-time on the SUU charts with an 18-point 11-rebound effort. The effort moved Butler ahead of former teammate John Knight III (1,223 points, 2019-22)
Senior guard Tevian Jones tallied 14 points to increase his SUU career tally to 1,052 as well as 1,150 in his career including his time at Illinois.
Senior forward Maizen Fausett picked up 13 points against Colorado to increase his career tally to 1,244. Fausett and Butler's next target is Jackson Stevenett, who scored 1,273 points for SUU from 2010-13.
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)
1,244; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,239; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
1,052; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE)
LAST TIME OUT
BOULDER, Colo. Senior guard Harrison Butler's double-double wasn't enough as the Southern Utah men's basketball squad sustained an 86-78 loss on the road against Pacific 12 opponent Colorado on Wednesday, Dec. 21. The loss moved SUU to 8-5 this season, while Colorado improved to 8-5.
First Half
The game opened with the squads being evenly matched with the score knotted at 8-8 at the 15:35 mark. Harrison Butler accounted for six points with a pair of triples during this stretch.
SUU followed with a 6-1 run during the following 1:40 of play to lead 16-9 at the 13:22 mark thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Tevian Jones and Cameron Healy.
Colorado responded with an 11-2 run of its own to take a 22-18 lead at the 10:23 mark before Healy drained another trey at 8:56 to cut the lead to 22-21 with 8:56 on the clock.
The Buffaloes pushed their lead back up to nine points, 30-21, with 5:22 to play in the first frame thanks to a 6-0 burst. Colorado continued to press its advantage with an 8-5 run during the following 2:18 to up its lead to 14, 38-26, with 3:04 on the clock.
The Thunderbirds, who started the half hot turned up the heat again to close the half to within four points, 38-34, heading into halftime. Drake Allen accounted for five points with Maizen Fausett ending the scoring for the half with a trifecta.
Second Half
SUU picked up the pace coming out of halftime with a swift 5-0 burst to close to within one point of Colorado, 40-39, with 17:33 on the clock. Fausett buried another three to lead scoring during the run. The T-Birds then took their first lead since the opening of the game, 44-42, with 16:17 on the clock thanks to a Butler trifecta.
Colorado countered with an 8-2 run during the next 2:37 of play to lead 50-46 with 13:40 to go. The 'Birds battled back yet again, closing to within a point, with a 6-3 run to trail 53-52 with 12:33 on the clock. Jason Spurgin and Jones both completed old-fashioned three-point plays during the stretch.
The squads remained even during the next 3:25 of play with Colorado clinging to a one-point lead, 60-59, with 9:08 on the clock. Allen (4) and Fausett (3) paced Thunderbird scoring during this stretch.
The Buffaloes withstood the SUU run and responded with a 13-0 run of their own to take a 73-59 lead with 6:39 on the clock. Butler ended the scoreless streak for SUU with a layup at the 5:51 mark to cut the advantage to 73–61. Parsa Fallah followed with a layup of his own to chop the deficit to 10 points, 73-63, with 4:26 on the clock.
Despite cutting their deficit down to six points and seven points down the stretch, the Thunderbirds wound up sustaining a loss, 86-78.
OPPONENTS
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (7-5)
New Mexico State owns a 7-5 record this season.
Three Aggies average double-digit scoring. Deshawndre Washington (12.8), Xavier Pinson (12.6) and Issa Muhammad (11.5) lead the way for NMSU.
Washington also leads the squad with 7.9 rebounds per game, while joining Pinson (4.6) with 4.8 assists per contest to pace the Aggies.
The Aggies score 78.7 points per game while holding their opponents to just 66.3 points a game.
UTRGV VAQUEROS (8-4)
UTRGV is 8-4 this season and could bring a four-game winning streak into Cedar City depending on the results of a Dec. 29 contest with Utah Tech in St. George.
Three Vaqueros score more than 10 points a game. Justin Johnson (21.1), Will Johnston (16.0) and Dima Zdor (10.0) lead the pack in scoring. Austin Freeman (6.3) averages the most rebounds, while Will Johnston is the top distributor on offense with 3.8 assists per game.
The Vaqueros average 84.2 points per game, while giving up 78.8 points to their opponents.
HISTORY
Southern Utah owns a 0-3 record against New Mexico State, having faced the squad three times in the 90s. Meanwhile, SUU has never faced UTRGV.
FOLLOW US
Stay up to date during the 2022-23 Southern Utah Men's Basketball season by following @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
TICKETS
Head on over to our online ticket store to purchase season, package and single-game tickets!
