POCATELLO, Idaho. The Southern Utah men's basketball team utilized a stingy defense to outlast former Big Sky foe Idaho State, 69-59, in a gritty game in Pocatello, Idaho on Saturday, Dec. 3. Southern Utah improved to 5-4 after winning a chippy contest that featured 47 total free throws. The Bengals dropped to 2-7 with the loss.
Historic Defensive Effort
Southern Utah's defensive effort this evening proved to be historic as it was the third-fewest points Idaho State has ever tallied against the Thunderbirds in a series that dates back to 1989.
Fewest Idaho State Points Against SUU
49, SUU (72), Dec. 23, 1995
55, SUU (71), Jan. 9, 2020
59, SUU (69), Dec. 3, 2022
60, SUU (45), Jan. 16, 2014
Notably, Southern Utah now owns a commanding 24-12 lead in the series, sporting a seven-game winning streak that began with a 78-72 triumph in Cedar City on Feb. 9, 2019.
Maizen Fausett Moves Up Career Scoring Charts
Senior forward Maizen Fausett leapfrogged Davis Baker into eight all-time on Southern Utah's career scoring charts with 12 points this evening. Fausett closed the contest with 1,214 points in a T-Bird uniform, moving ahead of Baker's 1,205 amassed from 2007-10.
Senior guard Harrison Butler's team-high 22 points increased his career count to 1,171 as he looks to become to push SUU's 1200-Point Club into double-digit membership as the 10th T-Bird to do so.
Senior guard Tevian Jones moved closer to becoming just the 11th player to score more than 1,000 points in a Thunderbird uniform with 13 points tonight. That pushed the Illinois transfer's career tally to 1,075 with 977 coming while at Southern Utah.
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)
1,214; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
1,171; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
Fausett (7) and Butler (5) also collected the most rebounds for the Thunderbirds this evening.
T-Bird Tidbits
Southern Utah's aggressiveness in the paint proved to be the difference maker this evening. The Thunderbirds went shot 87 percent from the line (27-31), while the Bengals struggled at the charity stripe (10-16, 63 percent). Additionally, the Thunderbirds outscored the Bengals, 24-12, in the paint. SUU also won the rebounding battle, 37-33.
SUU managed to shoot 40 percent (19-48) against ISU's 38 percent (21-55) while holding the Big Sky's top three-point squad to just 32 percent from beyond the arc (7-22).
First Half
The former Big Sky rivals proved to be pretty evenly matched heading into the initial media timeout with the Thunderbirds holding an 8-6 lead just past the 16:00 mark. Fausett led the way with four points by way of a pair of layups.
The Thunderbirds stretched their lead to 13-9 heading into the 12:00 media timeout thanks to a Jones triple and a Butler layup. Following Jones' trifecta, SUU went on a 9-0 run to grab a 10-point advantage at 19-9 with 11:16 left in the first half.
Idaho State chopped the SUU lead down to 21-15 with 7:34 left in the half as part of a quick 5-2 spurt. Butler hit a jumper at 10:25 to account for T-Bird scoring during the stretch.
The teams traded points during the following 4:44 of play with SUU tacking on another point to lead 26-19 with 3:46 left in the half. Freshman guard Amound Anderson led the way for the 'Birds with an old-school three-point play with an And 1 following a layup. Jones also connected on a layup.
Southern Utah forced an Idaho State timeout with a swift 5-0 burst to jump out to a 31-19 advantage with 2:31 left in the half. Jones scored three points with a layup and a free throw, while freshman guard Martel Williams followed up a missed shot with a putback layup to draw the ISU timeout.
The Thunderbirds closed out the half with a 33-24 lead after the Bengals went on a quick 5-0 run of their own before Williams closed out the half with a pair of free throws.
Second Half
Idaho State exploded out of the locker room with a 5-0 sprint to cut SUU's lead to 34-29 with 19:11 left before the 'Birds stretched their lead back to 38-32 with 16:09 left thanks to a trio of free throws and a Fausett jumper with his foot on the three-point line in the corner.
Fausett's jumper keyed a scorching 14-0 run as the Thunderbirds pushed their lead to 49-32 with 13:53 to play. During the 3:58 of play, the T-Birds feasted on Idaho State fouls with eight tosses from the charity stripe.
Idaho State finally countered with a pair of free throws with 12:17 to play to chip away at SUU's lead, 49-34. The Bengals connected on their first field goal in 8:02 of play with a three-pointer to bring SUU's lead to 49-37.
Both teams turned up the defensive heat during the following 2:58 of play with neither squad managing to score a point until sophomore guard Drake Allen drained a wide-open trey with 7:18 left to nudge SUU's lead back up to 52-37. Butler drilled a three of his own with 6:35 left to stretch Southern Utah's advantage to 55-37.
Idaho State turned in a quick 5-2 run during the next 1:18 of play to chisel its deficit to 57-42 with 5:17 left in the contest.
The squads each put up five points each heading into the final media timeout of the game as the 'Birds led by 15 points, 62-47, with 3:31 left to play.
With the Thunderbirds focused on draining the clock, Idaho State managed to trim the SUU advantage to 69-59 by the end of the contest.
Next Up
Southern Utah returns home for a one-game stop against West Coast Baptist College on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. MT at the America First Event Center.
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!
