S VEGAS, Nev. The Southern Utah men's basketball team heads to Las Vegas to serve as the opener to an exciting tripleheader at the Jack Jones Hoopfest on Saturday, Dec. 10.   SUU takes on Cal State Fullerton at 5 p.m. MT.

The Utah-heavy slate continues with BYU vs. Creighton at 8 p.m. MT before Utah State takes on Loyola Marymount at 10:30 p.m. MT. 

GAME INFO

Southern Utah vs. Cal State Fullerton
Date: Saturday, Dec. 10
Tipoff: 5 p.m. MT

PREVIEW

SOUTHERN UTAH (6-4)

National Rankings!

Southern Utah's 91.9 points per game rank the Thunderbirds second in the NCAA, while senior guard Tevian Jones is within the top 30 in the game with 19.7 points per contest. 

SUU also ranks third in the nation with a stout 43.5 rebounds per game.

Points Per Game - Team
1    Missouri, 93.0
2    Southern Utah, 91.9
3    Arizona, 91.5
4    UAB, 90.1
5    James Madison / Bryant, 89.0

Points Per Game - Individual
1    Jordan Walker, UAB, 25.7
2    Sam Sessoms, Coppin State, 23.9
3    Jordan Dingle, Penn, 23.4
4    Zach Edey, Purdue, 23.2
5    Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy, 23.1
28    Tevian Jones, SUU, 19.7

Rebounds Per Game - Team
1    Alabama, 50.3
2    UMass Lowell, 44.1
3    Southern Utah, 43.5
4    Utah, 43.4
5    Mississippi State, 43.4

T-Bird Tidbits
Southern Utah scores a lofty 91.9 points per game while holding its opponents to just 70.0 points per game for a massive 21.9-point margin of victory for the T-Birds.

SUU shoots 48.6 from the field, 32.2 percent from beyond the arc and 72.0 percent from the line.  Additionally, the 'Birds average 43.5 rebounds per game along with 15.9 assists and 11.6 steals per contest. 

Individual Leaders
Three Thunderbirds average double-digit scoring with senior guard Tevian Jones leading the way with 19.7 points a contest. Senior guard Harrison Butler (12.4) and sophomore center Jason Spurgin (10.0) also boast scoring averages of more than 10 points.

Senior forward Maizen Fausett (6.4) and Butler (6.0) pace the 'Birds on the boards, while junior guard Deng Dut (3.7), sophomore guard Drake Allen (2.8) and Butler (2.4) average multiple assists per game. 

Career Scoring Charts
Senior forward Maizen Fausett inched up the charts with two points against West Coast Baptist, remaining eight all-time with 1,216 points for SUU.  

Senior guard Harrison Butler's 12 points pushed his tally to 1,183 as he's just outside the 1200-Point Club currently comprised of nine Thunderbirds. 

Senior guard Tevian Jones vaulted from 13th all-time at SUU to 11th with his 15 points.  He now owns 992 points in a T-Bird uniform while his career tally stands at 1,090 after some time at Illinois.

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)
1,216; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
1,183; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
992; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE)

LAST TIME OUT

CEDAR CITY, Utah.  The Southern Utah men's basketball team broke a 28-year-old school record for the largest margin of victory with a 120-49 drubbing of West Coast Baptist College at the America First Event Center on Tuesday, Dec. 6.  Southern Utah improved to 6-4 with the thumping, while the Eagles fell to 1-6. 

School Records!
Southern Utah won by an astounding 71 points against West Coast Baptist, breaking the previous record for the largest margin of victory.  SUU had previously downed South Alabama by 68 points (140-72) on Dec. 10, 1994.  

The Thunderbirds also broke the school record for three-pointers attempted with 40 shots from long range.  The previous record had been 39 against Pepperdine (Dec. 15, 2018) and Seattle (Dec. 17, 2016). 

Century Mark Squashes
The Thunderbirds have cleared the century mark three times thus far this year with each ending in an absolute smackdown of the opponent:

127 vs. Bethesda (67), Nov. 14, 2022
120 vs. West Coast Baptist (49), Dec. 6, 2022
117 vs. La Verne (55), Nov. 10, 2022.

That's the most 100-point games in a season since the 2016-17 team cleared 100 points in four contests, albeit two of them were in exhibition games.   

Pouncing Parsa
Freshman center Parsa Fallah paced all scorers with a career-high 23 points.  That was part of a dominant double-double that included 17 total rebounds as the T-Birds kept the lid on Eagle scoring for most of the contest.

Offensive Juggernaut
Fallah led seven Thunderbirds in double-digit scoring.  Senior guard Dee Barnes made a living around the rim with 17 points, a career-high tally.  Meanwhile, senior guard Tevian Jones (15), freshman guard Drake Allen (13), senior guard Harrison Butler (12), sophomore guard Martel Williams (12), and junior guard Felix Lemetti (10) also scored more than 10 points.  

Additionally, every single Thunderbird that played scored at least two points, much to the pleasure of the raucous Thunderbird Student Section at the America First Event Center.  

T-Bird Tidbits
The Thunderbirds absolutely dominated in every statistical category.  SUU shot 53.3 percent (48-90) from the field, 27.5 percent (11-40) from beyond the arc, and 86.7 percent (13-15) from the free-throw line.  As explained above, the 40 three-pointers now stand as a school record.

SUU held the Eagles to a paltry 29.5 percent (18-61) from the field, 23.7 percent (9-38) from three-point range, and 66.7 percent (4-6) from the charity stripe.  

The 'Birds outrebounded the Eagles, 61-27, while turning in 27 assists against West Coast Baptist's 11 helpers. 

Southern Utah also turned the Eagles over 22 times leading to 33 points, while SUU's bench nearly doubled up the entire West Coast Baptist squad with 72 points.  SUU also amassed 68 points in the paint in the most dominant win in school history. 

First Half
Southern Utah wasted little time running up the score to 10-0, holding West Coast Baptist to zero scoring for 3:26 to start the contest.  Jones accounted for a pair of layups during the run that ended with the Eagles scoring with 16:34 left in the half.

SUU pressed its advantage to 14-5 heading into the first media timeout at the 14:46 mark. Junior guard Amound Anderson and Williams each tallied a layup during this stretch. 

The Thunderbirds continued to pile on the points, leading by 25-11 heading into the second media timeout with 10:50 left in the half by way of an 11-6 burst by SUU.  Barnes (6) and Williams (5) enjoyed offensive success with Barnes flushing a pair of dunks. 

Southern Utah unfurled a sizzling 13-3 run heading into another media timeout with 7:34 left in the half to extend its lead to 38-14.  Fallah (7) and Butler (6) keyed this run with Fallah owning the paint while Butler drilled back-to-back three-pointers. 

The T-Birds doubled up West Coast Baptist, 16-8, during the next 4:01 of action.  Allen turned in a layup and a pair of free throws to lead the way for SUU as the 'Birds led 54-22 with 3:26 left to play.  

Southern Utah closed the half with a 5-0 sprint to lead the way 59-24 heading into halftime.  Fallah paced scoring with a layup and a dunk to close the half.  
 
Second Half
Nothing much changed with the start of the second stanza as the T-Birds raced their way to a 12-6 spurt punctuated by a monster Jones dunk with 15:56 left in the half.  Jones unleashed a flurry of points with seven during this stretch of play as SUU moved to a 71-30 lead.

Southern Utah remained aggressive with another 12-7 sprint during the next 3:28 of play.  Barnes collected six points and punctuated the run with another dunk as the 'Birds held an 83-37 advantage with 11:56 left to play.

The Thunderbirds blitzed the Eagles with a sweltering 18-4 run during the following 4:15 of play as the 'Birds cleared the century mark for the third time this season to lead 101-41 with 7:41 left in the half. Allen turned in seven points to lead the way for SUU during this stretch of play. 

The T-Birds pressed that run to 26-4 with a 7-0 sprint in the next 1:30 of action as SUU jumped to a 108-41 advantage with 5:56 left to play. Lemetti led this quick burst with a three-pointer.

Southern Utah bumped its lead to 116-44 with 3:29 to go in the contest by way of an 8-3 surge during 2:03 of competition.  Lemetti tacked on four more points during this span. 

The Thunderbirds closed out the largest margin of victory in school history as the 'Birds won 120-49.  

CAL STATE FULLERTON (4-5)
Cal State Fullerton currently holds a 4-5 record and will be looking to break a four-game losing streak with its most recent loss being a 64-50 effort against USC on Wed, Dec. 7.

Jalen Harris leads the way in scoring for the Titans with 15.7 points per game.  Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (14.6), Vincent Lee (10.5) and Max Jones (10.1) also average double digits in scoring. Lee (5.8) and Garrison Wade (5.4) pace the squad in rebounds

Overall, the Titans score 69.6 points per game while giving up 72.9 points per contest to their opponents. 

HISTORY

Southern Utah will be looking for its first win against Cal State Fullerton.  The T-Birds are currently 0-5 against the squad

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TICKETS

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