CEDAR CITY, Utah – With three victories in its last three games, the Southern Utah University men's basketball team will host Eastern Washington Saturday night to wrap up a three-game homestand before hitting the road for its next-three games.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah vs Eastern Washington
Date: February 5, 2022
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. MT
Location: Cedar City, Utah
Venue: America First Event Center
Stream: ESPN+
Watch | Live Stats | Tickets | Southern Utah Game Notes
SUU NOTES (14-6, 8-2 Big Sky)
-The T-Birds enter Saturday's game winner of three straight and five of their last six.
-SUU defeated Eastern Washington, 89-76, in their first meeting earlier this year.
-Dre Marin is on track to become the Big Sky Conference's all-time leader in games played Saturday night. He currently stands at 138.
-Todd Simon is just four wins away from 100 for his career.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON (11-11, 5-6 Big Sky)
-The Eagles come into Saturday's contest on a three-game losing streak.
-Steele Venters leads EWU in scoring with 16.5 points per game. He is followed closely by Linton Acliese III who averages 16.1.
-Davis Riley is in his first season as head coach at Eastern Washington.
LAST TIME OUT
In its blue and orange throwback uniforms honoring its days as the College of Southern Utah, the Southern Utah University men's basketball team cruised to a 75-59 victory Thursday night at the America First Event Center.
Tevian Jones led the way with 22 points to finish as the game's leading scorer. The senior guard also finished with nine rebounds, just one shy of his third-consecutive double-double. Maizen Fausett also finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards on the night. John Knight III dropped in 14 points for the T-Birds, and Dre Marin and Jason Spurgin scored 12 and 10, respectively.
As a team, SUU outshot the Vandals with a 45 percent clip to Idaho's 40. Both teams knocked down six three and were an identical 11-of-14 from the free-throw line, but it was Southern Utah's advantage in rebounding that made a big difference. The T-Birds outrebounded the Vandals 40-29, including doubling them up on the offensive glass with a 14-7 advantage. The Thunderbirds also took better care of the ball all night with a plus six turnover margin.
Spurgin started the scoring on the night for SUU with a layup for the game's first points, and the T-Birds never trailed again. Idaho would respond with a layup on the other end to make it 2-2, but the Vandals never tied the game or took the lead the rest of the way. Spurgin's layup was the start of 11-straight makes from the field for the T-Birds, which resulted in 26 points. SUU would go on to take a 42-28 advantage into halftime.
The Vandals played with intensity to start the second half and trimmed Southern Utah's lead to just seven points, but the Thunderbirds flipped the script and owned the final 10 minutes of the game. The lead grew as high as 21 for SUU thanks to a late 9-2 run to put the game away.
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