CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball team, currently standing strong at 5-1 in its inaugural Western Athletic Conference season, closes out a three-game homestand and then returns to the road this week.
SUU will first look for a season sweep of New Mexico State on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. MT at the America First Event Center. The T-Birds then travel to Seattle to take on Seattle U on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. MT.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah vs. New Mexico State
Date: Thursday, Jan. 19
Tipoff: 7 p.m. MT
Southern Utah vs. Seattle U
Date: Saturday, Jan. 21
Tipoff: 4 p.m. MT
WAC Standings
The Western Athletic Conference looks at overall standings a bit differently than other conferences as non-conference strength of schedule is factored into where the league will seed its teams heading into the conference championship at the end of the regular season.
So, even though SUU is tied for second in the conference with a 5-1 record and Seattle U just beat Utah Valley, Utah Valley is seeded first and Seattle U is seeded second. The 'Birds are seeded fourth if the season ended today.
This week, Southern Utah can continue to climb up the rankings with a contest against Seattle on Saturday.
2022-23 WAC MBB Resume Seeding System (as of Jan. 15)
Rank Team W L CW CL WACPts
1. Utah Valley 14 5 5 1 3.19
2. Seattle U 14 4 5 0 3.15
3. Sam Houston 13 5 3 3 3.07
4. Southern Utah 13 6 5 1 1.89
5. Grand Canyon 12 6 3 2 1.78
6. Stephen F. Austin 13 6 5 1 0.94
7. Tarleton 10 8 3 2 0.03
8. California Baptist 11 8 3 3 -0.57
9. Utah Tech 9 9 1 4 -1.35
10. UTRGV 10 8 1 4 -1.65
11. Abilene Christian 9 9 1 4 -2.63
12. NM State 7 11 0 6 -2.68
13. UT Arlington 6 13 1 5 -3.94
PREVIEW
SOUTHERN UTAH (13-6, 5-1 WAC)
National Rankings!
Southern Utah ranks among the elite in the country in several statistical categories.
Points Per Game - Team
1, Gonzaga, 86.9
2, Southern Utah, 86.1
3, UAB, 85.8
4, James Madison, 85.0
5, Youngstown State, 84.9
Rebounds Per Game - Team
1, Alabama, 45.94
T14, Southern Utah, 39.84
Defensive Rebounds Per Game - Team
1, Alabama, 32.35
10, Southern Utah, 28.79
Fast Break Points - Team
1, TCU, 22.00
T20, Southern Utah, 15.37
Scoring Margin - Team
1, Houston, 23
18, Southern Utah, 13
NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings
The NET Rankings include more components than just winning percentage. They take into account game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive, and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.
WAC NET Rankings
Current, Team, Previous, SUU Win/Loss
46, Sam Houston, 55, W
81, Utah Valley, 75
98, Grand Canyon, 92
116, Seattle, 130
120, Southern Utah, 125
139, Stephen F. Austin, 137, W
155, Tarleton State, 162, L
168, Cal Baptist, 173
180, New Mexico State, 151, W
199, Utah Tech, 174
239, Abilene Christian, 237, W
265, UTRGV, 272, W
279, UT Arlington, 305
For more perspective, Southern Utah is ahead of 13 Power 6 Schools (Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Pacific 12, Southeastern) and ahead of 33 teams from the AAC, Atlantic 10, Mountain West, Missouri Valley, and West Coast Conferences.
Number of Schools Southern Utah is Ahead of in NET Rankings:
6 American Athletic
5 Atlantic Coast
10 Atlantic 10
2 Big East
1 Big Ten
4 Mountain West
8 Missouri Valley
4 Pacific 12
1 Southeastern
5 West Coast
T-Bird Tidbits
- Southern Utah, among the top offenses in the country, outscored its opponents by 13.4 points a game. SUU averages 86.1 points a contest, while its opponents score just 72.7.
- SUU shoots 48.2 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 71.4 percent from the free-throw line.
- Additionally, Southern Utah averages 39.8 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 8.5 steals and 3.5 blocks per game.
Individual Leaders
Senior guard Tevian Jones leads five Thunderbirds in double-figure scoring. Jones averages 19.6 points per contest.
Senior guard Harrison Butler (11.7) and senior forward Maizen Fausett (11.1) stand second and third on the team, while sophomore center Jason Spurgin (10.3) and sophomore guard Drake Allen (10.0) represent the next wave of scorers for the 'Birds.
Butler (6.5) and Fausett (6.3) continue to pace Southern Utah in rebounds with Spurgin just behind (5.6). Allen, meanwhile, leads the way with 3.4 helpers per contest.
Career-Scoring Charts
Following a near career-high performance on Thursday against Sam Houston, senior forward Maizen Fausett scored a game-high 19 points as part of a double-double against Stephen F. Austin that featured 10 rebounds as well. Fausett moved to within 100 points of third place on the all-time career scoring charts at Southern Utah as he increased his career tally to 1,332 points. Fausett's former teammate, Dre Marin, holds third on the charts with 1,434 career points from 2017-2022.
Senior guard Tevian Jones turned in 13 points to run his career tally to 1,262 points with some time at Illinois. As a T-Bird, Jones has scored 1,164.
Meanwhile, senior guard Harrison Butler moved closer to sixth on the charts with 1,281 career points thanks to four points against SFA. Richard Burton holds the next spot with 1,297 points from 1989-1993.
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,332; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,281; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
1,164; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE)
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!
LAST TIME OUT
CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball team took down yet another Western Athletic Conference giant as the T-Birds severed Stephen F. Austin's 15-game WAC winning streak with a 67-58 conquest of the Lumberjacks. The victory also ended a seven-game winning streak by SFA this year as Southern Utah stretched its own winning streak to three games.
Southern Utah improved its record to 13-6 and 5-1 in the WAC, while Stephen F. Austin fell to 13-6 and 5-1 in the conference as well.
T-Bird Tidbits
- Sophomore guard Drake Allen proved prolific with the ball in his hand, dishing out seven helpers during the contest. He led a strong game for the 'Birds, which had 17 total assists.
- Southern Utah's length proved to be too much for the Lumberjacks as SUU outscored SFA in the paint, 32-22. SUU also out-rebounded Stephen F. Austin, 34-30.
First Half
The epic battle between two of the top teams in the Western Athletic Conference started off physical and defensive-minded with SFA holding a 4-2 lead heading into the first media timeout at 15:54 on the clock. Southern Utah, however, banked five team fouls early from the Lumberjacks with the squad's aggressiveness.
The 'Birds exploded out of the break. After SUU picked up SFA's sixth team foul, Tevian Jones drained a long-distance trey to put SUU up 5-4. Jason Spurgin then took an amazing assist from Maizen Fausett to convert an old-fashioned three-point play to increase the SUU advantage to 8-4 with 15:03 on the clock. Fausett kept the 10-0 run going with a layup to push Southern Utah's lead to 10-4 with 14:19 to go.
With SFA ending SUU's run with an old-fashioned three-point play of its own, Spurgin converted a beautiful Harrison Butler assist with a dunk to extend the T-Bird lead to 12-7 with 13:00 on the clock. After an SFA trifecta, Spurgin found space in the paint again with a layup to grab a 14-10 lead with 12:05 to play.
Spurgin continued to shoulder the load for Southern Utah, taking a smooth feed from Drake Allen to convert a layup for a 16-12 advantage with 11:01 to go.
Following a bit of a run from SFA to cut the lead to 16-15 with 9:25 on the clock, Cameron Healy canned a trifecta thanks to yet another amazing helper from Allen as the 'Birds went up, 19-15, with 8:14 to go.
After a few minutes of sloppy play on both ends, Healy hit the replay button and drained another three-pointer thanks to an Allen assist as the 'Birds went up 22-17 with 5:23 on the clock.
The banked team fouls started to pay dividends with 4:47 to go as Jones converted a pair of free throws as the 'Birds picked up a 24-17 lead. Fausett split a pair of free throws with 4:10 to go as the T-Bird advantage stretched to 25-17.
After SFA managed to cut the SUU lead to 27-21 with 2:27 to play, Parsa Fallah scored for the first time in the contest with a layup to put the 'Birds up 29-21 at the 1:58 mark.
The Lumberjacks closed the half strong with a pair of three-pointers to pull within two points of the 'Birds, 31-29, heading into halftime.
Second Half
The second stanza started with a whistle-heavy opening few minutes. In between the foul calls, the Lumberjacks managed to turn the game into a back-and-forth affair with both teams taking the lead. Maizen Fausett, however, single-handedly kept the 'Birds in it with a pair of treys and a layup as the teams were tied at 39-39 with 16:08 to go.
With SFA stretching its lead to six, 45-39, with 13:19 on the clock, Tevian Jones banked a turnaround jumper to cut the deficit to 45-41 with 13:10 to go. Harrison Butler then put an SFA defender on his hip as he drove to the bucket to move to within 45-43 with 11:59 on the clock.
Coming out of a media timeout, Cameron Healy canned a buzzer-beater trey to put the 'Birds back up, 46-45, with 11:12 on the clock. Fausett stretched the SUU lead to 48-45 with 10:27 to go.
Drake Allen split a pair of free throws to put SUU up, 49-45, after an athletic drive to the rim drew a foul. Jason Spurgin followed with a pair of free throws of his own as the 'Birds extended their lead to 51-45 with 8:50 on the clock. After an SFA bucket, Allen flushed a turnaround jumper to put the 'Birds back up by six, 53-47, with 8:09 on the clock.
Out of another media timeout, Jones sunk a trifecta thanks to a Spurgin assist as Southern Utah increased its lead to 56-47 at the 7:28 mark. SFA, however, countered with a 6-0 run to cut the T-Bird advantage to 56-53 with 6:27 on the clock.
Jones responded in a big way with a clutch triple to take a 59-53 lead with 6:19 to go. Spurgin hammered home a dunk with 4:26 to go to stretch the SUU lead to 61-53.
Fausett drew a controversial flop warning at 3:55 with SFA chopping the deficit to 61-55 as both teams went into the final media timeout. SFA missed the technical foul coming out of the timeout.
Fausett took a sweet feed from Butler and turned it into a layup as SUU extended its advantage to 63-55 at 3:44 on the clock. With 2:43 to go, Fausett scored again to give Southern Utah its largest lead of the game, 65-55. The layup forced a Lumberjack timeout.
The Thunderbirds were able to hold on in the final few minutes to clinch a 67-58 victory.
OPPONENTS
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (7-11, 0-6 WAC)
Southern Utah kicked off its first season in the Western Athletic Conference earlier this season with a 79-75 road win against defending conference champion New Mexico State on Dec. 28. In fact, Southern Utah started a six-game losing streak for the Aggies.
New Mexico State scored 73.5 points per game while opponents score 67.9 points per contest for a 5.6-point margin of victory.
Xavier Pinson (12.7), Deshawndre Washington (12.1), and Issa Muhammad (10.1) lead NMSU's scoring attack, while Washington is tops in rebounds with 7.2 a game. Pinson (4.6) and Washington (4.0) also lead the team in assists.
SEATTLE REDHAWKS (14-4, 5-0 WAC)
Seattle is the last undefeated team in conference play in the league with a 14-4 and 5-0 conference mark. Seattle is on a six-game winning streak heading into this week and has not lost since before Christmas. Seattle hosts Tarleton State on Thursday before welcoming the Thunderbirds to the Redhawk Center on Saturday.
The Redhawks score 76.0 points per game, while their opponents score 68.7 points for a 7.3 average margin of victory.
Cameron Tyson (20.4), Riley Grigsby (12.1), and Alex Schumacher (11.7) average double-digit scoring to lead the way for the Redhawks. Brandon Chatfield (5.4), Emeka Udenyi (5.4), and Grigsby (5.2) pace a balanced rebounding crew.
Schumacher (3.2) is the top assist man on the squad.
HISTORY
Southern Utah is 1-3 against New Mexico State after winning earlier this season, 79-75, on Dec. 28, in Las Cruces, N.M. This will be the first game against the Aggies in Cedar City. Previously, SUU lost a trio of games against the Aggies in the 90s.
Southern Utah is 2-2 against Seattle. The T-Birds best the Redhawks, 73-70, on Nov. 18, 2018, in their most recent contest. Previously, SUU downed the 'Hawks, 73-42, in Cedar City on Jan. 11, 1997, before Seattle picked up a pair of wins in 2008 (89-75) and 2016 (75-65).
FOLLOW US
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TICKETS
Head on over to our online ticket store to purchase season, package and single-game tickets!
