CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball squad swept the season series against defending Western Athletic Conference champion New Mexico State in historic fashion as the T-Birds thumped the Aggies, 111-76, at the America First Event Center on Thursday, Jan. 19.
Southern Utah improved its record to 14-6 and 6-1 in the WAC with its fourth-straight victory as New Mexico State dropped to 7-12 and 0-7 in the WAC with its seventh-straight loss - a streak Southern Utah started with a 79-75 conquest on Dec. 28.
Record-Breaking Three-Point Attack
Southern Utah converted a stunning 20 three-pointers as part of a 20-35 (57.1) effort. That performance broke the school record of 16 made triples made against Northern Arizona on Dec. 31, 2016.
SUU just missed the Western Athletic Conference record of 21 made by Seattle against UTRGV on Feb. 16, 2022, as well as Utah Tech against SAGU on Dec. 15, 2021.
In total, six Thunderbirds managed to sink trifectas against the Aggies with Tevian Jones (4-8), Cameron Healy (4-7), Dee Barnes (4-5), Zion Young (3-3) Harrison Butler (3-5) and Maizen Fausett (2-2) all scoring from beyond the arc. That's just a few shy of the NCAA Division I record of different players scoring three-pointers of nine by three teams (Dartmouth, 1993; Florida, 2006; Michigan, 2008).
Southern Utah's 35 three-point attempts serve as the fourth most in school history:
3-Pt. Field Goal Attempts
40 vs. West Coast Baptist, 12/06/22
39 vs. Pepperdine, 12/15/18
39 vs Seattle U. 12/17/16
35 vs. NMSU, 1/19/2023
33 vs. Idaho, 2/23/19
32 vs Portland State, 1/1
Century-Mark Scoring Efforts
That's the fifth game in triple digits for the prolific Thunderbird offense. The T-Birds previously put up 100 or more points three times this season.
127 vs. Bethesda (67), Nov. 14, 2022
120 vs. West Coast Baptist (49), Dec. 6, 2022
117 vs. La Verne (55), Nov. 10, 2022
106 vs. Northern Arizona (101), Dec. 17, 2022
111 vs. New Mexico State (76), Jan. 19, 2023
That's the most 100-point performances in a season since the 1991-92 campaign when the Thunderbirds managed the feat seven times.
101 vs. Nebraska (106), Nov. 30, 1991
102 vs. Weber State (89), Dec. 14, 1991
104 vs. San Diego State (82), Dec. 28, 1991
109 vs. Fort Lewis College (71), Jan. 9, 1992
133 vs. Texas Wesleyan (76), Jan. 25, 1992
100 vs. Northeastern Illinois (73), Jan. 27, 1992
104 vs. Chicago State (78), Feb. 1, 1992
Career-Scoring Charts
Six separate Thunderbirds scored in double digits in what proved to be a historic offensive output.
Senior guard Tevian Jones led the way with 18 points as he moved his career tally to 1,280 points including some time at Illinois. As a Thunderbird, Jones has scored 1,182 points.
Senior forward Maizen Fausett and senior guard Harrison Butler both collected 15 points. Fausett increased his career total to 1,347 points as he moves closer to his former teammate, Dre Marin, for third all-time on the charts (1,434 points from 2017-22).
Butler, meanwhile, improved his career tally to 1,296 points, just a point shy of sixth all-time on the charts currently held by Richard Burton with 1,297 points from 1989-93.
Senior guard Dee Barnes (14), graduate guard Cameron Healy (12), and freshman center Parsa Fallah (10) also cleared double-figures. Junior Zion Young nearly made it seven in double digits with three triples down the final few minutes for nine points as well.
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,347; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,296; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
1,182; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE)
T-Bird Tidbits
- Maizen Fausett nearly had a double-double with seven rebounds to go with his 15 points.
- Southern Utah shot 63.8 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 85.0 percent from the charity stripe.
- SUU held New Mexico State to a paltry 43.1 percent from the field, 26.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 73.1 percent from the line.
- The word "triple" must have been in the stars for Southern Utah as they tripled New Mexico State in the assist category, 24-8.
- Southern Utah scored 34 points off 16 Aggie turnovers.
First Half
After falling behind 9-4 with 18:16 on the clock, the Thunderbirds unfurled a 10-0 burst heading into the first media timeout at 15:45. Tevian Jones proved to have the hot hand early on, canning back-to-back three points as the 'Birds grabbed a 14-9 lead.
The Aggies put together a 9-6 run during the following 2:54 of play with Harrison Butler and Maizen Fausett both draining threes to account for SUU's scoring as NMSU cut the T-Bird lead to 20-18 with 12:22 on the clock.
Southern Utah quickly countered with a pair of trifectas to push the advantage back up to 26-18 at 11:31 thanks to Jones and Fausett. Fausett drilled an in-rhythm corner three, while Jones dropped a highly-contested triple.
Cameron Healy kept the rain falling from the media timeout as SUU connected for a third consecutive trifecta thanks to a Jones assist at 10:53 as the "Birds moved up 29-18. Jones continued dishing dimes with an assist to Drake Allen that led to a thunderous dunk for the 'Birds to go up 31-18 with 10:14 to go.
The Aggies responded with an 8-3 spurt to cut SUU's advantage to 34-26 with 8:40 on the clock. Healy, however, tacked on Southern Utah's eighth three of the half during this run.
Fresh out of the media timeout, Jones converted yet another trifecta, the ninth of the game for the 'Birds, as SUU went up 37-26 with 7:39 to go. NMSU countered with a three of its own before Butler sank the 10th triple of the contest for Southern Utah to put the T-Birds back up, 40-29, with 7:04 to go. The Aggies responded with another three as the 'Birds remained up, 40-32, with 6:32 on the clock.
With Southern Utah up 42-32, Dee Barnes joined the three-point party with a corner trey of his own at 4:21 for the 11th T-Bird three-pointer as SUU clinched a 45-32 lead. Jason Spurgin followed by hammering home a dunk for a 47-32 advantage with 4:00 on the clock. After an Aggie layup, Barnes turned in the 12th Southern Utah triple to push the lead to 50-34 with 3:33 to go.
After a pull-up jumper for the Aggies, Barnes canned the 13th SUU three-pointer to put the 'Birds up 56-36 with 1:36. Barnes then drilled another three for the 14th of the game so far to take a 56-36 lead at 1:05. Jones stretched the lead to 58-36 with 42 seconds to go. Thanks to an Aggie layup, Southern Utah took a 20-point, 58-38, lead into halftime.
Second Half
Southern Utah opened the second stanza the same way it did in the first half, with a trifecta as Harrison Butler drilled the 15th three of the game for the 'Birds with SUU moving up 61-38. Butler then turned in a jumper to go up 63-38 with 18:56 on the clock.
The Aggies went on a quick 4-0 run to close to within 63-42 with 17:17 to go. The 'Birds followed with a free throw from Butler and a clean layup down low from Jason Spurgin to stretch the SUU lead to 66-42 heading into the first media timeout.
Tevian Jones exploded from the break with a dunk of his own followed by a Butler free throw to extend the advantage to 69-42 with 15:04. Parsa Fallah put Southern Utah past the 70-point mark with a layup to move the score to 72-41 with 14:25 to go. Fallah scored again with a dunk thanks to a beautiful feed from Maizen Fausett to increase the gap to 73-42. Fausett then drained a jumper to grab a 75-42 advantage with 13:12 to go.
Following a 4-0 run from the Aggies to cut the lead to 75-46, Cameron Healy sank a three-pointer with 12:16 to go to not only grab a 78-46 advantage but also match the school record for made three-pointers in a contest at 16. Southern Utah initially set the record with 16 triples against Northern Arizona on Dec. 31, 2016.
After an old-fashioned three-point play by the Aggies, Fallah crushed the rim with a three thanks to a dime from Martel Williams for an 80-49 advantage at 11:42 on the clock. NMSU responded with a wide-open three-pointer before Spurgin converted a pair from the charity stripe with SUU up, 82-52, at the 10:18 mark.
With another Aggie trifecta on the board, Healy broke the school record for most three-pointers by the team in a game (17) with a corner trifecta for an 85-55 advantage at the 9:13 mark. Drake Allen drained two more free throws for the 'Birds to take an 87-55 advantage. The teams then traded free throws with Southern Utah up, 88-57, heading into a media timeout at 7:39.
After another swift 4-0 spurt from NMSU, Spurgin flushed another dunk as the Thunderbirds moved up, 92-61, with 6:22 to go. The Aggies responded with a three-pointer before Jones converted a pair of free throws for a 94-64 advantage.
With NMSU on a quick 3-0 run, Barnes tiptoed his way down the baseline for a layup as Southern Utah grabbed a 96-67 advantage with 4:12 to go. After a pair of NMSU free throws, Fallah converted a layup for a 98-69 lead at 2:47. Fallah followed with a pair of free throws of his own as the 'Birds went up 100-70, as the Thunderbirds cleared 100 points for the fifth time this year.
Williams put SUU up 102-70 before Zion Young drained back-to-back three-pointers to push the 'Birds up to 19 made three-pointers with the T-Birds grabbing a 108-72 advantage with 1:13 to go. He knocked down another three-pointer for 20 made threes with 32 seconds on the clock as Southern Utah jumped up 111-74. NMSU made a final layup as the 'Birds claimed a 111-76 victory.
Notable Plays
Next Up
Southern Utah heads back out on the road for a contest against Seattle on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. MT.
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