CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball team, winners of five of its last six games, will return to the road with a pair of contests this week.
First up, the Thunderbirds travel to Riverside, Calif., to face California Baptist on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. MT. Then, the 'Birds return to Utah with a battle against Utah Tech in St. George on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. MT.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah vs. California Baptist
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 1
Tipoff: 8 p.m. MT
Southern Utah vs. Utah Tech
Date: Saturday, Feb. 4
Tipoff: 7 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 first in the conference in the loss column with two conference losses (Utah Valley, Seattle, and Stephen F. Austin also have two conference losses), the 'Birds are seeded fourth.
This week, SUU faces a pair of lower seeded teams in California Baptist and Utah Tech.
2022-23 WAC MBB Resume Seeding System (as of Jan. 29)
Rank Team W L CW CL WACPts
1. Sam Houston 16 5 6 3 4.22
2. Utah Valley 17 6 8 2 4.07
3. Seattle U 16 6 7 2 3.60
4. Southern Utah 15 7 7 2 2.46
5. Grand Canyon 14 8 5 4 1.68
6. Stephen F. Austin 15 7 7 2 1.59
7. Tarleton 12 10 5 4 0.19
8. California Baptist 13 9 5 4 -0.69
9. Utah Tech 10 12 2 7 -2.24
10. UTRGV 11 11 2 7 -2.44
11. Abilene Christian 11 11 3 6 -2.95
12. NM State 7 14 0 9 -3.59
13. UT Arlington 7 15 2 7 -5.30
PREVIEW
SOUTHERN UTAH (15-7, 7-2 WAC)
National Rankings!
Southern Utah ranks amongst the elite in the country in several statistical categories.
Points Per Game - Team
1, Gonzaga, 86.5
2, Southern Utah, 85.7
3, Cornell, 85.1
4, Oral Roberts, 85.0
5, Toledo, 84.8
Rebounds Per Game - Team
1, Alabama, 45.85
16, Southern Utah, 39.59
Defensive Rebounds Per Game - Team
1, Alabama, 32.35
14, Southern Utah, 28.41
Fast Break Points - Team
1, TCU, 21.30
23, Southern Utah, 14.41
Scoring Margin - Team
1, Houston, 21
18, Southern Utah, 12
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
48, Sam Houston, 49, W
82, Utah Valley, 78, W
104, Southern Utah, 111
107, Seattle, 100, L
120, Grand Canyon, 103
125, Stephen F. Austin, 130, W
155, California Baptist, 139
174, Tarleton State, 192, L
193, Utah Tech, 188
202, New Mexico State, 202, WW
236, Abilene Christian, 244
268, UTRGV, 283, W
295, UT Arlington, 296
T-Bird Tidbits
- Southern Utah, currently the second-highest scoring offense in the nation, maintains a margin of victory of 12.7 points per game. Overall, SUU scores 85.7 points per contest, while opponents score just 73.0 points per event.
- The T-Birds shoot 47.9 percent from the field, 34.0 percent from three-point range, and 70.9 percent from the free-throw line.
- Additionally, Southern Utah averages 39.6 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 8.2 steals, and 3.5 blocks per game.
Individual Leaders
Four Thunderbirds average double-digit scoring with senior guard Tevian Jones leading the way with 19.6 points a contest.
Senior forward Maizen Fausett (11.7), senior guard Harrison Butler (11.6), and sophomore center Jason Spurgin (10.1) also score in double figures.
Butler (6.6) and Fausett (6.5) lead the way in rebounds with Spurgin a close third with 5.6 boards a game.
Sophomore guard Drake Allen paces the team with 3.5 assists a game, while Spurgin averages 1.7 blocks a contest.
Career-Scoring Charts
Senior guard Tevian Jones led four Thunderbirds in double-digit scoring with 20 points against Utah Valley. He moved into a tie for ninth with former teammate John Knight III with 1,223 career points in a Thunderbird uniform. Overall, Jones has now tallied 1,321 points in his collegiate career after some time at Illinois.
Sophomore guard Drake Allen sizzled with 17 points, while senior forward Maizen Fausett collected a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Fausett moved ever closer to Dre Marin for third all-time in SUU history with 1,378 points.
Senior guard Harrison Butler tallied 12 points en route to 1,314 in his career as well.
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,378; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,314; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,223; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
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 squad enjoyed a remarkable second stanza as the near-capacity America First Event Center crowd sparked a dominant second half for the Thunderbirds. Thanks to outscoring the Wolverines 45-28 in the second half, Southern Utah closed out the evening with a sizzling 79-67 victory on Thursday, Jan. 26.
SUU improved its record to 15-7 and 7-2 in Western Athletic Conference play, while Utah Valley fell to 16-6 and 7-2 in the conference. The win gave the Thunderbirds a five-game winning streak against the Wolverines dating back to 2015.
TBird Tidbits
- Southern Utah dominated at the line, with a 16-25 effort at the charity stripe against UVU's 5-13.
- SUU outrebounded UVU by a wide margin, 45-34.
- Butler nearly had a double-double of his own with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
First Half
Following the debut of an amazing new video board display that fired up the student section, Utah Valley immediately jumped out to a 6-2 lead with 18:05 on the clock with sophomore guard Drake Allen accounting for those two points for the Thunderbirds.
Southern Utah countered with a quick 6-4 run during the following 1:48 of action with senior forward Maizen Fausett collecting four points and senior guard Harrison Butler draining a pair of three throws to cut the lead to 10-8 with 16:02 on the clock heading into the media timeout.
The Wolverines responded with a layup before the 'Birds uncorked a 4-0 burst to knot the contest up at 12-12 at the 14:51 mark. Butler and Allen each picked up two points during the spurt.
UVU returned fire with a 5-0 clip of its own to take a 17-12 lead with 13:09 to go before freshman center Parsa Fallah flushed a nifty sky hook down low to draw the 'Birds to within 17-14 with 11:07 to play.
Graduate guard Cameron Healy pulled the T-Birds within one coming out of the media timeout with a jumper as UVU led, 17-16 with 10:29 on the clock. The Wolverines, however, countered with a 7-4 run during the next 1:23 of play to head into the next media timeout with a 24-20 lead at the 7:58 mark. Fallah and Allen each turned in two points during the stretch for SUU.
Southern Utah started to put in work at the charity stripe with senior guard Tevian Jones splitting a pair and sophomore center Jason Spurgin canning two free throws to pull within 25-23 with 6:35 left on the clock.
After a brief break for an official replay, Butler drained a three-pointer to put Southern Utah on top for the first time, 26-25, with 5:42. Utah Valley, however, hit a triple of its own to retake the lead, 28-26, with 5:25 on the clock. UVU stretched its lead to 30-26 as both squads went into the final media timeout of the half with 4:00 to go.
The Wolverines converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 3:51 on the clock to extend their lead to 35-27 before grabbing a 10-point advantage with 3:03 to play.
Jones ended the UVU 7-0 run with a layup to move the 'Birds back to within 37-29 with 2:29 on the clock. Utah Valley, however, pushed the lead back up to 10, 39-29, with 1:54 to go.
Allen tiptoed his way through the paint with a circus layup with 43 seconds to go to pull the 'Birds back to within eight points, 39-31.
Jones juiced the crowd as he closed out the half with a buzzer-beater trifecta as Southern Utah trailed, 39-34, at the break.
Second Half
After a relatively low-scoring first half, both teams exploded out of the locker room in the second stanza as they traded bucked until senior forward Maizen Fausett drained a three-pointer with 17:00 to go to knot the game up at 45-45.
The Wolverines responded with a quick two to retake a 47-45 advantage at the 16:37 mark before going up 49-45 with 15:27 to play as the teams headed into a media timeout.
Jones shaved the UVU lead to 49-47 with 15:21 thanks to a pair of free throws coming out of the break. Sophomore guard Drake Allen then knifed his way to the rim to tie the game up at 49-49 with 13:54 to play.
Utah Valley responded with another old-fashioned three-point play to grab a 52-49 advantage with 13:04 on the clock.
Fausett remained hot with another trifecta thanks to a nifty assist from Allen to tie the game up at 52-52 with 12:55 to play.
With 12:24 on the clock, the crowd erupted and remained on fire thanks to a pair of missed UVU free throws that led to the activation of the Culver's free cheese curds promotion. When an opposing player misses both free throws, the America First Event Center crowd gets free cheese curd coupons.
Senior guard Harrison Butler then carved through the UVU defense to put the 'Birds up 54-52 with 11:26 to play before the Wolverines responded to tie the match back up at 54-54 with 11:02 to go.
Sophomore center Jason Spurgin kept the crowd going with a thunderous dunk at the 10:32 mark to put SUU back up, 56-54. Allen stretched the lead to five with a trey with 9:52 on the clock to grab a 59-54 advantage before lifting the roof off the arena with a driving layup at the 9:18 mark as Southern Utah vaulted to a 61-54 lead. That forced a Utah Valley timeout as the Wolverines looked to slow down SUU's momentum.
Fausett sank a putback layup with 8:24 to go as the Thunderbirds pushed the lead to 63-54 prior to another media timeout.
Utah Valley ended a 9-0 Thunderbird outburst with a layup to cut the lead to 63-56 with 7:23 on the clock. Jones responded, however, by converting a pair of free throws after drawing a foul driving into the lane to put the 'Birds back up 65-56 with 6:34 to go.
After a strong defensive play, Allen raced down the court en route to another layup as Southern Utah stretched its lead to 67-56 at the 6:10 mark.
The Wolverines split a pair of free throws with 5:35 to play to move to within 10 points, 67-57. Jones remained aggressive, however, picking up another foul and splitting a pair from the charity stripe with SUU up 68-57 at 5:27 on the clock but not before Utah Valley picked up a frustration technical foul. Jones connected on one of two at the charity stripe to put the 'Birds up 69-57 at 5:25.
Southern Utah kept the pressure on with 5:22 to go as Jones sank a layup to extend SUU's advantage to 71-57. Fausett drew another foul with 5:05 on the clock en route to a 1-2 outing at the line with Southern Utah increasing its lead to 72-57.
Utah Valley sank a deep three-pointer to cut the lead to 72-60 at the 4:17 mark before Jones flushed a pair from the charity stripe to extend the SUU advantage back to 74-60 with 3:39 to go.
After another UVU made jumper, Spurgin split a pair of free throws to put the 'Birds up 75-62 with 3:02 on the clock.
The Wolverines responded with a quick three to pull to within 10 points, 75-65, at the 2:40 mark. Southern Utah broke the full-court press with a Jones layup to grab a 77-65 lead with 2:18 on the clock before Spurgin connected with a layup to stretch the lead to 79-65 at the 1:48 mark.
Utah Valley closed out scoring with a two-pointer with 33 seconds to go as the Thunderbirds won 79-67.
OPPONENTS
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS (13-9, 5-4 WAC)
California Baptist currently owns a 13-9 record with a 5-4 effort in conference play.
CBU scores 68.0 points per contest while holding opponents to just 63.8 points a game for an average margin of victory of 4.2 points.
A pair of Lancers score in double figures with Taran Armstrong (11.5) and Joe Quintana (10.3) pacing their squad.
Hunter Goodrick leads the way on the boards with 7.1 rebounds per game, while Tim Ighoefe corrals 6.8 boards a game as well. Armstrong is the top distributor on the Lancer squad with 4.9 helpers a game.
UTAH TECH TRAILBLAZERS (10-12, 2-7 WAC)
Utah Tech sports a 10-12 overall record with a 2-7 mark in conference action. The Trailblazers have lost seven of their last eight contests.
Utah Tech scores 75.5 points a game while opponents score 72.9 points a contest.
Cameron Gooden (15.9) and Isaiah Pope (13.5) lead Utah Tech offensively with double-figure scoring averages.
Tanner Christensen paces the squad with 7.3 rebounds per game, while Gooden has the most assists per game with 3.4.
HISTORY
Southern Utah is 1-1 versus California Baptist but has not played the Lancers in more than a decade. SUU beat CBU in 1998, 90-78, and lost against the squad in 2010 (79-69). Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds have only played the school down south three times with the first coming in 2020. Overall, SUU is 2-1 against Utah Tech having split a pair of contests in 2021 and won in 2020.
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
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