CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball team returns to Texas for the final regular-season road games of the season. SUU first competes against UT Arlington on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. MT before closing out the trip against Sam Houston in Huntsville on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 3:30 p.m. MT.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah vs. UT Arlington
Date: Thursday, February 23
Tipoff: 6 p.m. MT
Southern Utah vs. Sam Houston
Date: Saturday, February 25
Tipoff: 3:30 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.
The Thunderbirds are currently seeded third heading into Las Vegas even though they are tied for second with Sam Houston in the regular-season standings.
This week, SUU faces 12th-seeded UT Arlington before a battle for second place with Sam Houston.
2022-23 WAC MBB Resume Seeding System (as of Feb. 19)
Rank Team W L CW CL WACPts
1. Utah Valley 21 6 12 2 6.23
2. Sam Houston 20 6 10 4 5.23
3. Southern Utah 18 9 10 4 2.98
4. Seattle U 18 10 9 6 2.58
5. Grand Canyon 17 10 9 6 2.08
6. Stephen F. Austin 17 10 9 5 0.96
7. Tarleton 14 14 8 8 -0.11
8. California Baptist 15 12 7 7 -1.33
9. Abilene Christian 13 13 7 8 -1.45
10. UTRGV 13 14 5 10 -2.43
11. Utah Tech 11 16 3 11 -3.19
12. UT Arlington 10 17 5 9 -4.35
13. NM State DQ
PREVIEW
SOUTHERN UTAH (18-9, 10-4 WAC)
Conference Success
With a 10-4 record in the Western Athletic Conference this year, Southern Utah has now put together three consecutive 10+ win conference seasons under head coach Todd Simon.
Bill Evans is the only previous head coach to accomplish double-digit conference success with back-to-back 10+ win seasons while playing as part of the Mid-Continent Conference in 1999-00 and 2000-01.
10+ Win Conference Seasons Under Todd Simon
10-4, 2022-23 (Western Athletic Conference)
14-6, 2021-22 (Big Sky)
12-2, 2020-21 (Big Sky)
Previous 10+ Win Conference Seasons
13-3, 2000-01 (Mid-Continent, NCAA Tournament Appearance)
10-6, 1999-00 (Mid-Continent)
The Simon Touch
The Midas Touch is defined as someone who turns everything they touch into gold. The Simon Touch is defined as someone who turns programs into sustained winners. Todd Simon is closing in on a 45-year-old Southern Utah Coaching record. The most wins through the first seven seasons at the helm.
Stan Jack, who compiled a 145-90 record during the course of nine seasons for the Thunderbirds from 1971-1980, won 120 games during his first seven campaigns at the helm of Southern Utah.
Simon stands just six wins behind tying that effort. The Thunderbirds have four opportunities the rest of the season to tack onto Simon's total before moving on to the postseason.
In fact, Simon's success is even more remarkable when compared to the journey of other coaches that have been with the program.
After starting with the least wins by a new coach at SUU as part of a full program rebuild, Simon has progressively moved up the charts into being one of the most successful ever to don the title of head coach for the Southern Utah men's basketball team (the most successful if you only consider the NCAA Division I era!).
Wins In First Season
Neil Roberts, 16 wins, 1987-88
Bill Evans, 14 wins, 1992-93
Tom McCracken, 14 wins, 1980-81
Bob Schermerhorn, 13 wins, 1983-84
Stan Jack, 11 wins, 1971-72
Roger Reed, 11 wins, 2007-08
Nick Robinson, 11 wins, 2012-13
Boyd Adams, 8 wins, 1963-64
Todd Simon, 6 wins, 2016-17
Wins Through First 2 Seasons
Tom McCracken, 32 wins, 1980-82
Bill Evans, 30 wins, 1992-94
Bob Schermerhorn, 30 wins, 1983-85
Stan Jack, 27 wins, 1971-73
Neil Roberts, 26 wins, 1987-89
Roger Reed, 22 wins, 2007-09
Boyd Adams, 20 wins, 1963-65
Todd Simon, 19 wins, 2017-18
Nick Robinson, 13 wins, 2012-14
Wins Through First 3 Seasons
Tom McCracken, 51 wins, 1980-83
Bill Evans, 47 wins, 1992-95
Bob Schermerhorn, 46 wins, 1983-86
Stan Jack, 45 wins, 1971-74
Neil Roberts, 40 wins, 1987-90
Todd Simon, 36 wins, 2016-19
Boyd Adams, 30 wins, 1963-66
Roger Reed, 29 wins, 2007-10
Nick Robinson, 23 wins, 2012-15
Wins Through First 4 Seasons
Bob Schermerhorn, 67 wins, 1983-87
Bill Evans, 62 wins, 1992-96
Stan Jack, 60 wins, 1971-75
Neil Roberts, 56 wins, 1987-91
Todd Simon, 53 wins, 2016-20
Roger Reed, 40 wins, 2007-11
Boyd Adams, 39 wins, 1963-67
Nick Robinson, 29 wins, 2012-16
Wins Through First 5 Seasons
Stan Jack, 79 wins, 1971-76
Todd Simon, 73 wins, 2016-21
Bill Evans, 71 wins, 1992-97
Neil Roberts, 70 wins, 1987-92
Roger Reed, 54 wins, 2007-12
Boyd Adams, 49 wins, 1963-68
Wins Through First 6 Seasons
Stan Jack, 100 wins, 1971-77
Todd Simon, 96 wins, 2016-22
Bill Evans, 78 wins, 1992-98
Boyd Adams, 65 wins, 1963-69
Wins Through First 7 Seasons
Stan Jack, 120 wins, 1971-78
Todd Simon, 114 wins, 2016-Present
Bill Evans, 91 wins, 1992-99
Boyd Adams, 76 wins, 1963-70
National Rankings!
Southern Utah ranks amongst the elite in the country in several statistical categories.
Points Per Game - Team
1, Gonzaga, 87.1
2, Oral Roberts, 85.0
3, Toledo, 84.5
4, Cornell, 84.4
5, Southern Utah, 84.1
Rebounds Per Game - Team
1, Alabama, 44.38
18, Southern Utah, 39.22
Defensive Rebounds Per Game - Team
1, Alabama, 31.88
13, Southern Utah, 28.11
Fast Break Points - Team
1, TCU, 19.65
25, Southern Utah, 13.63
Scoring Margin - Team
1, Houston, 20
25, Southern Utah, 10
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
61, Sam Houston, 60, W
73, Utah Valley, 80, WL
108, Southern Utah, 109
120, Grand Canyon, 125
130, Stephen F. Austin, 119, W
140, Seattle, 137, L
161, California Baptist, 164, W
173, Tarleton State, 179, LW
186, Utah Tech, 185, LW
188, New Mexico State, 187, WW
196, Abilene Christian, 196
244, UT Arlington, 258
255, UTRGV, 254, W
T-Bird Tidbits
Southern Utah, currently the fifth-highest scoring offense in the nation, maintains a margin of victory of 10.5 points per game. Overall, SUU scores 84.1 points per contest, while opponents score just 73.6 points per event.
The T-Birds shoot 47.2 percent from the field, 35.0 percent from three-point range, and 72.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Additionally, Southern Utah averages 39.2 rebounds, 13.0 assists, 7.8 steals, and 3.3 blocks per game.
Individual Leaders
Four Thunderbirds average double-figure scoring with senior Tevian Jones on top with 18.3 points a contest.
Senior forward Maizen Fausett (12.1), senior guard Harrison Butler (11.3) and sophomore guard Drake Allen (11.1) also score in double digits. Sophomore center Jason Spurgin stands just outside double figures with 9.9 points per game.
Butler (6.9) and Fausett (6.7) lead the way in rebounds with Spurgin a close third with 5.6 boards a game.
Allen paces the team with 3.2 assists a game, while Spurgin averages 1.5 blocks a contest.
Career-Scoring Charts
Senior forward Maizen Fausett became the third-ranked scorer in Thunderbird history with 20 points against Utah Tech to go along with a near double-double thanks to nine rebounds. Fausett has now scored 1,446 points in his SUU career to leapfrog former teammate Dre Marin's 1,434 points scored from 2017-22.
Senior guard Tevian Jones led four Thunderbirds in double-digit scoring with 22 points including four key three-pointers during the contest. The effort increased his career scoring tally in a Thunderbird uniform to 1,288. That vaulted him into eight all-time for Southern Utah, ahead of Jackson Stevenett's ninth-ranked 1,273 points from 2010-13. Overall, Jones has now scored 1,386 in his collegiate career including some time at Illinois.
Senior guard Harrison Butler shook off a flagrant foul against Utah Tech en route to 14 points to push his career tally at SUU to 1,364 points.
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,446; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,364; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,288; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE) (1,386 overall)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
Spurgin Single-Season Stats Tracker
Sophomore center Jason Spurgin has just the sixth 40-plus block season in Thunderbird history as he currently has 41 to his credit. He also currently stands fourth in SUU's single-season field goal percentage charts with a 59.9-percent clip from the field thanks to a 103-172 effort thus far.
Blocks
64 Matt Hodgson (2009-2010)
60 Jayson Cheesman (2012-2013)
60 Sean Allen (1994-1995)
53 Sean Allen (1993-1994)
48 Kenyatta Clyde (1998-1999)
41 Jason Spurgin (2022-2023)
39 Kenyatta Clyde (1997-1998)
FG % 150 Attempts min.
0.624 John Clifford (2008-2009)
0.613 Casey Oliverson (2014-2015)
0.603 Bcott Brown (1978-1979)
0.599 Jason Spurgin (2022-2023)
0.584 Butch Douglas (1978-1979)
0.579 March Wilson (1978-1979)
0.577 Scott Brown (1977-1978)
0.575 Andre Adams (2018-19)
0.575 Dana Achtzehn (1991-1992)
0.574 Dean O'Driscoll (1980-1981)
0.573 Monte Middison (1977-1978)
0.571 Drian Devincenzi (1982-1983)
0.570 John Knight III (2020-2021)
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 split the season series against Utah Tech with an exciting, 81-71, conquest at the America First Event Center on Friday, Feb. 17.
The conquest improved SUU's record to 18-9 and 10-4 in Western Athletics conference action, while Utah Tech dropped to 11-16 and 3-11 in WAC play.
T-Bird Tidbits
- Sophomore guard Drake Allen had a strong outing of his own with 19 points
- Southern Utah outshot Utah Tech from beyond the arc, 44.0-30.8 percent, and from the line, 90.0-86.7 percent)
- SUU owned the glass, besting Tech 44-28 as well as 15-6 in offensive rebounds. That led to a 20-6 advantage in second-chance points.
- The victory put the Thunderbirds back on top of the historic series against Tech, 3-2.
- With his 2-3 effort from the field, sophomore center Jason Spurgin remained fourth all-time in a single season for SUU with a 0.598 field goal rate.
First Half
The squads traded shots during the initial few minutes of play with Southern Utah leading, 7-5, heading into the first media timeout at 15:59. Maizen Fausett kicked off scoring with a layup, followed by a beautiful Drake Allen trifecta. Tevian Jones hammered home a dunk to account for the rest of SUU scoring during this stretch.
Following a Utah Tech two fresh out of the timeout, Allen drilled another trifecta to put the 'Birds up 10-7 with 15:15 to go. After a UTU layup, Fausett turned in a personal 5-0 run with a nifty layup followed by a three-pointer to stretch the SUU lead to 15-9 with 13:05 on the clock. Tech countered with a pair of free throws to chop the deficit to 15-11 heading into the next media timeout at the 11:46 mark.
After a UTU layup, Allen canned his third three-pointer to push the Southern Utah lead to 18-13 with 10:45 on the clock. Harrison Butler joined the long-distance party with a triple of his own to extend SUU's lead to 21-13 with 10:16 to go.
Allen eclipsed double figures with a crafty layup to add to the T-Bird lead, 23-13, with 9:54 on the clock. Tech ended the SUU run at 8-0 with a three-pointer at 9:05 to shave the advantage to 23-16.
Allen then poked the ball away from Tech before delivering with a layup at the 8:18 mark to stretch the Southern Utah lead back to 25-16. Parsa Fallah followed with a layup of his own to blow the roof off the America First Event Center as the 'Birds took a 27-16 lead with 7:51 to play. That forced UTU to take a timeout in hopes to cool off the T-Birds.
Tech countered a 12-3 SUU run with a three-pointer with 7:31 on the clock to close to within 27-19. Tech moved to within 27-21 before Jones drained a pair of technical free throws at 5:52 to extend the lead back to 29-21. Jones followed with a long-distance bomb to grab a 32-21 advantage with 5:12 to go.
UTU responded with a 7-0 spurt to cut the SUU advantage to 32-28 with 4:01 on the clock. Jones had the answer with a trifecta to shove the SUU advantage back out to 35-28 with 1:53 in the frame. Tech turned in a trey of its own with 1:22 as the 'Birds held a 35-31 lead.
Jones closed out the half with a three-pointer from near the scorer's table to put the T-Birds up, 38-31.
Second Half
Utah Tech came out of the locker room on fire with a 7-0 run to knot the game up at 38-38 with 18:40 to go.
Maizen Fausett ended the Tech run for the 'Birds with a layup in the paint to grab a 40-38 advantage with 18:11 to play. Jason Spurgin cleaned up a missed shot with a put-back to earn Southern Utah a 42-38 advantage with 17:08 on the clock.
Following a lengthy replay review, Harrison Butler shot technical free throws after sustaining a flagrant foul due to an inadvertent strike to the nether region. Butler split the free throws to push SUU's lead out to 43-38 with 16:41 to go. Fausett stretched the Southern Utah run to 8-0 with a corner three-pointer as the 'Birds took a 46-38 advantage with 15:59 on the clock. UTU countered with a trey of its own to cut the lead to 46-41 heading into the media timeout at 15:24.
After being called for a flop warning and UTU missing the technical, Allen raced down the court with a layup to stretch the SUU lead to 48-41 with 14:34 on the clock. Tech then responded with a 5-0 run to close to within 48-46 with 13:55 to go.
Tevian Jones converted a great helper from Allen with a layup at the 12:28 mark as the 'Birds took a 50-46 advantage. After a media timeout, Fausett pocketed a pair of free throws to push the lead to 52-46 with 11:28 to go. Tech answered with an old-school three-pointer to cut the deficit to 52-49 with 11:05 on the clock. UTU continued to score with another layup as SUU's lead fell to 52-51 with 10:21 to go. Tech then took the lead, 53-52, with 8:45 on the clock.
Allen stopped the 7-0 run by Tech with a pair of free throws to put SUU back in front, 54-53, at the 8:29 mark. Coming out of the media timeout, Jones drained a pair of free throws after drawing a scary foul as part of a midair collision. Southern Utah took a 56-53 advantage with the shots. SUU then jumped out to a 58-53 lead thanks to an Allen layup after a Fausett steal. Butler, having shaken off the effects from the earlier flagrant foul, corkscrewed in the air with a layup to grab a 60-53 advantage with 7:09 on the clock.
Tech answered the run with a pair of free throws to pull within 60-55 with 6:46 to play. Spurgin, however, landed a haymaker with a thunderous dunk to earn SUU a 62-55 advantage with 6:31 on the clock. UTU responded with another pair from the charity stripe as Southern Utah led, 62-57, with 6:21 to go.
Jones responded with a pull-up trifecta to grab a 65-47 advantage for SUU at the 5:55 mark. Butler made it back-to-back big shots with a deep trifecta to extend the lead to 68-57 with 5:28 on the clock. Following a few misses at the rim, Fausett played cleanup with a putback as the 'Birds vaulted out to a 70-57 lead with 4:44 to go.
Tech went on a 6-0 run to cut the SUU gap to 70-63 with 2:54 on the clock. Butler answered with a reverse layup to extend the lead to 72-63 with 2:35 to go. Fausett followed with a pair at the charity stripe to snatch a 74-63 advantage with 1:37 on the clock.
Tech responded with a 4-0 spurt to cut the SUU gap to 74-67 with 1:11 to go. Butler provided the answer again, this time with a pair at the line as the 'Birds pushed the lead to 76-67 with 1:02 on the clock. Butler split a pair at the stripe as the T-Birds improved the advantage to 77-67 with 43 seconds on the clock.
Southern Utah closed out the contest down the stretch at the line, taking an 81-71 victory.
OPPONENTS
UT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS (10-17, 5-9 WAC)
UT Arlington currently owns a 10-17 record with a 5-9 mark in the WAC. The Mavericks are coming off an impressive 75-70 road victory against Stephen F. Austin.
UTA scores 66.1 points per contest while opponents score 66.5 points a game against the Mavericks.
Shemar Wilson (10.9) and Kyron Gibson (10.8) led the way offensively for the Mavericks. Wilson also leads the team with 7.8 rebounds per game. Gibson is the top distributor with 3.9 assists per contest.
SAM HOUSTON BEARKATS (20-6, 10-4 WAC)
Sam Houston boasts a strong 20-6 overall record with a 10-4 slate in conference action. The Bearkats are 9-1 at home with the only loss occurring against Grand Canyon (72-68).
Sam Houston scores 74.8 points a game while holding opponents to a paltry 59.2 points a game. That's good enough for a 15.6 average margin of victory.
Qua Grant (13.4), Donte Powers (11.3) and Cameron Huefner (10.7) lead the Bearkats in scoring, while Javion May (4.6), Grant (4.1) and Tristan Ikpe (4.0) pace the team on the boards.
Grant (3.9) and Jaden Ray (3.2) have the most helpers per game for the Bearkats.
HISTORY
Southern Utah has never faced UT Arlington and won the only previous game against Sam Houston with an 86-74 victory a month ago on Jan. 12.
FOLLOW US
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TICKETS
Head on over to our online ticket store to purchase season, package and single-game tickets!
