LAS VEGAS. The Southern Utah men's basketball squad demonstrated poise and grit down the stretch to overcome a deficit to conquer Utah Tech, 76-75, in the Western Athletic Conference tournament opener for the 'Birds. Southern Utah's record improved to 21-11, while Utah Tech's season ended with a 14-19 mark.
Balance-Scoring Attack
It took a total team effort to overcome a highly-motivated Trailblazer team as six players scored in double digits this evening.
Sophomore center Jason Spurgin led the way with 18 points, while sophomore guard Drake Allen matched senior forward Maizen Fausett with 13 points each. Senior guard Harrison Butler tallied 12 points, while senior guard Tevian Jones and graduate guard Cameron Healy each scored 10 points.
Fausett increased his career total to 1,520 points, just 48 points behind Jeff Monaco's second-ranked total of 1,568 set from 1997-01. Butler drew ever closer to former teammate Dre Marin's fourth-ranked 1,434 points with 1,415 in his career, while Jones inched closer to the SUU 1400-point club.
Career-Scoring Charts
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,520; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,415; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,360; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE) (1,457 overall)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
T-Bird Tidbits
- Along with the women's basketball team's thrilling victory last night, the head coaching tandem of Todd Simon (21 wins) and Tracy Sanders (21 wins) broke the school record for most combined wins at Southern Utah at 42. The duo matched the 2000-01 record set by Bill Evans (25 wins) and Joe Hillock (16 wins) with 41 wins last year by Simon (23 wins) and Sanders (18 wins).
- Drake Allen not only scored 13 points, but he also came within two assists (7) of tying the SUU conference tournament record of nine held by John Knight III (2021) and Jay Collins (2003).
- SUU came within four assists of tying the school conference tournament record of 21 set in 2003 and 2019.
- Todd Simon now has an 8-5 record in conference tournament play, just two wins behind Bill Evans' school-record 10-9 mark.
- The thrilling contest featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes.
- SUU's aggressiveness proved to be the winning stat as the T-Birds doubled up Utah Tech in made free throws (18-9) and free throws attempted (25-12). SUU also forced 17 Trailblazer turnovers.
First Half
Jason Spurgin opened up scoring quickly for the 'Birds with a layup at the 19:45 mark to take a 2-0 advantage. After a Tech jumper, Maizen Fausett canned a jumper with 18:50 to go to take a 4-2 lead. After Tech ran up a quick 4-0 spurt, Fausett sank a layup to knot the game at 6-6 with 17:45 on the clock. Spurgin followed with a fast-break layup to put the 'Birds up, 8-6, at the 17:20 mark.
After a short break due to a foul review, Drake Allen pushed the run to 6-0 with a layup to grab a 10-6 advantage with 16:35 on the clock. Harrison Butler joined the scoring party with a deep trifecta to snare a 13-6 lead at the 15:55 mark as the 'Birds took a 9-0 run into the first media timeout.
After Tech ended its scoring drought with a layup, Spurgin converted a layup to take a 15-8 lead at 12:29. Spurgin went back-to-back with a monster fast-break dunk with 12:11 to go for a 17-8 lead before completing the old-fashioned three-point play with a free throw to snatch an 18-8 advantage before Tech responded with a dunk of its own to cut the deficit to 18-10 heading into another media timeout with 11:57 to play.
Tech scored out of the break to pull to within 18-12 before Butler answered with a layup to extend the advantage back to 20-12 with 11:18 on the clock. Tech countered with a 4-0 burst to close to within 20-16 before Cameron Healy drained a triple to put SUU back up, 23-16 with 10:04 to play. Tech responded with a pair of free throws to trail 23-18 heading into another media timeout with 7:45 to play.
Spurgin answered with a layup for a 25-18 lead with 7:18 on the clock. Tech converted a three-pointer before Healy raced his way down for a layup to pick up a 27-21 lead with 6:11 to play. Tevian Jones countered a Tech three with a trifecta of his own at 3:53 to go to take a 30-24 advantage. After another Tech three, Healy returned fire with a layup to push the 'Birds up 32-27 with 3:30 on the clock heading into the final first-half media timeout.
Tech came out of the break with a three-pointer to close to within two before Spurgin sank a pair of free throws to push the SUU advantage back to 34-30 with 2:49 on the clock. Tech drained its fifth and sixth consecutive three-pointers to take a 36-34 lead before Fausett answered with a layup to tie the contest at 36-36 with 1:39 to go. After a Tech jumper, Healy buried a three to close out the half to put the 'Birds up by 39-38.
Second Half
Tech opened the half with an old-fashioned three-point play before Maizen Fausett split a pair at the line to pull the 'Birds to within a point, 41-40, with 18:45 on the clock. Harrison Butler also split a pair at the charity stripe to tie the game at 41-41 with 18:20 to go. Following a Tech trey, Fausett converted a layup to cut the deficit back to 44-43 at the 17:32 mark.
Drake Allen answered a Tech dunk with a nifty layup to keep SUU within 46-45 at the 16:43 mark. Tech responded with a layup before Allen canned a pair at the charity stripe to cut the gap to 48-47 with 16:08 as Southern Utah continued to be aggressive in the lane. Harrison Butler drew a charge for Tech's fifth team foul heading into the first media timeout.
Allen split a pair at the line to tie the game at 48-48 with 14:41 on the clock. Tech answered with a pair of three-pointers to take a 54-48 advantage with 13:13 to go heading into a media timeout.
Butler countered with a pair of free throws at the 12:45 mark to pull SUU to within 54-50. Allen pushed the run to 4-0 with a fast-break layup to shave the deficit to 54-52 with 12:30 to go. Fausett knotted the game up at 54-54 with a jumper at 11:47 as the squads went into another media timeout.
Tech split a pair of free throws out of the break for a 55-54 lead before Fausett drained a jumper to capture a 56-55 advantage at 10:20 on the clock. Tech countered with a pair of free throws to take the lead, 57-56, with 9:54 to go. Tevian Jones scored a putback layup to snatch a 58-57 lead with 9:22 on the clock. Tech responded with a free-throw split to tie the contest at 58-58 with 8:43 on the clock. Tech pushed its run to 3-0 with a jumper to take a 60-58 lead at 8:04. Jones, however, fired back with a jumper to tie the game at 60-60 with 7:38 on the clock.
UTU went on a 4-0 burst before Spurgin converted an old-fashioned three-pointer to shave the deficit to 64-63 with 6:20 on the clock. UTU answered with a pair of free throws to put its lead to 66-63 with 6:07 to go. Jones split a pair at the charity stripe as SUU closed to within 66-64 with 5:29 on the clock. Tech responded with a layup to take a four-point lead, 68-64, with 4:26 to go.
Allen raced his way down the court en route to a layup with 4:11 on the clock as SUU pulled to 68-66. After a Tech layup, Allen answered with a jumper with 3:27 on the clock as the 'Birds closed to within 70-68 before Tech took a timeout with 2:37 to play.
Butler sank a pair at the charity stripe to knot the game up at 70-70 with 2:12 to go. After Allen drew a charge, Spurgin flushed a layup thanks to a Jones assist to snare a 72-70 lead with 53 seconds on the clock. Spurgin converted the And 1 to push the SUU lead to 73-70. Jones split a pair at the line to stretch the lead to 74-70 with 35 seconds to go as part of an 8-0 run.
After a Tech layup, Butler sank a pair of free throws to grab a 76-72 lead with nine seconds to go. Tech closed out the contest with a buzzer-beater three-pointer but did not have enough as Southern Utah earned a 76-75 victory.
Notable Plays
Next Up
Southern Utah faces another in-state rival as the third-seeded Thunderbirds compete against second-seeded and regular-season champions Utah Valley tomorrow in the WAC Tournament Semifinals at 9 p.m. MST.
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