LAS VEGAS. Down 23 points with 15:42 in the second half, the Southern Utah men's basketball squad staged an epic comeback punctuated by senior guard Tevian Jones' four-point play to clinch an 89-88 victory against Utah Valley in the Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinals.
Southern Utah's record improved to 22-11 while Utah Valley fell to 25-8 as SUU won the season series against the Wolverines.
The Thunderbirds advance to the WAC finale in their inaugural season in the conference. SUU competes against Grand Canyon tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. MT as Southern Utah looks for its second NCAA Tournament bid in school history. The only team to have accomplished that feat came by way of the 2000-01 squad.
Balance-Scoring Attack
For the second night in a row, the Thunderbirds required a total team effort to edge an in-state rival after downing Utah Tech, 76-75, last night.
Jones paced the Thunderbirds with 20 points along with five assists as he pushed his career tally to 1,477 as an NCAA Division I athlete with 1,380 points coming as a T-Bird.
Senior guard Harrison Butler scored 19 points with six rebounds to tie former teammate Dre Marin for fourth all-time in Southern Utah history.
Sophomore center Jason Spurgin scored 15 points with seven rebounds and two blocks, while graduate guard Cameron Healy notched 14 points for the 'Birds.
Meanwhile, senior forward Maizen Fausett chipped in seven points and six rebounds as his career tally increased to 1,527, just 41 points behind second-ranked Jeff Monaco's 1,568 from 1997-01.
Career-Scoring Charts
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,527; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,434; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,380; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE) (1,477 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
- Jones' 20-point effort is just the 19th such effort in school conference tournament history. Fausett is the only other current T-Bird with a 20+ effort with 22 points against Montana State last year in the Big Sky Tournament.
- That's Todd Simon's ninth conference tournament victory for the Thunderbirds. That's just one win behind Bill Evans' 10 wins. Simon, however, has the highest winning percentage in the tournament in school history with a 9-5 record against Evans' 10-9 mark.
- Spurgin ran his season block tally to 51 with a pair of rejections. He became just the fourth Thunderbird ever to accomplish the feat. Matt Hodgson (64, 2009-10), Jayson Cheesman (60, 2012-13), and Sean Allen (60, 1994-95; 53, 1993-94) are the only other 'Birds to clear 50 blocks in a campaign.
- The game proved to be pretty even with Southern Utah proving clutch at the line down the stretch, making 21 free throws to Utah Valley's 17.
- Simon and head women's basketball coach Tracy Sanders continued to add to their combined win record as the duo each notched a victory today as both teams moved on to the championship game tomorrow. Both teams have 22 wins, for a school-record 44 combined wins. Simon and Sanders tied the previous record with 41 wins last year.
- With 118 wins in his first seven seasons, Simon stands just two wins behind Stan Jack's school record of 120 wins set from 1971-78.
First Half
After Utah Valley opened the game with a quick 3-0 spurt, Jason Spurgin sank a layup to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 17:26 on the clock. UVU countered with a trifecta before Maizen Fausett answered with a layup of his own to move SUU to within 6-4 with 16:45 to go. UVU scored down low prior to Drake Allen scoring with a layup of his own as SUU trailed 8-6 with 16:06 on the clock heading into the first media timeout.
After both teams went nearly two minutes without scoring, Spurgin drew a foul and canned a pair at the line to tie the game at 8-8 with 14:19 to go. UVU responded with a three-pointer before Harrison Butler split a pair at the charity stripe to close SUU to within 11-9 at the 13:08 mark. Spurgin then drained a jumper to knot the game up again, this time at 11-11 with 12:42 to go before the squads went into a media timeout.
After a nearly three-minute scoreless drought from both teams, Utah Valley scored a jumper to retake a 13-11 lead before Parsa Fallah put in a layup to tie the game at 13-13 with 9:50 on the clock. UVU answered again with another jumper for a 15-13 advantage before SUU took its first lead of the game when Tevian Jones splashed a triple for a 16-15 lead at 8:58. Jones stretched it to a 5-0 burst with a jumper at 8:35 as the 'Birds went up 18-15 to force a UVU timeout.
Out of the break, UVU cut the deficit to 18-17 before Cameron Healy drilled a trifecta to push SUU up 21-17 at 7:47. UVU answered with a jumper to shave the deficit to 21-19 before Dee Barnes nailed a jumper of his own for a 23-19 advantage at 6:53. Utah Valley connected on a second dunk to pull to within 23-21 prior to the teams heading into a media timeout with 5:43 to go.
Utah Valley tied it up out of the break at 23-23 before Spurgin sank a layup to grab a 25-23 advantage with 5:07. He completed the old-fashioned three-point play with a free throw for a 26-23 advantage. After a UVU jumper, Spurgin split a pair at the line to push the lead to 27-25 with 4:27. UVU took a 28-27 lead with a three-pointer for the first lead since the 9:31 mark. Utah Valley sank another triple to put the UVU up 31-27 with 3:49 to go before heading into a media timeout.
Butler split a pair of free throws out of the break to cut the deficit to 31-28 with 3:21 on the clock. UVU answered with another jumper to grab a 33-28 advantage at 3:07. Utah Valley stretched its lead to 36-28 at 2:24 after a triple. UVU pushed its run to 7-0 with a layup to take a 38-28 advantage with 1:38 to go.
Butler ended the run with a 2-3 effort at the line to trail, 38-30, at the 1:15 mark. Healy trimmed the deficit to 38-33 thanks to a Healy triple with 40 seconds on the clock. Utah Valley answered out of a timeout with a three-pointer of its own to take a 41-33 lead to head halftime.
Second Half
Utah Valley opened up the second stanza with a 13-0 run to take a 54-33 lead to force an SUU timeout with 17:30 on the clock. Jason Spurgin stopped the run for the 'Birds with a layup at 16:59 to close to within 54-35. After a UVU dunk, Harrison Butler drew contact and split a pair at the line to cut the deficit to 56-36 with 16:20 to go. Utah Valley answered with a trifecta to grab a 59-36 advantage with 15:42 on the clock heading into the first media timeout.
Tevian Jones responded out of the break with an old-fashioned three-pointer to pull to within 59-39 with 15:32 on the clock. UVU answered with a layup before Drake Allen sank a layup of his own for a 61-41 deficit with 14:47 to go. Spurgin followed with a putback layup to close to within 61-43 at 14:06.
Butler followed a UVU dunk with a dunk of his own at 12:14 as the 'Birds closed to within 63-45. Heading into a media timeout at 11:52, Spurgin collected his 50th block of the season to become just the fourth Thunderbird ever to accomplish the feat. Matt Hodgson (64, 2009-10), Jayson Cheesman (60, 2012-13), and Sean Allen (60, 1994-95; 53, 1993-94) are the only other 'Birds to clear 50 blocks in a campaign.
Butler cut the deficit to 63-47 with a layup out of the break at 11:37. Butler then split a pair at the charity stripe to close to within 63-48 at the 10:55 mark. Maizen Fausett pushed the run to 7-0 with a layup to chop the deficit to 63-50 before UVU knocked down a three. Butler answered with a layup to pull to within 66-52 with 10:11 to go. Cameron Healy forced a UVU timeout with a deep triple as the 'Birds closed to within 66-55 with 9:57 on the clock.
UVU answered with a dunk out of the break to push its lead to 68-55 at 9:52. Utah Valley pushed its lead back to 70-55 with a layup at 8:57. After another Spurgin block, Healy buried a three-pointer to cut the lead to 70-58 at 7:53. UVU answered with a triple of its own to stretch the lead back to 73-58 with 7:32 heading into another media timeout.
Following the break, UVU sank a pair at the line to extend its lead to 75-58 with 6:42 to go. Spurgin then split a pair at the line as the 'Birds closed to within 75-59 with 6:32 on the clock. Jones followed with a step-back three as SUU moved the deficit to 75-62 at the 6:26 mark. UVU responded with a pair of free throws for a 77-62 advantage at 5:58.
Butler converted an old-fashioned three to shave the deficit to 77-65. Barnes sank a layup to close the gap to within 10 points, 77-67, with 5:45 on the clock. UVU countered with a pair at the charity stripe for a 79-67 lead at 5:19. Barnes raced his way down the court with a layup to cut the gap to 79-69 with 5:08 on the clock. Barnes kept the run going with a dunk to move to within 79-71 at 4:47. Two more free throws for Utah Valley stretched the lead back to double digits, 81-71, at 4:40 before the final media timeout.
After drawing a foul beyond the arc, Jones sank three free throws to cut the deficit to 81-74 with 3:58 to go. Utah Valley split two at the line to push its lead to 82-74 before Butler drained a deep trifecta with 2:47 to cut the lead to 82-77. Fausett split a pair at the line as the 'Birds pulled to within 82-78 at 2:14.
After UVU missed a pair at the line, Butler split two at the charity stripe with SUU closing to within 82-79 at 1:43 to go. UVU missed another pair at the line prior to Jones hammering home a dunk as Southern Utah closed to within 82-81 with 1:18 on the clock.
UVU answered with a jumper to push the lead back to 84-81 with 50 seconds to go then put home a dunk to take an 86-81 lead. Fausett raced his way to a layup to pull to within 86-83 with 28 seconds on the clock before SUU took a timeout.
After six straight missed UVU free throws, Healy made a pair at the line to pull to within 86-85 with 12 seconds to go. Utah Valley made a pair at the line to push the lead back to 88-85 with 10 seconds on the clock.
Incredibly, Jones drained a three-pointer with four seconds to go to tie the game at 88-88 and was fouled on the shot. Jones made the free throw to take an 89-88 lead as the 'Birds held off Utah Valley in the final three seconds as the 'Birds completed a 23-point comeback.
Notable Plays
Next Up
Southern Utah takes on Grand Canyon for the Western Athletic Conference title at 9:30 p.m. MT tomorrow.
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