CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- After taking finals week off, the Thunderbird Men's Basketball team will be back in action, playing three games in six days to close out 24-25 non-conference play.
Head Coach Rob Jeter said
"We had a week off of games, but the guys were busy studying and doing finals. This week will be a good challenge, we got two games on the road in some tough environments, and then we come back home for our final preseason game.
Game One
Who: SUU @ New Mexico State (4-6, 0-0 CUSA)
When: Monday, December 16, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Las Cruces, New Mexico
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: HERE
Game Two
Who: SUU @ University of Texas Rio Grand Valley (5-4, 1-1Â SLC)
When: Wednesday, December 18, at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Edinburg, Texas
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: HERE
Game Three
Who: SUU vs Northern Arizona University (7-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
When: Saturday, December 21, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Cedar City, Utah. America First Event Center
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: HERE
The History
- SUU is 2-3 all-time against NMSU. The two wins were in the 2022-23 season before NMSUÂ left the WAC
- The Thunderbirds have never lost to UTRGV. The teams met just three times, and SUU came out 3-0
- SUU and NAU have a long history against each other, with SUU holding a 19-16 matchup lead. The two teams have played each other at least once yearly, dating back to 2013. NAU won last year's matchup in Flagstaff, 76-74.Â
The Thunderbirds
Through 11 games of non-conference play, the Thunderbirds are sitting at 8-3 with a lot to be proud of. 78.3 points per game is good enough for third in the WAC, and only allowing 71.7 is second in the WAC.
Jamir Simpson leads the Thunderbirds in scoring at 16.3 points per game, which puts him third in the WAC in ppg. Dominique Ford is averaging 13.7 and is just under 40% from three.Â
Brock Felder has been a beast defensively, leading the entire conference with 19 blocks through 11 games. Tavi Jackson leads the team with 30 assists on the year.
The Thunderbirds also lead the conference in total rebounds per game, averaging over 40. Â
Scout The Aggies
NMSU is 4-6 on the year, with a win against WAC opponent Utah Tech and a loss to WAC opponent Abilene Christian. After starting the year 3-0, they then lost five straight and are most recently coming off a loss to the University of Texas, 91-67.Â
Christian Cook leads the Aggies in scoring, pouring in 14 a game on 40% from deep, he has made 29 threes on the year. Robert Carpenter leads the team in total rebounds with 68 on the year, including 27 offensive. He also adds 12 points per game.Â
The Aggies give up more points than they score on average, and teams are shooting 40% from the field. Their opponents also average 19 FTA per game, which would bode well for the Thunderbirds, who average 16.Â
NMSU left the WAC in 2023 and is now a member of Conference USA.
Scout The Vaqueros
UTRGV is another previous WAC foe, this is the Vaqueros first season out of the Conference. They are now members of the Southland.Â
UTRGV is 5-4 on the year but will have a game against Northern New Mexico before the battle with the Thunderbirds. The Vaqueros have an impressive loss to the No. 15 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, losing 87-84.Â
Their last time out was a blowout loss to conference opponent Lamar, 84-52.Â
They're averaging 81 points per game on 45% from the field as a team. A quarter of their PPG comes on turnovers, of which they average 13 per game.Â
K.T. Raimey hasn't started a game but is lethal scoring off the bench. Leading the team at 14.1 points per game. Hasan Abdul Hakim has only played in seven games this season but is averaging just under 14 ppg in those games. He is also pulling down nearly seven rebounds per game. D.K. Thorn and Trey Miller are the other two athletes averaging double-digits, scoring at 12.1 and 10.2, respectively. Miller also leads the team with 36 assists.Â
Scout The Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona is another previous conference opponent from when Southern Utah competed in the Big Sky. They're currently 7-3 on the year but will play at Pepperdine before the matchup with the Thunderbirds. Their three losses on the year came at Stanford 64-90, against Eastern Michigan 68-72, and at Oral Roberts 76-83.Â
The Lumberjacks are averaging 81 points per game and only allowing an impressive 69. They're shooting 48% from the floor and 31% from three. They're averaging nearly 42 rebounds per game and out-rebound their opponents by 10.Â
Trent McLaughlin is having an all-time start to his season, averaging 22.6 points per game. Scoring at least 20 points in nine of their 10 games played. Carson Towt is a force inside. Averaging a double-double, scoring 13 points and 11 rebounds per game. He has six double-doubles through 10 games.Â
Slowing down Mclaughlin and containing Towt will be the keys to success for the Thunderbirds.
Tickets
Season tickets, mini packages, and single-game tickets are now available! Get yours today by visiting tbirdtickets.com
FOLLOW US
Stay up to date during the 2024-25 Southern Utah Men's Basketball season by following @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
DONATE
To help support Thunderbird athletics consider making a donation today! To learn more about how you can support click here.
