OREM, UTAH -- The SUU Men's Basketball team was in Orem, Utah, Thursday night, and fell to the Wolverines of Utah Valley 89-72 in a game that slipped away from the Thunderbirds in the second-half.

Head Coach Rob Jeter said

"We have to be tougher. We can't get outscored by 30 points in the paint. We looked better offensively, but we have to be tougher on the defensive side of the ball."

Top T-Birds

• Jalen (Roc) Lee had his best game in a Thunderbird jersey. Scoring a team-high 15 points on 5-7 from the field and 3-4 from deep.
• Jaiden Feroah was in foul trouble for the entire game, but still managed to put together 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block in just 25 minutes.
• Dylan Jones poured in 13 points on 2-5 from deep. He was also tied for the team-high in rebounds with six, including three offensive rebounds.

HIGHLIGHTS

Game Recap

SUU found themselves with an eight-point deficit early in the first half after a made three-pointer from Isaac Davis for the Wolverines. The Thunderbirds cut it to three with a big spark coming from Roc Lee, who scored an and-one and then drilled a three-pointer. 

Back-to-back triples from Tanner Hayhurst saw SUU pull to 23-25 with 9:32 left in the first half, but as the T-Birds have done all season long, they allowed a three-pointer from Tyler Hendricks that pushed the UVU lead back to five.

The teams exchanged buckets for the remainder of the first half, with UVU putting together a few more stops than the Thunderbirds, and SUU went into the break trailing 39-46.

The Wolverines started the second half with a 17-7 run, and the lead was 17 for the Wolverines at the under-12 media timeout.

A quality run from the Thunderbirds, aided by made three-pointers from Elijah Duval and Jaiden Feroah, cut the lead to 13 with 8:15 remaining in the ball game, but again, the Wolverines had an answer. Back-to-back threes from the Wolverines pushed the lead back to 19 points, and that was the ball game.

Statistical Recap

The Thunderbirds were 25-60 (42%) from the field, but allowed UVU to go 36-66 (55%). The Thunderbirds were extremely impressive from deep, shooting their best percentage of the year at 11-23 (48%). 

SUU had 14 turnovers and allowed only 12 points off them, compared to UVU's 15 turnovers, which led to 16 points for the Thunderbirds.

The biggest difference in the ball game was in the paint. The Wolverines corralled 45 rebounds compared to just 29 for SUU, and the Wolverines dominated scoring inside with 56 points in the paint while the T-Birds managed just 26.

The Thunderbirds shared the ball well on offense, with six players recording at least two assists and nine players with at least one for a total of 18, but the Wolverines had 25 on the night.

Four different Thunderbirds scored in double-digits.

Up Next

The roadtrip will continue for the Thunderbirds as they head to Riverside, California, for a battle against California Baptist on Saturday, January 10, at 6:00 p.m.

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