CEDAR CITY, Utah – Southern Utah men's basketball goes for its first 3-0 start since 2024-25 when it hosts Bethesda at 6:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the America First Event Center.
Saturday closes a three-game homestand. The Thunderbirds (2-0) have won their first two games by an average of 54.5 points, beating West Coast Baptist 134-69 on Nov. 2 and Grace (Calif.) 97-53 on Thursday.
THE MATCHUP
Southern Utah (2-0) vs. Bethesda (0-4) Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 | 6:30 p.m. MT America First Event Center | Cedar City, Utah Watch: ESPN+ | Live stats: suutbirds.com
TWO FOR TWO
Southern Utah beat Grace 97-53 on Thursday night. The Thunderbirds led 45-23 at halftime and pushed the lead to as many as 50 points.
Jajuan Nicholls led SUU with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and added six rebounds. His 17 points topped the 14 he scored in the opener.
Anthony Breland scored 15 points and made 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Jaiden Feroah had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with six rebounds, and DeZhon Hall scored 10, going 6 of 8 at the free-throw line.
SUU forced 20 Grace turnovers and turned them into 30 points. Juok Riak grabbed six rebounds, the most in his SUU career.
ROLLING EARLY
Through two games, Southern Utah is averaging 115.5 points and allowing 61.0. The Thunderbirds are shooting 59.5 percent (91 of 153) from the field and have outrebounded their opponents 98-54.
SUU has 49 assists and 13 turnovers in two games.
GOING FOR 3-0
A win would give Southern Utah a 3-0 start for the third time since the 2000-01 season. SUU also opened 3-0 in 2018-19 and 2024-25.
The 2024-25 Thunderbirds captured their third win against Bethesda, 107-54, on Nov. 12, 2024.
PERFECT FROM THE FLOOR
Two Thunderbirds have yet to miss a shot this season. Mikhail Protsenko, a 7-foot-1 freshman from Belgorod, Russia, is 9 of 9 from the field. Cale Barclay is 8 of 8.
Protsenko scored 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting in eight minutes against West Coast Baptist and added five points against Grace. Barclay had 13 points in the opener and seven against Grace.
NICHOLLS LEADS THE WAY
Jajuan Nicholls leads SUU with 31 points (15.5 per game). He is 13 of 16 (81.3 percent) from the field and has 11 rebounds in 27 minutes.
Breland is second with 27 points, and DeZhon Hall has 21. Dylan Sanders and Barclay have 20 apiece, and Sanders is 4 of 8 from 3-point range with four steals.
DJ Smith, Feroah and Jajuan Nicholls share the team lead with 11 rebounds each. Rashaad Davis leads with seven assists.
SERIES HISTORY
Southern Utah is 8-0 against Bethesda since at least the 2000-01 season. Every meeting has been played in Cedar City.
The Thunderbirds have outscored the Lion Angels 879-534 in those games, an average of 109.9 to 66.8. SUU has scored 100 or more points in six of the eight meetings.
The series includes the 126-67 win on Nov. 14, 2022. That night, SUU scored 68 first-half points and 82 points in the paint, the high marks in both categories until this season's opener.
Two SUU school records came against Bethesda. The Thunderbirds made 54 free throws in 78 attempts in a 108-92 win on Nov. 18, 2016, and both totals remain the program's single-game highs.
The last meeting was a 118-60 win on Nov. 11, 2025. Jalen (Roc) Lee scored 19 points and Dylan Jones 14, and SUU's reserves scored 84 points.
RETURNERS VS. BETHESDA
Four current Thunderbirds played in last season's win. Barclay had 10 points and five rebounds in 14 minutes. Feroah had eight points, five rebounds and three blocks in 16 minutes. Zeplin Kidd added five points and three rebounds, and Brayden Johnson scored four points, his career high.
SCOUTING BETHESDA
Bethesda, the Lion Angels from Anaheim, Calif., is 0-4 with every game on the road. The Lion Angels lost 104-63 at La Sierra on Oct. 23, 64-56 at Life Pacific on Oct. 26, 111-53 at Hope International on Oct. 28 and 102-47 at Pacific on Nov. 3.
Bethesda is averaging 54.8 points and allowing 95.3. The Lion Angels are shooting 31.1 percent (76 of 244) from the field and 23.3 percent (21 of 90) from 3-point range, and they have committed 56 turnovers.
Jaden Peters leads Bethesda at 22.5 points per game in two games. He scored 19 at La Sierra and 26 at Life Pacific, where he went 7 of 17 from the field, 4 of 9 from 3-point range and 8 of 9 at the line with nine rebounds. He did not play at Pacific.
Isaiah Hawk, a 6-foot-8 senior, has made 9 of 13 shots and averages 6.3 rebounds. Treveon Lee scored 16 points at Hope International, and Antonin Aix added 13 off the bench in that game. Allen Moser led the Lion Angels with 13 points at Pacific, and Zohaan Bennett had 11 on 3-of-6 3-point shooting.
Bethesda plays at Hawai'i on Friday with a separate group of players. The Lion Angels' master roster lists 36 players: 20 guards, seven guard/forwards, three forward/guards, three forwards and three forward/centers. Hawk, Chukwudi Okoli and Luiz Fibger are the tallest at 6-foot-8.
HOME COOKING
Under head coach Rob Jeter, SUU is 15-2 in home nonconference games and 10-2 at home in November.
HEAD COACH ROB JETER
Jeter is in his fourth season at Southern Utah and his first in the Big Sky Conference. He is 34-62 at SUU after Thursday's win.
Jeter led Milwaukee from 2005 to 2016 and left as the program's winningest Division I coach (185-170). He took the Panthers to two NCAA Tournaments, including a first-round win over sixth-seeded Oklahoma in 2006.
RECORD AND MILESTONE WATCH
Feroah has 55 career blocks at SUU. He needs 13 more to pass Cal Hanks (67) for No. 10 on the school's career list.
Feroah has three blocks this season and had three against Bethesda last season.
ROSTER NOTES
All 15 Thunderbirds have played in both games. Five have started both: Sanders, Jajuan Nicholls, Barclay, Chase Degraffenried and Feroah.
Degraffenried leads SUU with five steals and is 3 of 7 from 3-point range. Davis has seven assists and three steals in 34 minutes.
Three Thunderbirds are Utah natives: Feroah (Corner Canyon High School, Draper), Barclay (Herriman High School) and Degraffenried (Salem Hills High School).
BACK IN THE BIG SKY
Southern Utah returns to the Big Sky this season after four seasons in the WAC. League play opens Thursday, Dec. 3, against Idaho State at the America First Event Center.
UP NEXT
SUU heads east after Saturday for games at High Point at 5 p.m. MT on Thursday, Nov. 12, and at Wake Forest at 2 p.m. MT on Saturday, Nov. 14. The Thunderbirds then visit Texas on Thursday, Nov. 19.
TICKETS
Season tickets and single-game tickets will be on sale soon and can be purchased here.
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Stay up to date during the 2026-27 Southern Utah Men's Basketball season by following @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
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