By: Parker Haynie- Assistant Director of Communications
CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- The SUU Men's Basketball team holds a 1-1 season series split with the Texans, and will look to earn the tie-breaking win in Stephenville on Thursday night.
Head Coach Rob Jeter said
"This is an important game for us. We feel like we kind of gave them the win in that second game and we know that we are better than that. We have to handle their defensive pressure, and take care of the basketball."
Game Details
Who: Southern Utah (9-17, 5-8 WAC) at Tarleton State (13-13, 4-9 WAC)
When: Thursday, February 19, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: The EECU Center in Stephenville, Texas
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: HERE
Previous Matchups
- The first game between the two teams was the turning point of the season for the Thunderbirds. After starting 0-4 in WAC play, the T-Birds knocked off the Texans in Cedar City in a 106-105 overtime thriller. Dylan Jones and Tanner Hayhurst each scored 20+ points.
- The second matchup was also in Cedar City, and SUU held the lead for a long time until TSU put together a second-half run that gave them a seven-point lead. SUU cut the deficit to three with 37 seconds left, but could not knock down the game-tying shot. Elijah Duval led the team with 18 points and seven assists.
The Thunderbirds
Jaiden Feroah has been phenomenal in conference play, he has scored double figures in 11 of the last 12 games, and is sixth in the conference in PPG at 14.69 and is second in the league at 7.54 rebounds per contest. He also ranks second in the conference in FG% at 57%, doesn't quite qualify for FT%, but is shooting better than anyone in the league at 89.5%.
Elijah Duval has also been phenomenal in conference play, scoring 14+ points in each of his last seven games. He checks in at a tie for seventh in the league in PPG, averaging 14.54, and is fourth in total assists with 47.
Isaiah Cottrell tops the conference with 23 blocks in league play.
Five different Thunderbirds are averaging nine points per game or more: Elijah Duval (14.0), Jaiden Feroah (13.5), Tanner Hayhurst (9.9), Isaiah Cottrell (9.0), and Dylan Jones (9.0).
As a team, SUU is averaging 76.1 points per game but is still giving up a league high 79.6.
The Thunderbirds have been an excellent rebounding team, corralling 36.3 rebounds per game. They also have shared the ball really well this season, dishing out nearly 14.2 assists per game.
The Texans
TSU averages 75 points per game and gives up 72. They shoot it at 45/31/75 percent.Â
The Texans lead the league in forced turnovers. Their opponents average nearly 18 turnovers per game, and TSU gets 11 steals per game.
Their leading scorer, Dior Johnson, hasn't played for nearly a month, and Cam McDowell, their second leading scorer, has missed the last few games after injuring his ankle in the last matchup with the T-Birds.
Andy Sigiscar has come on for the Texans lately. He has scored double figures in three of his last four games.
TSU is coming off a nail-biting overtime win versus Abilene Christian, a game in which Kade Douglas set a career-high, dropping in 24 points on 8-16 from the field.
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