CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- The SUU Men's Basketball team once again knocked off Utah Tech in the America First Event Center, beating the Trailblazers 81-67. UTU remains winless in Cedar City.

Head Coach Rob Jeter said

Top T-Birds

• Tanner Hayhurst led the way for the Thunderbirds, scoring a career-high 25 points on 5-8 from deep. He also corralled four rebounds and had three steals.
• Jaiden Feroah put together a very quality 18 points and 14 rebounds to go along with a block and a steal.
• The 7'0 center Kai Burdick had an outstanding game, especially defensively. He held Utah Tech's best player, Ethan Potter, to just nine points and none in the second half. Burdick also scored a career-high 13 points to go along with seven rebounds, a block, and a steal.
• Elijah Duval contributed 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists in just 18 minutes of action. He also had one of the best dunks in the entire country.

HIGHLIGHTS

Game Recap

Utah Tech jumped out to an early lead on the Thunderbirds. UTU made five of their first seven shots from the field, including 3-3 from deep. At the under-16 timeout, the Trailblazers had a 16-10 lead.

After SUU had cut the lead to just one point, the Trailblazers went on a 6-0 run that had the game at 22-15 in favor of the Trailblazers. 

With 6:23 remaining, UTU had a five-point lead, and Chance Trujillo, Ethan Potter, and Jusaun Holt had all 30 of Utah Tech's points.

Southern Utah closed out the final six minutes on a 17-8 run and took a four-point lead into the halftime break.

The Thunderbirds opened up the second half with an 8-0 run courtesy of made triples from Feroah and Hayhurst on back-to-back possessions, and suddenly, SUU was up by 12.

The Trailblazers did all they could to get back in the game, cutting the Thunderbird lead to five points with just over ten minutes remaining, but then Elijah Duval put down a physics-defying dunk over Ethan Potter, and the Thunderbirds seized the momentum and the game.

Kai Burdick put the final nail in the coffin with a left-wing triple, just his second of the year, and SUU closed out the Trailblazers 81-67.

Statistical Recap

After struggling to win the battle inside the last few times out, the Thunderbirds made sure there was never a question about which team was tougher against the Trailblazers.

SUU dominated on the glass, outrebounding Utah Tech 41 to 24 and 15 to 4 on the offensive glass. The 15 offensive rebounds led to 17 second-chance points, compared to just two for UTU. The Thunderbirds recorded 36 points in the paint while Utah Tech had just 24.

The Thunderbirds shot 48% from the floor and 29% from three. But perhaps most importantly, Southern Utah had just nine turnovers for the game.

Up Next

SUU will keep the in-state rival theme the next time out, hosting Utah Valley on Thursday, March 5, at 6:30 p.m. inside the AFEC. SUU will have a chance to win the three-game series over the Wolverines.

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