southern utah basketball
SOUTHERN UTAH BASKETBALL BRYSON LESTER | DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION C: (801) 860-8653 EMAIL: [email protected]
#BigSkyMBB STANDINGS SCHOOL (As of 12/27/17) CONF OVERALL STREAK Portland State Northern Colorado Idaho Montana Weber State Southern Utah Montana State Idaho State Eastern Washington North Dakota Northern Arizona Sacramento State
0-0 10-3 W2 0-0 9-4 L1 0-0 8-4 L1 0-0 7-5 L1 0-0 7-5 W3 0-0 6-5 L1 0-0 7-6 L1 0-0 5-6 W1 0-0 5-8 W2 0-0 4-7 L4 0-0 3-10 W1 0-0 3-10 L2
Date
Name of School......................................... Southern Utah University Location.................................................................. Cedar City, Utah Enrollment................................................................................8,881 Colors............................................................. Red, White and Black America First Event Center Capacity........................................4,800 Conference........................................................ Big Sky Conference Athletics Website............................................... www.suutbirds.com
Coaching Staff
Head Coach.............................Todd Simon, Second Season (12-31) Assistant Coach/Year..............................John Wardenburg, Second Assistant Coach/Year..........................................Chris Pompey, First Assistant Coach/Year....................................... Trent Angelucci, First
President..................................................................... Scott L. Wyatt Athletic Director........................................................Debbie Corum Deputy Director of Athletics......................................Andrew Parrish Asst. AD/Student-Athlete Engagement/SWA........... Chanel Barnes Deputy AD/External Affairs.............................................. Frank Pucher Assoc. AD/Compliance................................................. Todd Brown Asst. AD/Business Operations....................................David Thompson Assoc. AD/Internal Ops. and Student-Athlete Welfare........ Dan Moye Asst. AD/Marketing........................................................ Nick Barlett Director of Strategic Communication.......................... Bryson Lester
@SUUBasketball
Schedule 2017-18 Record: 6-5
University Information
Administration
OPPONENT:
Opponent
Nov 3 Nov 10 Nov 12 Nov 16 Nov 21 Nov 25 Nov 29 Dec 2 Dec 6 Dec 9 Dec 16 Dec 19 Dec 28 Dec 30 Jan 4 Jan 6 Jan 13 Jan 18 Jan 20 Jan 25 Jan 27 Feb 1 Feb 3 Feb 10 Feb 15 Feb 17 Feb 22 Feb 24 Mar 1 Mar 3
Concordia (Ex.) Oregon State Boise State San Jose State Benedictine at Mesa UNLV Pepperdine San Diego-Christian Long Beach State #3 Michigan State Central Michigan Iowa Montana State* Montana* Idaho State* Weber State* Northern Arizona* Idaho* Eastern Washington* Montana* Montana State* Weber State* Idaho State* Northern Arizona* North Dakota* Northern Colorado* Portland State* Sacramento State* Eastern Washington* Idaho*
Location
Time (MT)
Cedar City, Utah Corvallis, Ore. Boise, Idaho Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Las Vegas, Nev. Malibu, Calif. Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah East Lansing, Mich. Cedar City, Utah Iowa City, Iowa Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Pocatello, Idaho Ogden, Utah Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Missoula, Mont. Bozeman, Mont. Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Flagstaff, Ariz. Grand Forks, N.D. Greeley, Colo. Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Cheney, Wash. Moscow, Idaho
101-84 (W) 82-99 (L) 69-90 (L) 81-69 (W) 85-68 (W) 82-101 (L) 88-82 (W) 87-68 (W) 94-89 (W) 63-88 (L) 86-80 (W) 64-92 (L) 6:30 PM 12:30 PM 7 PM 7 PM 2 PM 6:30 PM 12:30 PM 7 PM 2 PM 6:30 PM 12:30 PM 2 PM 6 PM 7 PM 6:30 PM 12:30 PM 7:05 PM 8 PM
* Conference Game Home Games are in Red
@SUUBasketball
Southern Utah Basketball
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Numerical Roster No. 1 2 4 5 10 12 13 14 15 22 23 25 30 32 33 34 44
Name
Jamil Jackson Brandon Better Dre Marin Jordan Lyons Jacob Calloway Jadon Cohee Taelin Webb James McGee Jamal Aytes Ivan Madunic Cameron Oluyitan Dwayne Morgan Elijah Graves Andre Adams Matthew Johnson Christian Musoko Joel Swallow
Pos. Ht. G/F G G G/F F G G G F F/C G/F F G/F F G F/C F
Alphabetical Roster No. 32 15 2 10 12 30 1 33 5 22 4 14 25 34 23 44 13
Name
Andre Adams Jamal Aytes Brandon Better Jacob Calloway Jadon Cohee Elijah Graves Jamil Jackson Matthew Johnson Jordan Lyons Ivan Madunic Dre Marin James McGee Dwayne Morgan Christian Musoko Cameron Oluyitan Joel Swallow Taelin Webb
6-6 6-3 5-11 6-7 6-8 6-4 5-11 6-2 6-6 6-11 6-7 6-8 6-4 6-9 6-4 6-8 6-9
Pos. Ht. F F G F G G/F G/F G G/F F/C G G F F/C G/F F G
6-9 6-6 6-3 6-8 6-4 6-4 6-6 6-4 6-7 6-11 5-11 6-2 6-8 6-8 6-7 6-9 5-11
Wt. Yr. 190 185 165 200 205 200 195 200 240 225 190 218 210 230 210 245 230
So. Jr. Fr. Fr. So. RJr. Jr. RSr. Sr. So. RJr. RJr. Sr. RSo. Jr. Sr. RSo.
Hometown (HS/Prev. School)
Wt.
Yr.
Hometown (HS/Prev. School)
230 240 185 205 200 210 190 210 200 225 165 200 218 245 190 230 195
RSo. Sr. Jr. So. RJr. Sr. So. Jr. Fr. So. Fr. RSr. RJr. Sr. RJr. RSo. Jr.
Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis HS/Willston State) Suitland, Md. (Crossland HS/Moberly Area CC) Glendale, Ariz. (Apollo HS) Brampton, Ontario (Athlete Institute Prep) Juneau, Ak. (On Point Academy) Langley, Bridish Columbia (Walnut Grove Secondary/Seattle) Fresno, Calif. (Elanor Roosevelt HS/CSUN) San Clemente, Calif. (Mater Dei HS) San Diego, Calif. (JSerra Catholic HS/BYU) Split, Croatia Sugarland, Texas (Clements HS/Boise State) Baltimore, Maryland (St. Frances Academy/UNLV) Las Vegas, Nev. (Liberty HS) Avondale, Ariz. (Westview HS/Arizona State) Las Vegas, Nev. (Coronado HS) Kinshasa, Congo (Layton Christian HS/Salt Lake CC) Flowell, Utah (Millard HS)
Avondale, Ariz. (Westview HS/Arizona State) San Diego, Calif. (JSerra Catholic HS/BYU) Suitland, Md. (Crossland HS/Moberly Area CC) Juneau, Ak. (On Point Academy) Langley, Bridish Columbia (Walnut Grove Secondary/Seattle) Las Vegas, Nev. (Liberty HS) Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis HS/Willston State) Las Vegas, Nev. (Coronado HS) Brampton, Ontario (Athlete Institute Prep) Split, Croatia Glendale, Ariz. (Apollo HS) San Clemente, Calif. (Mater Dei HS) Baltimore, Maryland (St. Frances Academy/UNLV) Kinshasa, Congo (Layton Christian HS/Salt Lake CC) Sugarland, Texas (Clements HS/Boise State) Flowell, Utah (Millard HS) Fresno, Calif. (Elanor Roosevelt HS/CSUN)
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Jamal Aytes - A-tes Jadon Cohee - Jay-den Co-he Ivan Madunic - E-Von Ma-doon-each Christian Musoko - Moo-so-ko Taelin Webb - Tay-lin
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Head Coach
TODD SIMON Todd Simon is entering his second year at the helm of the Southern Utah University men’s basketball team after being named the head coach on March 24, 2016. Simon led the Thunderbirds to a first-round win at the Big Sky Road to Reno Conference Tournament with a triple overtime victory over Montana State. The Thunderbirds concluded the season with a 6-27 overall record and a 3-15 conference record. Simon was named interim head coach of the UNLV men’s basketball program in January 2016 and immediately led them to three consecutive victories. During Simon’s 17 games, the Runnin’ Rebels ranked as the number one team in the nation in adjusted tempo, scoring more than 100 points in four games. UNLV finished with a 9-8 record, despite playing with as few as five scholarship players. Prior to being named interim head coach, Simon was in his third year as associate head coach with UNLV and had a critical role in assembling UNLV’s roster, which Rivals.com ranked its 2014 recruiting class #5 in the nation, while the 2015 class was ranked #11. Prior to his tenure as a Runnin’ Rebel, Simon served Findlay Prep for seven years in both head and assistant coaching roles. As head coach at Findlay Prep in 2012-2013, he led the team to a 35-1 record, including eight wins over top-25 ranked teams. The 35 victories are the most wins in school history. During Simon’s tenure at Findlay Prep, they accumulated an overall record of 192-9. During his career Simon has helped develop and coach several players that have become top NBA draft picks, including Anthony Bennett, who was selected as the top overall pick in 2013, Rashad Vaughn, who was picked No. 17 in 2015, and Avery Bradley. Other NBA player’s Simon has coached in his career include Christian Wood, Jorge Gutierrez, Cory Joseph, DeAndre Liggins, Nick Johnson and Tristan Thompson. A native of Fowler, Mich., Simon earned his bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan with a double major in sport studies and management information systems in 2003. He earned his master’s degree from UNLV in sport education leadership in 2010. Todd and his wife, Kati, have three boys: Rece (4) and Raylan (3) and Ryder (3.5 months).
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Southern Utah Coaching Staff John Wardenburg, Assistant Coach (Second Year) Assistant coach John Wardenburg is under his second season on the Thunderbird staff
after joining head coach Todd Simon in May of 2016.record. Wardenburg spent nine years as an assistant basketball coach at Brigham Young University, from May 2001 to July 2010. During that span the Cougars made the NCAA Tournament six times and played in the NIT two times. He was also a part of four conference titles. While at BYU he coached several All-Americans including Kyle Collinsworth, Tyler Haws, Jimmer Fredette, Lee Cummard, Keena Young, Trent Plaisted and Rafael Araujo.
Chris Pompey, Assistant Coach (First Year)
Chris Pompey joined the Thunderbird basketball coaching staff in June of 2017. Pompey joins the Thunderbird family with 17 years of collegiate coaching experience, most recently spending four seasons with the Cal State Northridge Matadors. Last season, Pompey was rated the 5th best low to mid major assistant coach by Basketball Times. In is first year at Northridge, he helped compile a top 40 recruiting class.
Trent Angelucci, Assistant Coach (Second Year, First as Assistant)
Trent Angelucci was promoted to assistant coach in June of 2017 after serving as a special assistant to the head coach during the 2016-17 campaign. Angelucci’s duties last season included preparing and analyzing film edits for scouting purposes along with breaking down opponent’s offenses for trends or statistical analysis. Angelucci played a significant role in the Thunderbird’s first-round triple overtime victory over Montana State at the Big Sky Road to Reno Conference Tournament.
Bryce Martin, Director of Basketball Operations (Second Year)
Bryce Martin is in his second season as the director of basketball operations for Southern Utah University basketball after joining the staff in September of 2016. Martin’s responsibilities include handling the program’s budget, all aspects of team and recruiting travel, academic development. He is the primary liaison with University and Athletic Administration, community service groups and opposing schools. Martin also serves as assistant director of Southern Utah Boys Basketball Summer Camps.
Mike Nesbitt, Special Assistant (First Year) Mike Nesbitt joined the basketball staff in May 2017. Nesbitt spent the previous two seasons at the University of New Mexico, one year as a player and one as a Graduate Assistant. As a GA, his responsibilities included preparing scouting reports and film edits, organizing and leading group workouts, maintaining the recruiting database, and assisting in all aspects of oncourt coaching.
Flynn Clayman, Special Assistant (First Year)
Flynn Clayman joined the Southern Utah staff in August 2017 as a Graduate Assistant. He previously spent 18 months as the Head Coach of AUSA hoops, based out of Sydney, Australia, coaching players from all over the country. Players coached from AUSA AAU teams and academies have signed at DI schools like Marquette, TCU, Stanford, LSU, Umass, Creighton, Eastern Kentucky, Columbia, Drake, Albany, Yale, Lehigh, Rider, Seattle and Abilene Christian.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Game Preview
MSU (7-6, 0-0) @ SUU (6-5, 0-0) Stream - PlutoTV Radio - KSUB 590 AM Stats - SUUTBIRDS.com Twitter - @SUUBasketball
INTRO With a winning record and an eye on a much improved campaign, the Thunderbird men’s basketball team will kick off Big Sky Conference play this week as they host the Bobcats of Montana State and the Grizzlies of Montana.
NON-CONFERENCE RECAP After taking on a difficult non-conference slate packed with Big Ten, Pac-12 and Mountain West teams among others, the Thunderbirds are making final preparations for conference play with a 6-5 record. The last time the Thunderbird men’s basketball program finished non-conference play above .500 before this season was the 2006-07 season, when the team jumped out to a 10-5 start. This year’s team was only the fourth since the year 2000 at SUU to finish non-conference play with a winning record. After falling to Oregon State and Boise State to start the season, SUU quickly found some positives with a two straight home victories against San Jose State and Benedictine at Mesa. After a solid effort in Las Vegas against UNLV, the Thunderbirds went on a three game winning streak with victories against Pepperdine, San Diego Christian and Long Beach State. SUU’s final three non-conference matchups were a loss at No. 3 Michigan State, despite a strong performance, a victory against Central Michigan at home and a loss on the road to the Big Ten’s Iowa.
STAT LEADERS Jadon Cohee led the offensive effort for the T-Birds during non-conference play, averaging 16.4 points per game. That also puts him 12th in the Big Sky Conference in scoring. Cohee is also second in the Big Sky Conference in assists, with 48 for an average of 4.4 per contest. Brandon Better has averaged 13.6 ppg coming off the bench for Southern Utah, and leads the team in three pointers made with 26. He is ninth in the Big Sky in that category. Ivan Madunic is ninth in the Big Sky in rebounding with an average of 6.1 rebounds per game. He’s also third in the Big Sky in three point field goal percentage (47 percent) and fourth in blocked shots (11). Southern Utah is second in the conference in scoring offense, averaging over 80 points a game. They’re also second in the league in free throw percentage at 73 percent, and turnover margin with a +3.27. The team is third when it comes to assist/turnover ratio at 1.2.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Game Preview
OPPONENT PREVIEW: MONTANA STATE BOBCATS The Bobcats will head to Cedar City with a 7-6 record, after finishing non-conference play 4-1 at home, 1-5 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites. Tyler Hall was named Preseason MVP of the Big Sky Conference, and currently sits ninth in the Big Sky Conference in terms of scoring with a 17.3 ppg average. He is the top player in the Big Sky Conference when it comes to three pointers made, sinking 42 so far this year for an average of 3.5 per game. Herald Frey averages 14.8 ppg, and leads the team in assists (43) and steals (11). Frey is also second in the Big Sky in terms of free throw percentage.
OPPONENT PREVIEW: MONTANA GRIZZLIES After making a trip to Flagstaff to take on Northern Arizona, the Montana Grizzlies will make their way to Cedar City for a matchup with the T-Birds. The Grizzlies sit with a 7-5 record after Big Sky Conference play, winning three of their last five heading into the Big Sky. Ahmaad Rorie is sixth in the Big Sky when it comes to scoring, with an average of 17.9 ppg. He’s also fourth in the conference in assists (3.7 per game) and seventh in steals (1.7 per game). Michael Oguine is the top player in the Big Sky in terms of offensive rebounding, with a total of 32 so far this season.
BIG SKY AT A GLANCE The Thunderbirds were one of seven teams in the Big Sky to come away with a winning record. Portland State sits on top of the Big Sky with a record of 10-3. The Vikings picked up big wins over Utah State, Stanford and California, giving them two victories against teams from the Pac-12 Conference. Northern Colorado will enter Big Sky play with a 9-4 record, closely followed by Idaho with an 8-4 mark. Montana and Weber State sit at 7-5, with SUU close behind with a 6-5 record. Montana State was the seventh team in the Big Sky to escape non-conference play with a winning record at 7-6.
WORDS FROM COACH SIMON On the biggest improvements he’d like to see from the team heading into conference play... “We’ve got to be better on the glass,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “We’ve got to work on not fouling in the post, and not trying to get everything back on one shot or one possession. We take those lessons and apply them to the league games we think we can have some success.” On the strength of the Big Sky Conference... “I think with all the non-conference wins we’ve posted against a number of leagues shows that the Big Sky is very good this year,” Simon said. “There’s not going to be any easy games. Every game is going to be high level basketball, and we’ve got to be ready and prepared to play clean basketball against all of our opponents.”
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#1 Jamil Jackson
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 8 (11/16/17) Assists: 2 (X2)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 8 (11/16/17) Assists: 2 (X2)
Rebounding: 2 (11/10/17) Rebounding: 2 (11/10/17) Steals: 1 (X2) G/F 6-6
190 So.
Blocks: 1 (11/16/17)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Steals: 1 (X2)
Blocks: 1 (11/16/17)
#2 Brandon Better
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 26 (12/6/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 26 (12/6/17)
Rebounding: 8 (12/2/17)
Rebounding: 8 (12/2/17)
Assists: 2 (X6)
Steals: 3 (12/2/17) G
6-3
185 Jr.
Blocks: 0
Suitland, Maryland
Assists: 2 (X6)
Steals: 3 (12/2/17) Blocks: 0
#4 Dre Marin
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 16 (11/29/17) Assists: 7 (11/16/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 16 (11/29/17) Assists: 7 (11/16/17)
Rebounding: 7 (11/17/17) Rebounding: 7 (11/17/17) Steals: 2 (X4) G
5-11 165 Fr.
Blocks: 0
Glendale, Arizona
Steals: 2 (X4) Blocks: 0
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#5 Jordan Lyons
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 0
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 0
Rebounding: 0
Rebounding: 0
Assists: 1 (12/19/17) Steals: 0 G/F 6-7
200 Fr.
Blocks: 0
Brampton, Ontario
Assists: 1 (12/19/17) Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
#10 Jacob Calloway
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 14 (11/25/17) Assists: 2 (X3)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 19 (11/14/16) Assists: 3 (X2)
Rebounding: 7 (11/21/17) Rebounding: 12 (11/26/16) Steals: 2 (X2) F
6-8
205 So.
Blocks: 1 (X4) Juneau, Alaska
Steals: 2 (X4)
Blocks: 2 (2/23/17)
#12 Jadon Cohee
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 25 (12/6/17) Assists: 7 (11/17/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 25 (12/6/17) Assists: 7 (11/17/17)
Rebounding: 8 (11/21/17) Rebounding: 8 (11/21/17) Steals: 3 (12/2/17) G
6-4
Blocks: 1 (11/21/17)
200 RJr. Langley, British Columbia
Steals: 3 (12/2/17)
Blocks: 1 (11/21/17)
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#13 Taelin Webb
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 0
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 0
Rebounding: 0
Rebounding: 0
Assists: 0 Steals: 0 G
5-11 195 Jr.
Blocks: 0
Fresno, Calif.
Assists: 0 Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
#14 James McGee
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 25 (11/21/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 32 (12/31/16)
Rebounding: 2 (X3)
Rebounding: 7 (12/21/16)
Assists: 4 (12/19/17) Steals: 3 (X2) G
6-2
Blocks: 3 (11/21/17)
200 RSr. San Clemente, California
Assists: 6 (1/21/16) Steals: 4 (X3)
Blocks: 3 (11/21/17)
#15 Jamal Aytes
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 27 (11/12/17) Assists: 3 (11/29/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 27 (11/12/17) Assists: 3 (11/29/17)
Rebounding: 15(11/21/17) Rebounding: 15(11/21/17) Steals: 3 (11/21/17) F
6-6
240 Sr.
Blocks: 1 (11/16/17) San Diego, California
Steals: 3 (11/21/17)
Blocks: 1 (11/16/17)
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#22 Ivan Madunic
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 16 (11/17/17) Assists: 3 (X2)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 16 (11/17/17) Assists: 3 (X2)
Rebounding: 12(11/25/17) Rebounding: 13 (11/18/16) Steals: 3 (12/19/17) F/C
6-11 225 So.
Blocks: 3 (X2) Split, Croatia
Steals: 3 (12/19/17) Blocks: 5 (12/8/16)
#25 Dwayne Morgan
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 0
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 0
Rebounding: 0
Rebounding: 0
Assists: 0 Steals: 0 F
6-8
Blocks: 0
218 RJr. Baltimore, Maryland
Assists: 0 Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
#30 Elijah Graves
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 3 (11/10/17) Assists: 1 (12/2/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 3 (11/10/17) Assists: 1 (12/2/17)
Rebounding: 1 (11/25/17) Rebounding: 0 Steals: 0 G
6-4
200 Jr.
Blocks: 0
Las Vegas, Nevada
Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#33 Matthew Johnson
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 7 (12/2/17) Assists: 1 (X2 )
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 18 (1/14/17) Assists: 2 (1/26/17)
Rebounding: 2 (11/21/17) Rebounding: 4 (X2) Steals: 1 (X3) G
6-4
200 Jr.
Blocks: 0
Las Vegas, Nevada
Steals: 1 (X4)
Blocks: 1 (1/28/17)
#34 Christian Musoko
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 14 (12/6/17) Assists: 1 (11/29/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 17 (11/26/16) Assists: 2 (2/9/17)
Rebounding: 11 (11/10/17) Rebounding: 11 (11/10/17) Steals: 1 (X3) F/C
6-8
245 Sr.
Blocks: 3 (12/6/17) Kinshasa, Congo
Steals: 2 (12/17/16) Blocks: 4 (2/23/17)
#44 Joel Swallow
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 3 (12/19/17) Assists: 0
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 3 (12/19/17) Assists: 0
Rebounding: 3 (11/10/17) Rebounding: 3 (11/10/17) Steals: 0 F
6-9
Blocks: 0
230 RSo. Flowell, Utah
Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S 2017 -18 STATS
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Concordia @ Southern Utah (Exhibition) CEDAR CITY, Utah - In their first action of the 2017-18 campaign, the Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up an exhibition victory over the Concordia Cavaliers 101 - 84. “It was good for us to face a little adversity and sort it out,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “To have a lot of foul trouble, play guys in unique positions and still come out ahead was a positive.” Christian Musoko scored the first points of the season for the Thunderbirds, as the T-Birds jumped out to an early lead. James McGee hit a pair of three-pointers to put the Thunderbirds ahead 10-7 at the first media timeout. The Thunderbirds found some momentum as the half went along, jumping out ahead of the Cavaliers down the stretch of the opening 20 minutes. Led by 17 from transfer Brandon Better in the opening frame, the T-Birds took a commanding 60-38 lead into the halftime break. McGee also hit double-figures in the opening 20 minutes with 11. In the opening half the Thunderbirds shot 44 percent from the field. Down the stretch of the second half the Cavaliers found plenty of momentum, at one point making five straight field goals in a row. However, the Thunderbirds were able to right the ship at the proper time to get back ahead by double digits and ultimately take the victory 101 - 84. McGee finished with a double-double, scoring 23 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. “James is a professional when it comes to being a leader now,” Simon said. “The evolution of him from last season to this season has been spectacular in terms of off the court as a vocal guy and taking ownership of the team.” Better finished with 20 points in his Thunderbird debut. The transfer guard said it was nice to play in front of the Cedar City faithful and he was just trying to execute the gameplan on Friday night. “Coach always tells me to stay aggressive, so I knew that I had to do that and I knew that coming in we were going to have to pound both inside and outside, so that was the game plan coming in,” he said. Christian Musoko finished with 20 points as well for the T-Birds, making it three players over the 20-point threshold. The Thunderbirds will open their regular season next Friday against Oregon State out of the Pac-12 Conference. The following Sunday, the Thunderbirds will be in Idaho to take on Boise State.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ Oregon State CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team opened their 2017-18 campaign Official Basketball Box Score -- Game Totals -- Final Statistics Southern Utah vs Oregon State against the Oregon State Beavers on Friday night, 11/10/17 7:00 PM at Corvallis, Ore. (Gill Coliseum) in a contest the Beavers were able to claim by a Southern Utah 82 • 0-1 Total 3-Ptr Rebounds final score of 99-82. Player FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF ##
15
The Thunderbirds stayed within striking distance for the majority of the opening half. However, with around nine minutes to play the Beavers started to heat up. Over the next 10 minutes Oregon State was able to extend the lead to 23, and that was the deficit the Thunderbirds faced at halftime. But as the second half started, the Thunderbirds wouldn’t go away. Jacob Calloway scored eight in a row for the Thunderbirds to keep the team rolling and confidence high.
34 04 12 14 01 02 10 30 44
Aytes, Jamal Musoko, Christian Marin, Dre Cohee, Jadon Mcgee, James Jackson, Jamil Better, Brandon Calloway, Jacob Graves, Elijah Swallow, Joel Team Totals
FG % 1st Half: 8-28 28.6% 3FG % 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% FT % 1st Half: 10-14 71.4%
f c g g g
1-4 1-3 0-2 4-13 3-7 2-5 7-11 3-9 1-1 0-2
0-0 0-0 0-1 0-3 2-5 0-0 3-5 1-4 0-0 0-0
0-0 1-2 2-4 13-18 7-9 2-2 1-2 5-7 1-2 0-0
22-57
6-18
32-46
2nd half: 14-29 48.3% 2nd half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd half: 22-32 68.8%
0 1 1 5 2 9 11 5 1 2 3 3 0 2 2 3 0 2 2 0 1 1 2 5 0 0 0 4 1 4 5 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 3 1 4 9 24 33 29
TP
A TO Blk Stl
Min
2 3 2 21 15 6 18 12 3 0
0 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 3 5 1 0 2 2 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
82
7 14
0
5 200
Game: 22-57 38.6% Game: 6-18 33.3% Game: 32-46 69.6%
11 13 32 36 32 20 19 27 3 7
Deadball Rebounds 7
Oregon State 99 • 1-0 ##
03 12 00 01 05 04 11 15 22 24 32
Total 3-Ptr Rebounds FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF
Player
Tinkle, Tres Eubanks, Drew McLaughlin, JaQuori Thompson Jr, Stephen Thompson, Ethan Hollins, Alfred Reichle, Zach Sanders, Tanner Smith, Xavier Manuel, Kendal Berger, Seth Team Totals
f f g g g
8-11 3-5 2-5 6-11 7-14 4-6 1-5 0-0 0-0 2-4 1-2
2-3 0-0 0-2 0-3 2-5 0-1 0-3 0-0 0-0 1-3 0-0
6-6 10-11 0-0 4-7 4-7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-4 0-0
0 6 6 4 2 5 7 5 0 4 4 5 2 4 6 1 1 7 8 2 2 0 2 5 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 1 0 1 1 5 4 0 4 1 26-35 11 33 44 33
TP
24 16 4 16 20 8 2 0 0 7 2
A TO Blk Stl
2 0 5 3 5 0 1 0 0 1 0
1 2 4 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 1
0 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 1 0
Min
27 23 27 30 38 14 12 2 1 21 5
With under 10 minutes left in the contest the 34-63 5-20 99 17 13 7 7 200 T-Birds went on a 7-0 run, spurred by back-toback baskets from Brandon Better to keep the Beaver lead at 20 when the second media timeout was called. 28 54 82 Down the stretch the Beavers were able to keep 51 48 99 the Thunderbirds at arms length, ultimately winning the contest 99-82. “In the first half we settled, we took a lot of bad shots which we can attribute a little bit to nervousness,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “In the second half we had driving lanes and could play some physical basketball. We got to the line and were able to make some things happen in the paint.” FG % 1st Half: 18-31 58.1% 3FG % 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% FT % 1st Half: 11-14 78.6%
2nd half: 16-32 50.0% 2nd half: 1-9 11.1% 2nd half: 15-21 71.4%
Game: 34-63 54.0% Game: 5-20 25.0% Game: 26-35 74.3%
Deadball Rebounds 3
Officials: Ruben Ramos, Nate Harris, Ken Ditty Technical fouls: Southern Utah-Musoko, Christian. Oregon State-Eubanks, Drew; TEAM. Attendance: 4588 Score by periods Southern Utah Oregon State
1st
2nd
Total
In his debut as a Thunderbird, Jadon Cohee had 21 points to lead the way for the Thunderbirds offensively. Simon said he was impressed with Cohee’s performance, especially considering this was his first official game in well over a year. “With this being his first game back, and having to sit out a season, he had to get his timing right and had to focus on getting back into the rhythm,” he said. Better used 15 second half points to finish the night with 18. James McGee dropped in 15 and Calloway finished with 12. The Thunderbirds had three players foul out in the contest and had 29 total fouls called against them. In total, there were 62 fouls called in Friday night’s contest. “I think in the first half we needed to make an adjustment to the new rules,” Simon said. “We’ve got to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble and being able to keep our rotations the way we want them.” Tres Tinkle dropped in 24 for the Beavers on Friday night to lead all scorers.
S OUT H E RN U TA H T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ Boise State BOISE, Idaho - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team wrapped up their first road trip of the season on Sunday, falling to the Boise State Broncos 9069 at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho. “It was a tale of two games for us,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “For the first 13 minutes we played well and held a lead, but Boise’s a team of runs that can put up a lot of points in a hurry, and they did that.” The Thunderbirds got off to a hot start, as Jadon Cohee knocked down back-to-back triples to start the contest for Southern Utah. After being tied at the first media timeout, the T-Birds took control as Jamal Aytes hit two shots in a row down in the painted area to take a 12-8 advantage. SUU held the lead until after the second to last media timeout, which is when the Broncos started getting hot. Over the last eight and a half minutes of the opening frame, the Broncos went on a 2615 run to take control and enter halftime with a 42-29 advantage. In the second half the Broncos were able to stay consistent, and held the lead the remainder of the contest. Boise State eventually took a 90-69 victory. Aytes led all scorers in the contest, finishing the game with 27 points and seven rebounds. Aytes had 17 of his 27 in the second half. “He was a point of emphasis for us, wanting to keep him out of foul trouble and keeping him on the floor,” Simon said. “He’s such an offensive weapon and it’s always going to be good for us to get those minutes.” Cohee also had a solid game for the T-Birds, scoring 19 points over the course of 36 minutes of play. He also had three rebounds and three assists. James McGee finished with double-digits, scoring 10 points on Sunday. Justinian Jessup led the Broncos with 22 points on Sunday, with Alex Hobbs also dropping in 19 points. “We feel like we’ve got a lot of work to do on the defensive end, and we’ve got some guys that are still learning to guard on the D1 level,” Simon said. “And we need to get some more consistency, so we’ll get back in the lab and get working on those things.”
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: San Jose State @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - In their home opener, the Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up a victory over the San Jose State Spartans out of the Mountain West Conference 81-69. “Incredibly proud of the guys,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “We’re starting to see the fruits of their labor … and we showed a lot of maturity where we led the game from beginning to end for the most part.” The Thunderbirds are now 1-2 on the season, while the Spartans moved to the same record after coming in the game 1-1. Brandon Better was the story of the opening half for the Thunderbirds. He scored 15 points in 11 minutes of play, shooting 4-of-7 from behind the three point line. The Thunderbirds led the majority of the time in the opening half, and were able to create some separation around the six minute mark as they capped off a 8-0 run to go up 23-12. For a time, Better himself was outscoring the Spartans at 1514. The T-Birds went into the break with a 32-20 advantage, draining five threes in the opening frame. “I just saw that we were playing off our defense, and we were getting a lot of steals getting into passing lanes and my teammates were really moving the ball so we got open shots, and I felt really good stepping in and making those shots,” Better said. The Spartans started hot in the second half, hitting their first five field goals. The Thunderbirds were able to keep pace though, not letting their lead dip under 10 until there was 13 minutes left in the contest. However, the Thunderbirds never let the Spartans get closer than eight in the second half, and picked up a 81-69 victory at home. This was Southern Utah’s first victory over a Mountain West Conference opponent since they knocked off the University of Utah in 2006. Jadon Cohee ended up leading the Thunderbirds in scoring, dropping in 19 on Thursday night. Cohee and Dre Marin combined for 11 assists and only three turnovers. “It feels good man, honestly,” Cohee said post game. “We had a couple tough ones against two really good teams, but Brandon came out in the opening half and starting hooping and brought our whole team energy up, and then we finished it.”
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Benedictine at Mesa @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up a 85-68 victory on Tuesday night in the America First Event Center, as they defeated the Benedictine at Mesa Redhawks with hot three-point shooting from their senior leader. The first three baskets of the game came off the hand of James McGee, and all of them were from behind the three-point line propelling the T-Birds to a quick start offensively. Jadon Cohee quickly got in on the act, as he knocked down a triple to keep SUU’s three-point streak to start the game alive. The first 12 points SUU scored came off three point buckets. The Redhawks kept it close, however, as the score sat at 16-11 at the first media timeout. McGee said it was vital to get the first couple baskets to go down, and getting started fast is something the Thunderbirds will have to work on moving forward. “Last game I came out slow, I think I airballed my first two, but as a team we have a real problem with coming out hot, so it’s important,” he said. After the first five minutes, the Redhawks used red hot shooting to hold a lead for the following 10 minutes. With under eight minutes to play Benedictine was still shooting over 60 percent from the field. Down the stretch of the opening half Dre Marin was able to get going offensively. He dropped in 12 points in the opening 20 minutes to keep the T-Birds ahead of the Redhawks down the stretch of the opening frame. The T-Birds held a 43-39 lead at the break. McGee had 14 at the break to lead the T-Birds. The Thunderbirds were able to keep the Redhawks at arms length for the majority of the second half. “In the first 11 minutes it wasn’t acceptable what we were doing defensively,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “Coming out and scoring all those points early I think we thought we could trade baskets, and we’ve got to do a better job respecting and getting the stops we need and dialing in on that.” The Thunderbirds won the contest 85-68. McGee finished with 25 points and shot 6-of-6 from behind the three-point line. That performance moved him into the No. 9 spot in the Big Sky Conference in the three-point makes category. “He really brought it,” Simon said. “We came out a little flat in a few positions, but from the get go he was dialed in on both ends of the floor.”
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ UNLV LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team was in Las Vegas on Saturday night for a matchup with the Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV. Despite a strong second half from the T-Birds, the Rebels were able to claim victory with a 101-82 advantage.
Official Basketball Box Score -- Game Totals -- Final Statistics Southern Utah vs UNLV 11/25/17 7:00 PM at Tarkanian Court, Thomas & Mack Center Southern Utah 82 • 2-3 ##
10 34 02 12 14
“We had tremendous effort and as a coach that’s all you want,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “Guys tried and they left it all on the floor. At the end of the day we’re a couple healthy bodies away from getting over the top.” The Thunderbirds got started with hot three-point shooting once again, as Brandon Better and Jacob Calloway both hit triples to start the contest for the Thunderbirds. However the Rebels got out to an equally hot start. Coming out of the first media timeout Jamal Aytes went to work, hitting three straight baskets to pull the Thunderbirds within one. Through the remainder of the opening half UNLV was able to pull away a bit, and took a 50-38 lead into the halftime break.
01 15 22 30 33
Total 3-Ptr Rebounds FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF
Player
CALLOWAY, Jacob MUSOKO, Christian BETTER, Brandon COHEE, Jadon MCGEE, James JACKSON, Jamil AYTES, Jamal MADUNIC, Ivan GRAVES, Elijah JOHNSON, Matthew Team Totals
f c g g g
FG % 1st Half: 15-38 39.5% 3FG % 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% FT % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3%
5-9 2-4 4-15 10-19 3-4 0-1 9-19 1-6 0-0 1-1
2-2 0-0 2-9 1-3 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-3 0-0 0-0
2-2 0-0 0-0 3-4 0-1 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0
35-78
6-19
6-9
2nd half: 20-40 50.0% 2nd half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd half: 1-3 33.3%
4 0 4 5 1 0 1 2 0 2 2 4 0 4 4 4 0 1 1 5 0 0 0 0 3 7 10 4 4 8 12 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 5 15 25 40 27
TP
14 4 10 24 7 0 19 2 0 2
A TO Blk Stl
0 0 2 5 1 2 0 3 0 0
Min
0 1 2 3 1 1 0 1 0 2
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
1 0 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 1
82 13 11
4
9 200
Game: 35-78 44.9% Game: 6-19 31.6% Game: 6-9 66.7%
19 14 36 40 24 16 22 23 1 5
Deadball Rebounds 2
UNLV 101 • 6-0 ##
44 01 10 24 30 02 03 11 14 34
Total 3-Ptr Rebounds FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF
Player
MCCOY, Brandon CLYBURN, Kris JUISTON, Shakur JOHNSON, Jordan MOORING, Jovan SMITH, Anthony HARDY, Amauri DEMBELE, Cheickna BECK, Tervell DIONG, Cheikh Mbacke Team Totals
FG % 1st Half: 18-37 48.6% 3FG % 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% FT % 1st Half: 10-13 76.9%
f g g g g
6-11 3-8 10-15 7-11 5-10 2-3 2-5 0-1 2-4 0-0
0-0 2-5 0-0 2-3 1-3 1-2 1-3 0-0 0-1 0-0
37-68
7-17
TP
A TO Blk Stl
1 13 14 2 15 0 5 4 0 4 2 12 3 1 6 10 16 3 22 1 1 1 0 1 2 24 14 5 0 1 1 0 12 4 0 1 2 3 3 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 20-30 13 29 42 14 101 25 12
2nd half: 19-31 61.3% 2nd half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd half: 10-17 58.8%
3-4 4-7 2-6 8-9 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-3 0-0
Game: 37-68 54.4% Game: 7-17 41.2% Game: 20-30 66.7%
Min
6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
2 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 0 0
33 27 35 38 30 12 13 4 5 3
8
9 200 Deadball Rebounds 3
Officials: Dick Cartmell, Glen Mayberry, Tom O'Neill Technical fouls: Southern Utah-None. UNLV-None. Attendance: 9543 Score by periods Southern Utah UNLV
1st
38 50
2nd
44 51
Total
82 101
The T-Birds really got going after the first media timeout of the second half. Cohee scored four straight points against the Rebel defense, and a breakaway layup from Better cut the Rebel lead to six and forced the home team to take a timeout. The T-Birds didn’t stop there. With 10:03 to play in the game a layup by Cohee cut the Rebel lead to just one. The two teams would go back and forth for the next four minutes, with SUU cutting the lead down to two on a few separate occasions, but weren’t able to get it any lower than that before the Rebels went on a 8-0 run to extend the lead to 10. UNLV didn’t look back from that point, winning the contest 101-82. Cohee led the T-Birds with 24 points, which also tied him for the most points on the night with UNLV’s Jordan Johnson. Cohee also had five assists and four rebounds. “Individually I felt like I came out a little slow, maybe a little timid honestly,” Cohee said about his performance. “I wasn’t nervous or anything, I just didn’t bring it from the jump. But as a team, I feel like we just battled. We were undermanned, had some injuries, but we were right there until the last six minutes. That a huge step, especially for conference play.” Cohee didn’t sit for a single minute on Saturday, which Simon attributes to his willingness to put it all on the line for his team.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ Pepperidne MALIBU, Calif. - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up their first road victory of the 2017-18 campaign on Wednesday night, knocking off the Pepperdine Waves in Malibu, California 88-82. “It was a tough victory, the guys showed a lot of toughness and resiliency,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. This was Southern Utah’s first victory against a current member of the West Coast Conference since before the turn of the century. The victory moves the Thunderbirds to .500 on the season, as they’ll return to the America First Event Center 3-3. The Waves got out to a fairly fast start at home, but the Thunderbirds quickly countered with a 14-2 run to take a 24-18 lead over Pepperdine. The Thunderbirds held the lead until halftime, where they led 35-29.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle, and the T-Birds lost both Ivan Madunic and Christian Musoko down the stretch due to foul trouble, but some big three point shots by Dre Marin and clutch free throw shooting in the final minutes proved to be the difference as the Thunderbirds left Malibu with the victory. “Dre’s done that in practice throughout, and obviously he’s had some injury issues, but we knew he’d answer the bell and be the Dre that we know,” Simon said. “He’s going to have such a tremendous future, but he’s already a great player for us.” Jamal Aytes led the Thunderbirds with 22 points and seven rebounds in the contest. He finished the fight 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Marin scored a career-high 16 points, including four shot from behind the three point line. James McGee had 14 and Jadon Cohee had 11 to continue the offensive attack for the Thunderbirds. Cohee played all but three minutes of the game on Wednesday. Kameron Edwards was the go-to guy for Pepperdine on Wednesday, finishing the game with a double-double effort of 25 points and 16 rebounds. He was a big reason the Waves kept the game close down the stretch in Firestone Fieldhouse. “We’re proud of our resiliency and that we’ve developing a team toughness that represents our culture,” Simon said. “Guys are hurt, guys are banged up, but we have different guys stepping up every game and it’s becoming truly a team effort. So to have an opportunity on Saturday to get over .500 into December, which hasn’t happened in quite some time at Southern Utah, is progress that we’re really proud of.”
S OUT H E RN U TA H T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: San Diego Christian @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up a wire-to-wire victory on Saturday afternoon inside the America First Event Center, knocking off the Hawks of San Diego Christian 87-68. This is the first time the T-Birds have been over .500 in head coach Todd Simon’s tenure, moving to 4-3 and remaining undefeated at home. Neither team was able to gain too big of an advantage in the opening half. The T-Birds led throughout, but SUU’s lead didn’t get higher than seven until there was under three minutes on the clock. The T-Birds led 41-37 at the break. Simon said the defensive side was his main focus when the team went in for the break. “We’re trying to make progress on the defensive end, we’re a very good offensive team and we continue to be able to score,” Simon said. “I just didn’t think our attention to detail was there in the first half.” The Thunderbirds never trailed in the opening half. In the second half, the T-Birds got going offensively. SUU went on an 18-3 to take a 59-40 lead with under 13 minutes to play in the contest. The T-Birds were able to keep the advantage the remainder of the contest and win 87-68. Brandon Better led the team with 21 points and eight rebounds. He was on top for Southern Utah in both categories. Jadon Cohee finished with 16 points, and Jamal Aytes finished with 14. Both Dre Marin and Christian Musoko finished with 13, leaving the T-Birds with five players in double figures. “What’s good about our team is our balance, we’ve got so many guys that can score,” Cohee said. The Hawks were led by Derek Novsek, who finished the game with 15. Southern Utah will be at home again next week, when they’ll host Long Beach State on December 6. That contest is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Follow the Thunderbirds all season @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Long Beach State @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah men’s basketball team picked up a big victory at home on Wednesday night, as they knocked off the Long Beach State 49ers 94-89 inside the America First Event Center. The win moved the Thunderbirds to 5-3 on the season and 4-0 at home this season. LBSU left Cedar City with a 4-7 record. “Those games are exciting for us as a program because that’s a good team,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “They’ve beaten two Pac-12 teams. They beat a Pac-12 team we lost to on opening day, so as a measuring stick it was significant for us. And the nature of it, I thought Long Beach played very well. They made plays, they scored the ball, they did what they needed to do and we were able to counter that and get buckets when we needed it.” The Thunderbirds started hot, and led 7-2 at the first media timeout. As the first half progressed Long Beach was able to keep it close, but the T-Birds held the lead the entire first half and lead after the first 20 minutes 42-33. As the second half got underway, Long Beach started getting hot and took a 57-55 lead. After that, Brandon Better hit a triple to put the Thunderbirds back out in front. With seven and a half minutes to play the 49ers were out in front, and built their lead up to seven. With 1:16 to play the 49ers were up by two, but Better nailed a layup and got an and-one to go up by two. That was part of SUU’s 7-0 run to put them up 92-86. SUU held off Long Beach in the final seconds, and knocked off The Beach 94-89. “The last four minutes was winning time, and our guys executed, they believed and they made the right plays,” Simon said. Better led the T-Birds with 26 points. Jadon Cohee had 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and also dished out five assists. Both of those numbers were SUU career-highs for Better and Cohee. Christian Musoko notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jamal Aytes scored 12 points and pulled in six rebounds as well for the T-Birds. “We took every punch they hit us with,” Cohee said postgame. “They went up, we went up, and we just kept fighting.”
S OUT H E RN U TA H T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ #3 Michigan State EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team took on the No. 3 team in the country on Saturday, as they went head-to-head with the Michigan State Spartans in a contest the home team eventually took 88-63. “I’m real proud of my guys,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “I thought our guys played really hard, we didn’t quite get enough shots to fall and not enough stops down the stretch, but from a competitive standpoint I’m really proud of the guys.” The Thunderbirds knocked down the first bucket, and held the lead for the first three and half minutes. As the first half wore on, Michigan State got hot and eventually built their lead to as many as 15 with just about two minutes left in the opening frame. The Spartans led at halftime 42-30. It was the second half where the Thunderbirds found their momentum.
The lead stayed right around single digits until the Spartans pushed the lead to 16 with an 8-0 run, and led 74-58 with 5:49 to play. From that point on it was all Spartans, as they took a 88-63 victory. Marin, Calloway and Jadon Cohee all finished the game with 12 points. Cohee had five assists and four rebounds and Marin had five rebounds and four assists. The T-Birds made 11 three point shots over the course of the night. Ivan Madunic also dropped in 10 and pulled in eight rebounds. “We just never gave up,” Cohee said. “That’s becoming a theme for our team, we just kept fighting and kept battling and we just never gave up. We just burnt out in the last eight or nine minutes, and it’s frustrating, I wish we could have those minutes back but I feel like it was a good fight. The score is not indicative of how close the game was.” The Thunderbirds were called for 24 fouls, with Christian Musoko fouling out and four other players ending the game with four fouls. Jaren Jackson Jr., Miles Bridges and Nick Ward all had 17 points for the Spartans. Jackson Jr. finished with a double-double, pulling in 13 rebounds. Bridges reached the same feat with 11 boards himself.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Central Michigan @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbirds of Southern Utah moved to 5-0 at home and 6-4 on the season this afternoon as they knocked off the Chippewas of Central Michigan at the America First Event Center 86-80. “The guys are excited,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “They’re putting the time in and they’re starting to see the fruits of their labor a little bit. Most importantly, the way we were able to defend today was our best defensive effort of the season, so being able to do it on that side of the floor for stretches is good development for us.” The win will also give the Thunderbirds a winning record moving into Big Sky Conference play regardless of the outcome of their final non-conference contest.
Southern Utah got off to a hot start on Saturday, as the T-Birds jumped out to a 30-16 lead over the Chippewas. However, Central Michigan started heating up as the half continued, as an 8-0 run got Central Michigan right back into the contest. The final minutes of the opening half were a backand-forth affair, with the T-Birds taking a 42-40 advantage into the break. Ivan Madunic and Brandon Better led the way offensively for Southern Utah in the opening 20 minutes, as Madunic had 14 and Better had 10. Madunic finished the first half 4-of-5 from behind the three point line. SUU broke out on a 9-2 run to get things going in the second half, creating a little bit of separation between them and the Chippewas. Despite Central Michigan staying within striking distance the entire way, the Thunderbirds never relinquished the lead and eventually pulled away 86-80. Better led all scorers with 17, closely followed by James McGee and Madunic who dropped in 16. Jadon Cohee finished with 12 points and seven assists. “We’re excited, and we’re doing what we said we were going to do,” McGee said. “We said we were going to play as a team and get stops, and we did and the outcome was great. Madunic’s 16 is a new career-high. “We were just so prepared,” Madunic said about the team’s performance. “We practiced really hard this week, coach had a great game plan and we just executed.” Cohee’s seven assists was also a career high. Central Michigan was led by Cecil Williams, who finished with 21 on Saturday.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ Iowa IOWA CITY, Iowa - Southern Utah’s non-conference slate came to a close on Tuesday evening in Iowa City, as the Thunderbirds fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes 92-64. With the result the Thunderbirds moved to 6-5 on the season, and will take that record into Big Sky Conference play next week. “Shots weren’t falling for us and we got in foul trouble early in the first half, and those things kind of compounded each other and we ended up with some different lineups and it proved to be too much for us to overcome,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. The Thunderbirds held an early lead at 3-2, but the Hawkeyes got going in a hurry. Iowa jumped out to a 13-3 lead quickly after that, and held the lead the remainder of the opening half. The Hawkeyes led by 20 after 20 minutes of play. Southern Utah wasn’t able to make much of a dent in the Hawkeye lead in the second half, and the Hawkeyes came away with a victory in the contest.
Brandon Better and Jadon Cohee both finished with 12 points in the game for Southern Utah. Cohee also pulled in six rebounds and dished out five assists. Jamal Aytes and Jacob Calloway both finished with 8 points. Dre Marin had six boards for the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds did some damage from behind the three point line, knocking down eight. “We got to work on a lot of things, but the number one lesson when you’re playing a quality Big Ten team on their floor is that your margin for error is very small,” Simon said. “For the game we didn’t turn it over too bad, but in the first four minutes we had four which put us in a hole early and gives a team like that a lot of confidence on their home floor.” As a team, the Hawkeyes shot 52 percent from the field during the contest. Luka Garza led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 17. Next up for the Thunderbirds will be the start of Big Sky Conference play, as the Thunderbirds will host the Bobcats of Montana State at the America First Event Center on December 28. Follow the Thunderbirds all season @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook. Read all about the Thunderbirds on www.suutbirds.com.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S 2016-17 Season / Big Sky Stats
S OUT H E RN U TAH R ECO R D B O O K INDIVIDUAL RECORDS Points Scored 51 by Skip Mead vs Westminster, 1969-70 Field Goals 23 by Rod Oliver vs Westmont, 1965-66 Field Goal Attempts 30 by Skip Mead vs. Westminster, 1969-70 Field Goal Accuracy Record: 1.000, (9-9), Monte Widdison vs. Redlands, 1978 3-Pt. Field Goals 8 by David Palmer at Denver, 12/6/03 8 by Jason Baker vs UMKC, 1/29/04 8 by Kelvin Lee vs. Cal Poly P. 11/25/89 8 by James McGee vs. Seattle U. 12/19/16 3-Pt. Field Goal Attempts 13 by Jeff Monaco vs. Boston College, 3/15/01 (NCAA Tournament) 13 by Davor Marcelic vs. New Mexico State, 11/27/92 3-Pt. Field Goal Accuracy (min. 4 att.) 1.000, (7-7) Dave Marek vs. IUPUI, 1/29/09 Free Throws Made 24 by Skip Mead vs Westminster, 1970 Free Throw Attempts 28 by Skip Mead vs. Westminster, 1970 Free Throw Percentage 1.000 (19-19) by Skip Mead, 1970 Rebounds 27 by Mel Wadsworth vs. Azusa Pacific, 1966 Assists 15 by Jeff Monaco at Western Illinois, 2/1/01 15 by Steve Hoagland vs. Regis, 1980-81 Blocked Shots 10 by Brad Kanis at Utah Valley, 12/22/06 Individual Single-Game Top-10 Points 51 49 43 42
Skip Mead, ‘70, vs. Westminster Rod Oliver, ‘66, vs. Westmont Davor Marcelic, 91, vs. CS Northridge Richard Barton, ‘91, vs. Denver
42 41 41 40 39 38
Doug Rhodus,’72, vs. Westminster Tim Lewis, ‘70, vs Ft. Lewis Doug Rhodus, ‘71, vs Ft. Lewis John Johnson, ‘66, vs Ft. Lewis Ted Thomas, ‘88 vs US International David Palmer, 04 vs Denver
Rebounds – Game 27 Mel Wadsworth, 1966 25 Gil Mullen, 1970 23 Al Winfield, 1971 23 Eddie Owens, 1970 22 Quinton Davis, ‘76 vs LA Baptist 22 Eddie Owens, 1970 22 John Carey, 1967 20 Kerry Sherwood, ‘91 vs Wisconsin-Mil. 19 Butch Douglas, ‘79 vs Western State Assists – Game 15 Jeff Monaco, 00-01, at Western Illinois 15 Steve Hoagland, 79-80 14 Rod Dixon, 90-91, vs. Denver 13 Jeff Monaco, 98-99, vs IUPUI 13 Maz Trakh, 85-86, vs. Grand Canyon 12 Jay Collins, 02-03, vs Long Beach State 12 Maz Trakh, 85-86, vs LaVerne 12 Trent Scarlet, 84-85 vs Adams State 11 Geoff Payne, 07-08, vs Centenary* Steals – Game 9 Frederick House, vs W. Oregon, 12-19-00 9 Frederick House, vs Idaho State, 11-25-00 8 Jeff Monaco, at Utah, 1-1-00 7 Dana Achtzehn, at Stanford, 1-2-92 7 Keith Berard, vs Humbold State, 11-25-94 7 Frederick House, vs Western Illinois, 3-5-00 7 Frederick House, vs Oakland, 2-10-00 7 Frederick House, vs Montana, 11-29-99 6 Geoff Payne at UMKC, 1-12-08* Blocked Shots – Game 10 Brad Kanis, at Utah Valley, 2007 7 Sean Allen, vs. Northwest Nazarene 1994 6 Matt Hodgson vs. IPFW, 2010 6 Sean Allen, at Cal Poly, 1995 6 Sean Allen vs Sacramento State, 1995 5 Ivan Madunic vs. Loyola Marymount, 2016 5 Cal Hanks vs. North Dakota, 2012 5 Jayson Cheesman at Gonzaga, 2012 5 Kenyatta Clyde vs. Weber State, 1998 5 Sean Allen vs Eastern Washington, 1993 *Mark reached multiple times, most recent is listed
S OUT H E RN U TAH R ECO R D B O O K INDIVIDUAL RECORDS Points Scored 143 vs. Westminster, 2/17/70 Fewest Points Allowed 34 vs. Montana Tech, 12/19/02 (vs. all opponents) 35 at Chicago State, 2/16/02 (vs. Division I opponent) Field Goals Made 58 vs. South Alabama, 12/10/94 Field Goal Attempts 106 vs. Cal Baptist, 1976-77 Field Goal Percentage .780 vs. Montana Tech, 12/19/02 (vs. all opponents) .696 vs. Cal State Northridge, 1/30/93 (vs. Division I opponent) 3-Pt. Field Goals 16 vs. NAU 12/31/16 15 vs. UTSA, 11/30/14 14 vs. South Alabama, 12/10/94 14 at Chicago State, 2/26/00 14 vs. Oakland, 2/23/06 14 vs. Seattle U. 3-Pt. Field Goal Attempts 39 vs Seattle U. 12/17/16 32 vs Portland State, 1/14/17 30 vs. Cal Poly SLO, 2/8/96 30 at Sacramento State, 11/22/99
Additional Single-Game Team Records High Score: 143 vs. Westminster, 2/17/70 (SUU 143, Westminster 106) – H High Road Score: 140 vs. South Alabama, 12/10/94 (SUU 140, USA 72) – N High Opponent Score: 132 by Oklahoma, 12/20/88 at Oklahoma (SUU 64) High Opponent Score at Home: 121 by Grand Canyon, 1987-88 (SUU 101) High Losing Score: 106 vs. UNLV, 2/12/68 (UNLV 109, SUU 106) Opponent High Losing Score: 111 by Westmont(1965-66) and Adams State (1968-69) (SUU 132, Westmont 111 and SUU 125, Adams State 111) Largest Winning Margin: 68 vs. South Alabama,12/10/94 (SUU 140, USA 72) Largest Losing Margin: 68 vs. Oklahoma 12/20/88 (Oklahoma 132, SUU 64) Highest Combined Score: 249, SUU 143, Westminster 106, 2/17/70 Selected Career Records
3-Pt. Field Goal Percentage (min. 10 att) .833 (10-12) at CS Northridge, 3/1/91 Free Throws Made 54 vs. Bethesda University, 11/18/16 44 vs. Weber State, 12/14/91 Free Throw Attempts 78 vs. Bethesda University, 11/18/16 51 vs. Cal State Los Angeles, 1984-85 51 vs. Weber State, 12/14/91 Free Throw Percentage 1.000 (14-14) vs. Western New Mexico, 1980-81 Rebounds 98 vs. Greenville, 1967-68 98 vs. Los Angeles Baptist, 1976-77 Assists 36 vs. South Alabama, 1994-95 36 vs. New Mexico Highlands, 1980-81
Blocked Shots – Career 113 Sean Allen, 93-95 99 Matt Hodgson, 09-11 85 Kenyatta Clyde, 97-99 68 Tarvish Felton, 96-99 67 Jayson Cheesman, 12-13 59 Kerry Sherwood, 89-91 55 Donnie Jackson, 01-03 46 Frederick House, 1999-2001 45 Richard Barton, 86-87, 90-93 38 Cal Hanks, 11-13
#BigSkyMBB STANDINGS SCHOOL (As of 12/27/17) CONF OVERALL STREAK Portland State Northern Colorado Idaho Montana Weber State Southern Utah Montana State Idaho State Eastern Washington North Dakota Northern Arizona Sacramento State
0-0 10-3 W2 0-0 9-4 L1 0-0 8-4 L1 0-0 7-5 L1 0-0 7-5 W3 0-0 6-5 L1 0-0 7-6 L1 0-0 5-6 W1 0-0 5-8 W2 0-0 4-7 L4 0-0 3-10 W1 0-0 3-10 L2
Date
Name of School......................................... Southern Utah University Location.................................................................. Cedar City, Utah Enrollment................................................................................8,881 Colors............................................................. Red, White and Black America First Event Center Capacity........................................4,800 Conference........................................................ Big Sky Conference Athletics Website............................................... www.suutbirds.com
Coaching Staff
Head Coach.............................Todd Simon, Second Season (12-31) Assistant Coach/Year..............................John Wardenburg, Second Assistant Coach/Year..........................................Chris Pompey, First Assistant Coach/Year....................................... Trent Angelucci, First
President..................................................................... Scott L. Wyatt Athletic Director........................................................Debbie Corum Deputy Director of Athletics......................................Andrew Parrish Asst. AD/Student-Athlete Engagement/SWA........... Chanel Barnes Deputy AD/External Affairs.............................................. Frank Pucher Assoc. AD/Compliance................................................. Todd Brown Asst. AD/Business Operations....................................David Thompson Assoc. AD/Internal Ops. and Student-Athlete Welfare........ Dan Moye Asst. AD/Marketing........................................................ Nick Barlett Director of Strategic Communication.......................... Bryson Lester
@SUUBasketball
Schedule 2017-18 Record: 6-5
University Information
Administration
OPPONENT:
Opponent
Nov 3 Nov 10 Nov 12 Nov 16 Nov 21 Nov 25 Nov 29 Dec 2 Dec 6 Dec 9 Dec 16 Dec 19 Dec 28 Dec 30 Jan 4 Jan 6 Jan 13 Jan 18 Jan 20 Jan 25 Jan 27 Feb 1 Feb 3 Feb 10 Feb 15 Feb 17 Feb 22 Feb 24 Mar 1 Mar 3
Concordia (Ex.) Oregon State Boise State San Jose State Benedictine at Mesa UNLV Pepperdine San Diego-Christian Long Beach State #3 Michigan State Central Michigan Iowa Montana State* Montana* Idaho State* Weber State* Northern Arizona* Idaho* Eastern Washington* Montana* Montana State* Weber State* Idaho State* Northern Arizona* North Dakota* Northern Colorado* Portland State* Sacramento State* Eastern Washington* Idaho*
Location
Time (MT)
Cedar City, Utah Corvallis, Ore. Boise, Idaho Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Las Vegas, Nev. Malibu, Calif. Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah East Lansing, Mich. Cedar City, Utah Iowa City, Iowa Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Pocatello, Idaho Ogden, Utah Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Missoula, Mont. Bozeman, Mont. Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Flagstaff, Ariz. Grand Forks, N.D. Greeley, Colo. Cedar City, Utah Cedar City, Utah Cheney, Wash. Moscow, Idaho
101-84 (W) 82-99 (L) 69-90 (L) 81-69 (W) 85-68 (W) 82-101 (L) 88-82 (W) 87-68 (W) 94-89 (W) 63-88 (L) 86-80 (W) 64-92 (L) 6:30 PM 12:30 PM 7 PM 7 PM 2 PM 6:30 PM 12:30 PM 7 PM 2 PM 6:30 PM 12:30 PM 2 PM 6 PM 7 PM 6:30 PM 12:30 PM 7:05 PM 8 PM
* Conference Game Home Games are in Red
@SUUBasketball
Southern Utah Basketball
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Numerical Roster No. 1 2 4 5 10 12 13 14 15 22 23 25 30 32 33 34 44
Name
Jamil Jackson Brandon Better Dre Marin Jordan Lyons Jacob Calloway Jadon Cohee Taelin Webb James McGee Jamal Aytes Ivan Madunic Cameron Oluyitan Dwayne Morgan Elijah Graves Andre Adams Matthew Johnson Christian Musoko Joel Swallow
Pos. Ht. G/F G G G/F F G G G F F/C G/F F G/F F G F/C F
Alphabetical Roster No. 32 15 2 10 12 30 1 33 5 22 4 14 25 34 23 44 13
Name
Andre Adams Jamal Aytes Brandon Better Jacob Calloway Jadon Cohee Elijah Graves Jamil Jackson Matthew Johnson Jordan Lyons Ivan Madunic Dre Marin James McGee Dwayne Morgan Christian Musoko Cameron Oluyitan Joel Swallow Taelin Webb
6-6 6-3 5-11 6-7 6-8 6-4 5-11 6-2 6-6 6-11 6-7 6-8 6-4 6-9 6-4 6-8 6-9
Pos. Ht. F F G F G G/F G/F G G/F F/C G G F F/C G/F F G
6-9 6-6 6-3 6-8 6-4 6-4 6-6 6-4 6-7 6-11 5-11 6-2 6-8 6-8 6-7 6-9 5-11
Wt. Yr. 190 185 165 200 205 200 195 200 240 225 190 218 210 230 210 245 230
So. Jr. Fr. Fr. So. RJr. Jr. RSr. Sr. So. RJr. RJr. Sr. RSo. Jr. Sr. RSo.
Hometown (HS/Prev. School)
Wt.
Yr.
Hometown (HS/Prev. School)
230 240 185 205 200 210 190 210 200 225 165 200 218 245 190 230 195
RSo. Sr. Jr. So. RJr. Sr. So. Jr. Fr. So. Fr. RSr. RJr. Sr. RJr. RSo. Jr.
Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis HS/Willston State) Suitland, Md. (Crossland HS/Moberly Area CC) Glendale, Ariz. (Apollo HS) Brampton, Ontario (Athlete Institute Prep) Juneau, Ak. (On Point Academy) Langley, Bridish Columbia (Walnut Grove Secondary/Seattle) Fresno, Calif. (Elanor Roosevelt HS/CSUN) San Clemente, Calif. (Mater Dei HS) San Diego, Calif. (JSerra Catholic HS/BYU) Split, Croatia Sugarland, Texas (Clements HS/Boise State) Baltimore, Maryland (St. Frances Academy/UNLV) Las Vegas, Nev. (Liberty HS) Avondale, Ariz. (Westview HS/Arizona State) Las Vegas, Nev. (Coronado HS) Kinshasa, Congo (Layton Christian HS/Salt Lake CC) Flowell, Utah (Millard HS)
Avondale, Ariz. (Westview HS/Arizona State) San Diego, Calif. (JSerra Catholic HS/BYU) Suitland, Md. (Crossland HS/Moberly Area CC) Juneau, Ak. (On Point Academy) Langley, Bridish Columbia (Walnut Grove Secondary/Seattle) Las Vegas, Nev. (Liberty HS) Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis HS/Willston State) Las Vegas, Nev. (Coronado HS) Brampton, Ontario (Athlete Institute Prep) Split, Croatia Glendale, Ariz. (Apollo HS) San Clemente, Calif. (Mater Dei HS) Baltimore, Maryland (St. Frances Academy/UNLV) Kinshasa, Congo (Layton Christian HS/Salt Lake CC) Sugarland, Texas (Clements HS/Boise State) Flowell, Utah (Millard HS) Fresno, Calif. (Elanor Roosevelt HS/CSUN)
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Jamal Aytes - A-tes Jadon Cohee - Jay-den Co-he Ivan Madunic - E-Von Ma-doon-each Christian Musoko - Moo-so-ko Taelin Webb - Tay-lin
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Head Coach
TODD SIMON Todd Simon is entering his second year at the helm of the Southern Utah University men’s basketball team after being named the head coach on March 24, 2016. Simon led the Thunderbirds to a first-round win at the Big Sky Road to Reno Conference Tournament with a triple overtime victory over Montana State. The Thunderbirds concluded the season with a 6-27 overall record and a 3-15 conference record. Simon was named interim head coach of the UNLV men’s basketball program in January 2016 and immediately led them to three consecutive victories. During Simon’s 17 games, the Runnin’ Rebels ranked as the number one team in the nation in adjusted tempo, scoring more than 100 points in four games. UNLV finished with a 9-8 record, despite playing with as few as five scholarship players. Prior to being named interim head coach, Simon was in his third year as associate head coach with UNLV and had a critical role in assembling UNLV’s roster, which Rivals.com ranked its 2014 recruiting class #5 in the nation, while the 2015 class was ranked #11. Prior to his tenure as a Runnin’ Rebel, Simon served Findlay Prep for seven years in both head and assistant coaching roles. As head coach at Findlay Prep in 2012-2013, he led the team to a 35-1 record, including eight wins over top-25 ranked teams. The 35 victories are the most wins in school history. During Simon’s tenure at Findlay Prep, they accumulated an overall record of 192-9. During his career Simon has helped develop and coach several players that have become top NBA draft picks, including Anthony Bennett, who was selected as the top overall pick in 2013, Rashad Vaughn, who was picked No. 17 in 2015, and Avery Bradley. Other NBA player’s Simon has coached in his career include Christian Wood, Jorge Gutierrez, Cory Joseph, DeAndre Liggins, Nick Johnson and Tristan Thompson. A native of Fowler, Mich., Simon earned his bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan with a double major in sport studies and management information systems in 2003. He earned his master’s degree from UNLV in sport education leadership in 2010. Todd and his wife, Kati, have three boys: Rece (4) and Raylan (3) and Ryder (3.5 months).
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Southern Utah Coaching Staff John Wardenburg, Assistant Coach (Second Year) Assistant coach John Wardenburg is under his second season on the Thunderbird staff
after joining head coach Todd Simon in May of 2016.record. Wardenburg spent nine years as an assistant basketball coach at Brigham Young University, from May 2001 to July 2010. During that span the Cougars made the NCAA Tournament six times and played in the NIT two times. He was also a part of four conference titles. While at BYU he coached several All-Americans including Kyle Collinsworth, Tyler Haws, Jimmer Fredette, Lee Cummard, Keena Young, Trent Plaisted and Rafael Araujo.
Chris Pompey, Assistant Coach (First Year)
Chris Pompey joined the Thunderbird basketball coaching staff in June of 2017. Pompey joins the Thunderbird family with 17 years of collegiate coaching experience, most recently spending four seasons with the Cal State Northridge Matadors. Last season, Pompey was rated the 5th best low to mid major assistant coach by Basketball Times. In is first year at Northridge, he helped compile a top 40 recruiting class.
Trent Angelucci, Assistant Coach (Second Year, First as Assistant)
Trent Angelucci was promoted to assistant coach in June of 2017 after serving as a special assistant to the head coach during the 2016-17 campaign. Angelucci’s duties last season included preparing and analyzing film edits for scouting purposes along with breaking down opponent’s offenses for trends or statistical analysis. Angelucci played a significant role in the Thunderbird’s first-round triple overtime victory over Montana State at the Big Sky Road to Reno Conference Tournament.
Bryce Martin, Director of Basketball Operations (Second Year)
Bryce Martin is in his second season as the director of basketball operations for Southern Utah University basketball after joining the staff in September of 2016. Martin’s responsibilities include handling the program’s budget, all aspects of team and recruiting travel, academic development. He is the primary liaison with University and Athletic Administration, community service groups and opposing schools. Martin also serves as assistant director of Southern Utah Boys Basketball Summer Camps.
Mike Nesbitt, Special Assistant (First Year) Mike Nesbitt joined the basketball staff in May 2017. Nesbitt spent the previous two seasons at the University of New Mexico, one year as a player and one as a Graduate Assistant. As a GA, his responsibilities included preparing scouting reports and film edits, organizing and leading group workouts, maintaining the recruiting database, and assisting in all aspects of oncourt coaching.
Flynn Clayman, Special Assistant (First Year)
Flynn Clayman joined the Southern Utah staff in August 2017 as a Graduate Assistant. He previously spent 18 months as the Head Coach of AUSA hoops, based out of Sydney, Australia, coaching players from all over the country. Players coached from AUSA AAU teams and academies have signed at DI schools like Marquette, TCU, Stanford, LSU, Umass, Creighton, Eastern Kentucky, Columbia, Drake, Albany, Yale, Lehigh, Rider, Seattle and Abilene Christian.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Game Preview
MSU (7-6, 0-0) @ SUU (6-5, 0-0) Stream - PlutoTV Radio - KSUB 590 AM Stats - SUUTBIRDS.com Twitter - @SUUBasketball
INTRO With a winning record and an eye on a much improved campaign, the Thunderbird men’s basketball team will kick off Big Sky Conference play this week as they host the Bobcats of Montana State and the Grizzlies of Montana.
NON-CONFERENCE RECAP After taking on a difficult non-conference slate packed with Big Ten, Pac-12 and Mountain West teams among others, the Thunderbirds are making final preparations for conference play with a 6-5 record. The last time the Thunderbird men’s basketball program finished non-conference play above .500 before this season was the 2006-07 season, when the team jumped out to a 10-5 start. This year’s team was only the fourth since the year 2000 at SUU to finish non-conference play with a winning record. After falling to Oregon State and Boise State to start the season, SUU quickly found some positives with a two straight home victories against San Jose State and Benedictine at Mesa. After a solid effort in Las Vegas against UNLV, the Thunderbirds went on a three game winning streak with victories against Pepperdine, San Diego Christian and Long Beach State. SUU’s final three non-conference matchups were a loss at No. 3 Michigan State, despite a strong performance, a victory against Central Michigan at home and a loss on the road to the Big Ten’s Iowa.
STAT LEADERS Jadon Cohee led the offensive effort for the T-Birds during non-conference play, averaging 16.4 points per game. That also puts him 12th in the Big Sky Conference in scoring. Cohee is also second in the Big Sky Conference in assists, with 48 for an average of 4.4 per contest. Brandon Better has averaged 13.6 ppg coming off the bench for Southern Utah, and leads the team in three pointers made with 26. He is ninth in the Big Sky in that category. Ivan Madunic is ninth in the Big Sky in rebounding with an average of 6.1 rebounds per game. He’s also third in the Big Sky in three point field goal percentage (47 percent) and fourth in blocked shots (11). Southern Utah is second in the conference in scoring offense, averaging over 80 points a game. They’re also second in the league in free throw percentage at 73 percent, and turnover margin with a +3.27. The team is third when it comes to assist/turnover ratio at 1.2.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
Game Preview
OPPONENT PREVIEW: MONTANA STATE BOBCATS The Bobcats will head to Cedar City with a 7-6 record, after finishing non-conference play 4-1 at home, 1-5 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites. Tyler Hall was named Preseason MVP of the Big Sky Conference, and currently sits ninth in the Big Sky Conference in terms of scoring with a 17.3 ppg average. He is the top player in the Big Sky Conference when it comes to three pointers made, sinking 42 so far this year for an average of 3.5 per game. Herald Frey averages 14.8 ppg, and leads the team in assists (43) and steals (11). Frey is also second in the Big Sky in terms of free throw percentage.
OPPONENT PREVIEW: MONTANA GRIZZLIES After making a trip to Flagstaff to take on Northern Arizona, the Montana Grizzlies will make their way to Cedar City for a matchup with the T-Birds. The Grizzlies sit with a 7-5 record after Big Sky Conference play, winning three of their last five heading into the Big Sky. Ahmaad Rorie is sixth in the Big Sky when it comes to scoring, with an average of 17.9 ppg. He’s also fourth in the conference in assists (3.7 per game) and seventh in steals (1.7 per game). Michael Oguine is the top player in the Big Sky in terms of offensive rebounding, with a total of 32 so far this season.
BIG SKY AT A GLANCE The Thunderbirds were one of seven teams in the Big Sky to come away with a winning record. Portland State sits on top of the Big Sky with a record of 10-3. The Vikings picked up big wins over Utah State, Stanford and California, giving them two victories against teams from the Pac-12 Conference. Northern Colorado will enter Big Sky play with a 9-4 record, closely followed by Idaho with an 8-4 mark. Montana and Weber State sit at 7-5, with SUU close behind with a 6-5 record. Montana State was the seventh team in the Big Sky to escape non-conference play with a winning record at 7-6.
WORDS FROM COACH SIMON On the biggest improvements he’d like to see from the team heading into conference play... “We’ve got to be better on the glass,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “We’ve got to work on not fouling in the post, and not trying to get everything back on one shot or one possession. We take those lessons and apply them to the league games we think we can have some success.” On the strength of the Big Sky Conference... “I think with all the non-conference wins we’ve posted against a number of leagues shows that the Big Sky is very good this year,” Simon said. “There’s not going to be any easy games. Every game is going to be high level basketball, and we’ve got to be ready and prepared to play clean basketball against all of our opponents.”
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#1 Jamil Jackson
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 8 (11/16/17) Assists: 2 (X2)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 8 (11/16/17) Assists: 2 (X2)
Rebounding: 2 (11/10/17) Rebounding: 2 (11/10/17) Steals: 1 (X2) G/F 6-6
190 So.
Blocks: 1 (11/16/17)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Steals: 1 (X2)
Blocks: 1 (11/16/17)
#2 Brandon Better
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 26 (12/6/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 26 (12/6/17)
Rebounding: 8 (12/2/17)
Rebounding: 8 (12/2/17)
Assists: 2 (X6)
Steals: 3 (12/2/17) G
6-3
185 Jr.
Blocks: 0
Suitland, Maryland
Assists: 2 (X6)
Steals: 3 (12/2/17) Blocks: 0
#4 Dre Marin
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 16 (11/29/17) Assists: 7 (11/16/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 16 (11/29/17) Assists: 7 (11/16/17)
Rebounding: 7 (11/17/17) Rebounding: 7 (11/17/17) Steals: 2 (X4) G
5-11 165 Fr.
Blocks: 0
Glendale, Arizona
Steals: 2 (X4) Blocks: 0
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#5 Jordan Lyons
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 0
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 0
Rebounding: 0
Rebounding: 0
Assists: 1 (12/19/17) Steals: 0 G/F 6-7
200 Fr.
Blocks: 0
Brampton, Ontario
Assists: 1 (12/19/17) Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
#10 Jacob Calloway
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 14 (11/25/17) Assists: 2 (X3)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 19 (11/14/16) Assists: 3 (X2)
Rebounding: 7 (11/21/17) Rebounding: 12 (11/26/16) Steals: 2 (X2) F
6-8
205 So.
Blocks: 1 (X4) Juneau, Alaska
Steals: 2 (X4)
Blocks: 2 (2/23/17)
#12 Jadon Cohee
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 25 (12/6/17) Assists: 7 (11/17/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 25 (12/6/17) Assists: 7 (11/17/17)
Rebounding: 8 (11/21/17) Rebounding: 8 (11/21/17) Steals: 3 (12/2/17) G
6-4
Blocks: 1 (11/21/17)
200 RJr. Langley, British Columbia
Steals: 3 (12/2/17)
Blocks: 1 (11/21/17)
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#13 Taelin Webb
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 0
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 0
Rebounding: 0
Rebounding: 0
Assists: 0 Steals: 0 G
5-11 195 Jr.
Blocks: 0
Fresno, Calif.
Assists: 0 Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
#14 James McGee
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 25 (11/21/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 32 (12/31/16)
Rebounding: 2 (X3)
Rebounding: 7 (12/21/16)
Assists: 4 (12/19/17) Steals: 3 (X2) G
6-2
Blocks: 3 (11/21/17)
200 RSr. San Clemente, California
Assists: 6 (1/21/16) Steals: 4 (X3)
Blocks: 3 (11/21/17)
#15 Jamal Aytes
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 27 (11/12/17) Assists: 3 (11/29/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 27 (11/12/17) Assists: 3 (11/29/17)
Rebounding: 15(11/21/17) Rebounding: 15(11/21/17) Steals: 3 (11/21/17) F
6-6
240 Sr.
Blocks: 1 (11/16/17) San Diego, California
Steals: 3 (11/21/17)
Blocks: 1 (11/16/17)
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#22 Ivan Madunic
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 16 (11/17/17) Assists: 3 (X2)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 16 (11/17/17) Assists: 3 (X2)
Rebounding: 12(11/25/17) Rebounding: 13 (11/18/16) Steals: 3 (12/19/17) F/C
6-11 225 So.
Blocks: 3 (X2) Split, Croatia
Steals: 3 (12/19/17) Blocks: 5 (12/8/16)
#25 Dwayne Morgan
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 0
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 0
Rebounding: 0
Rebounding: 0
Assists: 0 Steals: 0 F
6-8
Blocks: 0
218 RJr. Baltimore, Maryland
Assists: 0 Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
#30 Elijah Graves
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 3 (11/10/17) Assists: 1 (12/2/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 3 (11/10/17) Assists: 1 (12/2/17)
Rebounding: 1 (11/25/17) Rebounding: 0 Steals: 0 G
6-4
200 Jr.
Blocks: 0
Las Vegas, Nevada
Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S
#33 Matthew Johnson
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 7 (12/2/17) Assists: 1 (X2 )
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 18 (1/14/17) Assists: 2 (1/26/17)
Rebounding: 2 (11/21/17) Rebounding: 4 (X2) Steals: 1 (X3) G
6-4
200 Jr.
Blocks: 0
Las Vegas, Nevada
Steals: 1 (X4)
Blocks: 1 (1/28/17)
#34 Christian Musoko
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 14 (12/6/17) Assists: 1 (11/29/17)
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 17 (11/26/16) Assists: 2 (2/9/17)
Rebounding: 11 (11/10/17) Rebounding: 11 (11/10/17) Steals: 1 (X3) F/C
6-8
245 Sr.
Blocks: 3 (12/6/17) Kinshasa, Congo
Steals: 2 (12/17/16) Blocks: 4 (2/23/17)
#44 Joel Swallow
SEASON HIGHS Scoring: 3 (12/19/17) Assists: 0
CAREER HIGHS Scoring: 3 (12/19/17) Assists: 0
Rebounding: 3 (11/10/17) Rebounding: 3 (11/10/17) Steals: 0 F
6-9
Blocks: 0
230 RSo. Flowell, Utah
Steals: 0
Blocks: 0
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S 2017 -18 STATS
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Concordia @ Southern Utah (Exhibition) CEDAR CITY, Utah - In their first action of the 2017-18 campaign, the Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up an exhibition victory over the Concordia Cavaliers 101 - 84. “It was good for us to face a little adversity and sort it out,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “To have a lot of foul trouble, play guys in unique positions and still come out ahead was a positive.” Christian Musoko scored the first points of the season for the Thunderbirds, as the T-Birds jumped out to an early lead. James McGee hit a pair of three-pointers to put the Thunderbirds ahead 10-7 at the first media timeout. The Thunderbirds found some momentum as the half went along, jumping out ahead of the Cavaliers down the stretch of the opening 20 minutes. Led by 17 from transfer Brandon Better in the opening frame, the T-Birds took a commanding 60-38 lead into the halftime break. McGee also hit double-figures in the opening 20 minutes with 11. In the opening half the Thunderbirds shot 44 percent from the field. Down the stretch of the second half the Cavaliers found plenty of momentum, at one point making five straight field goals in a row. However, the Thunderbirds were able to right the ship at the proper time to get back ahead by double digits and ultimately take the victory 101 - 84. McGee finished with a double-double, scoring 23 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. “James is a professional when it comes to being a leader now,” Simon said. “The evolution of him from last season to this season has been spectacular in terms of off the court as a vocal guy and taking ownership of the team.” Better finished with 20 points in his Thunderbird debut. The transfer guard said it was nice to play in front of the Cedar City faithful and he was just trying to execute the gameplan on Friday night. “Coach always tells me to stay aggressive, so I knew that I had to do that and I knew that coming in we were going to have to pound both inside and outside, so that was the game plan coming in,” he said. Christian Musoko finished with 20 points as well for the T-Birds, making it three players over the 20-point threshold. The Thunderbirds will open their regular season next Friday against Oregon State out of the Pac-12 Conference. The following Sunday, the Thunderbirds will be in Idaho to take on Boise State.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ Oregon State CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team opened their 2017-18 campaign Official Basketball Box Score -- Game Totals -- Final Statistics Southern Utah vs Oregon State against the Oregon State Beavers on Friday night, 11/10/17 7:00 PM at Corvallis, Ore. (Gill Coliseum) in a contest the Beavers were able to claim by a Southern Utah 82 • 0-1 Total 3-Ptr Rebounds final score of 99-82. Player FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF ##
15
The Thunderbirds stayed within striking distance for the majority of the opening half. However, with around nine minutes to play the Beavers started to heat up. Over the next 10 minutes Oregon State was able to extend the lead to 23, and that was the deficit the Thunderbirds faced at halftime. But as the second half started, the Thunderbirds wouldn’t go away. Jacob Calloway scored eight in a row for the Thunderbirds to keep the team rolling and confidence high.
34 04 12 14 01 02 10 30 44
Aytes, Jamal Musoko, Christian Marin, Dre Cohee, Jadon Mcgee, James Jackson, Jamil Better, Brandon Calloway, Jacob Graves, Elijah Swallow, Joel Team Totals
FG % 1st Half: 8-28 28.6% 3FG % 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% FT % 1st Half: 10-14 71.4%
f c g g g
1-4 1-3 0-2 4-13 3-7 2-5 7-11 3-9 1-1 0-2
0-0 0-0 0-1 0-3 2-5 0-0 3-5 1-4 0-0 0-0
0-0 1-2 2-4 13-18 7-9 2-2 1-2 5-7 1-2 0-0
22-57
6-18
32-46
2nd half: 14-29 48.3% 2nd half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd half: 22-32 68.8%
0 1 1 5 2 9 11 5 1 2 3 3 0 2 2 3 0 2 2 0 1 1 2 5 0 0 0 4 1 4 5 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 3 1 4 9 24 33 29
TP
A TO Blk Stl
Min
2 3 2 21 15 6 18 12 3 0
0 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 3 5 1 0 2 2 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
82
7 14
0
5 200
Game: 22-57 38.6% Game: 6-18 33.3% Game: 32-46 69.6%
11 13 32 36 32 20 19 27 3 7
Deadball Rebounds 7
Oregon State 99 • 1-0 ##
03 12 00 01 05 04 11 15 22 24 32
Total 3-Ptr Rebounds FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF
Player
Tinkle, Tres Eubanks, Drew McLaughlin, JaQuori Thompson Jr, Stephen Thompson, Ethan Hollins, Alfred Reichle, Zach Sanders, Tanner Smith, Xavier Manuel, Kendal Berger, Seth Team Totals
f f g g g
8-11 3-5 2-5 6-11 7-14 4-6 1-5 0-0 0-0 2-4 1-2
2-3 0-0 0-2 0-3 2-5 0-1 0-3 0-0 0-0 1-3 0-0
6-6 10-11 0-0 4-7 4-7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-4 0-0
0 6 6 4 2 5 7 5 0 4 4 5 2 4 6 1 1 7 8 2 2 0 2 5 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 1 0 1 1 5 4 0 4 1 26-35 11 33 44 33
TP
24 16 4 16 20 8 2 0 0 7 2
A TO Blk Stl
2 0 5 3 5 0 1 0 0 1 0
1 2 4 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 1
0 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 1 0
Min
27 23 27 30 38 14 12 2 1 21 5
With under 10 minutes left in the contest the 34-63 5-20 99 17 13 7 7 200 T-Birds went on a 7-0 run, spurred by back-toback baskets from Brandon Better to keep the Beaver lead at 20 when the second media timeout was called. 28 54 82 Down the stretch the Beavers were able to keep 51 48 99 the Thunderbirds at arms length, ultimately winning the contest 99-82. “In the first half we settled, we took a lot of bad shots which we can attribute a little bit to nervousness,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “In the second half we had driving lanes and could play some physical basketball. We got to the line and were able to make some things happen in the paint.” FG % 1st Half: 18-31 58.1% 3FG % 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% FT % 1st Half: 11-14 78.6%
2nd half: 16-32 50.0% 2nd half: 1-9 11.1% 2nd half: 15-21 71.4%
Game: 34-63 54.0% Game: 5-20 25.0% Game: 26-35 74.3%
Deadball Rebounds 3
Officials: Ruben Ramos, Nate Harris, Ken Ditty Technical fouls: Southern Utah-Musoko, Christian. Oregon State-Eubanks, Drew; TEAM. Attendance: 4588 Score by periods Southern Utah Oregon State
1st
2nd
Total
In his debut as a Thunderbird, Jadon Cohee had 21 points to lead the way for the Thunderbirds offensively. Simon said he was impressed with Cohee’s performance, especially considering this was his first official game in well over a year. “With this being his first game back, and having to sit out a season, he had to get his timing right and had to focus on getting back into the rhythm,” he said. Better used 15 second half points to finish the night with 18. James McGee dropped in 15 and Calloway finished with 12. The Thunderbirds had three players foul out in the contest and had 29 total fouls called against them. In total, there were 62 fouls called in Friday night’s contest. “I think in the first half we needed to make an adjustment to the new rules,” Simon said. “We’ve got to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble and being able to keep our rotations the way we want them.” Tres Tinkle dropped in 24 for the Beavers on Friday night to lead all scorers.
S OUT H E RN U TA H T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ Boise State BOISE, Idaho - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team wrapped up their first road trip of the season on Sunday, falling to the Boise State Broncos 9069 at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho. “It was a tale of two games for us,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “For the first 13 minutes we played well and held a lead, but Boise’s a team of runs that can put up a lot of points in a hurry, and they did that.” The Thunderbirds got off to a hot start, as Jadon Cohee knocked down back-to-back triples to start the contest for Southern Utah. After being tied at the first media timeout, the T-Birds took control as Jamal Aytes hit two shots in a row down in the painted area to take a 12-8 advantage. SUU held the lead until after the second to last media timeout, which is when the Broncos started getting hot. Over the last eight and a half minutes of the opening frame, the Broncos went on a 2615 run to take control and enter halftime with a 42-29 advantage. In the second half the Broncos were able to stay consistent, and held the lead the remainder of the contest. Boise State eventually took a 90-69 victory. Aytes led all scorers in the contest, finishing the game with 27 points and seven rebounds. Aytes had 17 of his 27 in the second half. “He was a point of emphasis for us, wanting to keep him out of foul trouble and keeping him on the floor,” Simon said. “He’s such an offensive weapon and it’s always going to be good for us to get those minutes.” Cohee also had a solid game for the T-Birds, scoring 19 points over the course of 36 minutes of play. He also had three rebounds and three assists. James McGee finished with double-digits, scoring 10 points on Sunday. Justinian Jessup led the Broncos with 22 points on Sunday, with Alex Hobbs also dropping in 19 points. “We feel like we’ve got a lot of work to do on the defensive end, and we’ve got some guys that are still learning to guard on the D1 level,” Simon said. “And we need to get some more consistency, so we’ll get back in the lab and get working on those things.”
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: San Jose State @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - In their home opener, the Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up a victory over the San Jose State Spartans out of the Mountain West Conference 81-69. “Incredibly proud of the guys,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “We’re starting to see the fruits of their labor … and we showed a lot of maturity where we led the game from beginning to end for the most part.” The Thunderbirds are now 1-2 on the season, while the Spartans moved to the same record after coming in the game 1-1. Brandon Better was the story of the opening half for the Thunderbirds. He scored 15 points in 11 minutes of play, shooting 4-of-7 from behind the three point line. The Thunderbirds led the majority of the time in the opening half, and were able to create some separation around the six minute mark as they capped off a 8-0 run to go up 23-12. For a time, Better himself was outscoring the Spartans at 1514. The T-Birds went into the break with a 32-20 advantage, draining five threes in the opening frame. “I just saw that we were playing off our defense, and we were getting a lot of steals getting into passing lanes and my teammates were really moving the ball so we got open shots, and I felt really good stepping in and making those shots,” Better said. The Spartans started hot in the second half, hitting their first five field goals. The Thunderbirds were able to keep pace though, not letting their lead dip under 10 until there was 13 minutes left in the contest. However, the Thunderbirds never let the Spartans get closer than eight in the second half, and picked up a 81-69 victory at home. This was Southern Utah’s first victory over a Mountain West Conference opponent since they knocked off the University of Utah in 2006. Jadon Cohee ended up leading the Thunderbirds in scoring, dropping in 19 on Thursday night. Cohee and Dre Marin combined for 11 assists and only three turnovers. “It feels good man, honestly,” Cohee said post game. “We had a couple tough ones against two really good teams, but Brandon came out in the opening half and starting hooping and brought our whole team energy up, and then we finished it.”
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Benedictine at Mesa @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up a 85-68 victory on Tuesday night in the America First Event Center, as they defeated the Benedictine at Mesa Redhawks with hot three-point shooting from their senior leader. The first three baskets of the game came off the hand of James McGee, and all of them were from behind the three-point line propelling the T-Birds to a quick start offensively. Jadon Cohee quickly got in on the act, as he knocked down a triple to keep SUU’s three-point streak to start the game alive. The first 12 points SUU scored came off three point buckets. The Redhawks kept it close, however, as the score sat at 16-11 at the first media timeout. McGee said it was vital to get the first couple baskets to go down, and getting started fast is something the Thunderbirds will have to work on moving forward. “Last game I came out slow, I think I airballed my first two, but as a team we have a real problem with coming out hot, so it’s important,” he said. After the first five minutes, the Redhawks used red hot shooting to hold a lead for the following 10 minutes. With under eight minutes to play Benedictine was still shooting over 60 percent from the field. Down the stretch of the opening half Dre Marin was able to get going offensively. He dropped in 12 points in the opening 20 minutes to keep the T-Birds ahead of the Redhawks down the stretch of the opening frame. The T-Birds held a 43-39 lead at the break. McGee had 14 at the break to lead the T-Birds. The Thunderbirds were able to keep the Redhawks at arms length for the majority of the second half. “In the first 11 minutes it wasn’t acceptable what we were doing defensively,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “Coming out and scoring all those points early I think we thought we could trade baskets, and we’ve got to do a better job respecting and getting the stops we need and dialing in on that.” The Thunderbirds won the contest 85-68. McGee finished with 25 points and shot 6-of-6 from behind the three-point line. That performance moved him into the No. 9 spot in the Big Sky Conference in the three-point makes category. “He really brought it,” Simon said. “We came out a little flat in a few positions, but from the get go he was dialed in on both ends of the floor.”
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ UNLV LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team was in Las Vegas on Saturday night for a matchup with the Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV. Despite a strong second half from the T-Birds, the Rebels were able to claim victory with a 101-82 advantage.
Official Basketball Box Score -- Game Totals -- Final Statistics Southern Utah vs UNLV 11/25/17 7:00 PM at Tarkanian Court, Thomas & Mack Center Southern Utah 82 • 2-3 ##
10 34 02 12 14
“We had tremendous effort and as a coach that’s all you want,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “Guys tried and they left it all on the floor. At the end of the day we’re a couple healthy bodies away from getting over the top.” The Thunderbirds got started with hot three-point shooting once again, as Brandon Better and Jacob Calloway both hit triples to start the contest for the Thunderbirds. However the Rebels got out to an equally hot start. Coming out of the first media timeout Jamal Aytes went to work, hitting three straight baskets to pull the Thunderbirds within one. Through the remainder of the opening half UNLV was able to pull away a bit, and took a 50-38 lead into the halftime break.
01 15 22 30 33
Total 3-Ptr Rebounds FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF
Player
CALLOWAY, Jacob MUSOKO, Christian BETTER, Brandon COHEE, Jadon MCGEE, James JACKSON, Jamil AYTES, Jamal MADUNIC, Ivan GRAVES, Elijah JOHNSON, Matthew Team Totals
f c g g g
FG % 1st Half: 15-38 39.5% 3FG % 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% FT % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3%
5-9 2-4 4-15 10-19 3-4 0-1 9-19 1-6 0-0 1-1
2-2 0-0 2-9 1-3 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-3 0-0 0-0
2-2 0-0 0-0 3-4 0-1 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0
35-78
6-19
6-9
2nd half: 20-40 50.0% 2nd half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd half: 1-3 33.3%
4 0 4 5 1 0 1 2 0 2 2 4 0 4 4 4 0 1 1 5 0 0 0 0 3 7 10 4 4 8 12 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 5 15 25 40 27
TP
14 4 10 24 7 0 19 2 0 2
A TO Blk Stl
0 0 2 5 1 2 0 3 0 0
Min
0 1 2 3 1 1 0 1 0 2
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
1 0 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 1
82 13 11
4
9 200
Game: 35-78 44.9% Game: 6-19 31.6% Game: 6-9 66.7%
19 14 36 40 24 16 22 23 1 5
Deadball Rebounds 2
UNLV 101 • 6-0 ##
44 01 10 24 30 02 03 11 14 34
Total 3-Ptr Rebounds FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF
Player
MCCOY, Brandon CLYBURN, Kris JUISTON, Shakur JOHNSON, Jordan MOORING, Jovan SMITH, Anthony HARDY, Amauri DEMBELE, Cheickna BECK, Tervell DIONG, Cheikh Mbacke Team Totals
FG % 1st Half: 18-37 48.6% 3FG % 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% FT % 1st Half: 10-13 76.9%
f g g g g
6-11 3-8 10-15 7-11 5-10 2-3 2-5 0-1 2-4 0-0
0-0 2-5 0-0 2-3 1-3 1-2 1-3 0-0 0-1 0-0
37-68
7-17
TP
A TO Blk Stl
1 13 14 2 15 0 5 4 0 4 2 12 3 1 6 10 16 3 22 1 1 1 0 1 2 24 14 5 0 1 1 0 12 4 0 1 2 3 3 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 20-30 13 29 42 14 101 25 12
2nd half: 19-31 61.3% 2nd half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd half: 10-17 58.8%
3-4 4-7 2-6 8-9 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-3 0-0
Game: 37-68 54.4% Game: 7-17 41.2% Game: 20-30 66.7%
Min
6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
2 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 0 0
33 27 35 38 30 12 13 4 5 3
8
9 200 Deadball Rebounds 3
Officials: Dick Cartmell, Glen Mayberry, Tom O'Neill Technical fouls: Southern Utah-None. UNLV-None. Attendance: 9543 Score by periods Southern Utah UNLV
1st
38 50
2nd
44 51
Total
82 101
The T-Birds really got going after the first media timeout of the second half. Cohee scored four straight points against the Rebel defense, and a breakaway layup from Better cut the Rebel lead to six and forced the home team to take a timeout. The T-Birds didn’t stop there. With 10:03 to play in the game a layup by Cohee cut the Rebel lead to just one. The two teams would go back and forth for the next four minutes, with SUU cutting the lead down to two on a few separate occasions, but weren’t able to get it any lower than that before the Rebels went on a 8-0 run to extend the lead to 10. UNLV didn’t look back from that point, winning the contest 101-82. Cohee led the T-Birds with 24 points, which also tied him for the most points on the night with UNLV’s Jordan Johnson. Cohee also had five assists and four rebounds. “Individually I felt like I came out a little slow, maybe a little timid honestly,” Cohee said about his performance. “I wasn’t nervous or anything, I just didn’t bring it from the jump. But as a team, I feel like we just battled. We were undermanned, had some injuries, but we were right there until the last six minutes. That a huge step, especially for conference play.” Cohee didn’t sit for a single minute on Saturday, which Simon attributes to his willingness to put it all on the line for his team.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ Pepperidne MALIBU, Calif. - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up their first road victory of the 2017-18 campaign on Wednesday night, knocking off the Pepperdine Waves in Malibu, California 88-82. “It was a tough victory, the guys showed a lot of toughness and resiliency,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. This was Southern Utah’s first victory against a current member of the West Coast Conference since before the turn of the century. The victory moves the Thunderbirds to .500 on the season, as they’ll return to the America First Event Center 3-3. The Waves got out to a fairly fast start at home, but the Thunderbirds quickly countered with a 14-2 run to take a 24-18 lead over Pepperdine. The Thunderbirds held the lead until halftime, where they led 35-29.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle, and the T-Birds lost both Ivan Madunic and Christian Musoko down the stretch due to foul trouble, but some big three point shots by Dre Marin and clutch free throw shooting in the final minutes proved to be the difference as the Thunderbirds left Malibu with the victory. “Dre’s done that in practice throughout, and obviously he’s had some injury issues, but we knew he’d answer the bell and be the Dre that we know,” Simon said. “He’s going to have such a tremendous future, but he’s already a great player for us.” Jamal Aytes led the Thunderbirds with 22 points and seven rebounds in the contest. He finished the fight 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Marin scored a career-high 16 points, including four shot from behind the three point line. James McGee had 14 and Jadon Cohee had 11 to continue the offensive attack for the Thunderbirds. Cohee played all but three minutes of the game on Wednesday. Kameron Edwards was the go-to guy for Pepperdine on Wednesday, finishing the game with a double-double effort of 25 points and 16 rebounds. He was a big reason the Waves kept the game close down the stretch in Firestone Fieldhouse. “We’re proud of our resiliency and that we’ve developing a team toughness that represents our culture,” Simon said. “Guys are hurt, guys are banged up, but we have different guys stepping up every game and it’s becoming truly a team effort. So to have an opportunity on Saturday to get over .500 into December, which hasn’t happened in quite some time at Southern Utah, is progress that we’re really proud of.”
S OUT H E RN U TA H T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: San Diego Christian @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team picked up a wire-to-wire victory on Saturday afternoon inside the America First Event Center, knocking off the Hawks of San Diego Christian 87-68. This is the first time the T-Birds have been over .500 in head coach Todd Simon’s tenure, moving to 4-3 and remaining undefeated at home. Neither team was able to gain too big of an advantage in the opening half. The T-Birds led throughout, but SUU’s lead didn’t get higher than seven until there was under three minutes on the clock. The T-Birds led 41-37 at the break. Simon said the defensive side was his main focus when the team went in for the break. “We’re trying to make progress on the defensive end, we’re a very good offensive team and we continue to be able to score,” Simon said. “I just didn’t think our attention to detail was there in the first half.” The Thunderbirds never trailed in the opening half. In the second half, the T-Birds got going offensively. SUU went on an 18-3 to take a 59-40 lead with under 13 minutes to play in the contest. The T-Birds were able to keep the advantage the remainder of the contest and win 87-68. Brandon Better led the team with 21 points and eight rebounds. He was on top for Southern Utah in both categories. Jadon Cohee finished with 16 points, and Jamal Aytes finished with 14. Both Dre Marin and Christian Musoko finished with 13, leaving the T-Birds with five players in double figures. “What’s good about our team is our balance, we’ve got so many guys that can score,” Cohee said. The Hawks were led by Derek Novsek, who finished the game with 15. Southern Utah will be at home again next week, when they’ll host Long Beach State on December 6. That contest is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Follow the Thunderbirds all season @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Long Beach State @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah men’s basketball team picked up a big victory at home on Wednesday night, as they knocked off the Long Beach State 49ers 94-89 inside the America First Event Center. The win moved the Thunderbirds to 5-3 on the season and 4-0 at home this season. LBSU left Cedar City with a 4-7 record. “Those games are exciting for us as a program because that’s a good team,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “They’ve beaten two Pac-12 teams. They beat a Pac-12 team we lost to on opening day, so as a measuring stick it was significant for us. And the nature of it, I thought Long Beach played very well. They made plays, they scored the ball, they did what they needed to do and we were able to counter that and get buckets when we needed it.” The Thunderbirds started hot, and led 7-2 at the first media timeout. As the first half progressed Long Beach was able to keep it close, but the T-Birds held the lead the entire first half and lead after the first 20 minutes 42-33. As the second half got underway, Long Beach started getting hot and took a 57-55 lead. After that, Brandon Better hit a triple to put the Thunderbirds back out in front. With seven and a half minutes to play the 49ers were out in front, and built their lead up to seven. With 1:16 to play the 49ers were up by two, but Better nailed a layup and got an and-one to go up by two. That was part of SUU’s 7-0 run to put them up 92-86. SUU held off Long Beach in the final seconds, and knocked off The Beach 94-89. “The last four minutes was winning time, and our guys executed, they believed and they made the right plays,” Simon said. Better led the T-Birds with 26 points. Jadon Cohee had 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and also dished out five assists. Both of those numbers were SUU career-highs for Better and Cohee. Christian Musoko notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jamal Aytes scored 12 points and pulled in six rebounds as well for the T-Birds. “We took every punch they hit us with,” Cohee said postgame. “They went up, we went up, and we just kept fighting.”
S OUT H E RN U TA H T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ #3 Michigan State EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Thunderbird men’s basketball team took on the No. 3 team in the country on Saturday, as they went head-to-head with the Michigan State Spartans in a contest the home team eventually took 88-63. “I’m real proud of my guys,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “I thought our guys played really hard, we didn’t quite get enough shots to fall and not enough stops down the stretch, but from a competitive standpoint I’m really proud of the guys.” The Thunderbirds knocked down the first bucket, and held the lead for the first three and half minutes. As the first half wore on, Michigan State got hot and eventually built their lead to as many as 15 with just about two minutes left in the opening frame. The Spartans led at halftime 42-30. It was the second half where the Thunderbirds found their momentum.
The lead stayed right around single digits until the Spartans pushed the lead to 16 with an 8-0 run, and led 74-58 with 5:49 to play. From that point on it was all Spartans, as they took a 88-63 victory. Marin, Calloway and Jadon Cohee all finished the game with 12 points. Cohee had five assists and four rebounds and Marin had five rebounds and four assists. The T-Birds made 11 three point shots over the course of the night. Ivan Madunic also dropped in 10 and pulled in eight rebounds. “We just never gave up,” Cohee said. “That’s becoming a theme for our team, we just kept fighting and kept battling and we just never gave up. We just burnt out in the last eight or nine minutes, and it’s frustrating, I wish we could have those minutes back but I feel like it was a good fight. The score is not indicative of how close the game was.” The Thunderbirds were called for 24 fouls, with Christian Musoko fouling out and four other players ending the game with four fouls. Jaren Jackson Jr., Miles Bridges and Nick Ward all had 17 points for the Spartans. Jackson Jr. finished with a double-double, pulling in 13 rebounds. Bridges reached the same feat with 11 boards himself.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Central Michigan @ Southern Utah CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Thunderbirds of Southern Utah moved to 5-0 at home and 6-4 on the season this afternoon as they knocked off the Chippewas of Central Michigan at the America First Event Center 86-80. “The guys are excited,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. “They’re putting the time in and they’re starting to see the fruits of their labor a little bit. Most importantly, the way we were able to defend today was our best defensive effort of the season, so being able to do it on that side of the floor for stretches is good development for us.” The win will also give the Thunderbirds a winning record moving into Big Sky Conference play regardless of the outcome of their final non-conference contest.
Southern Utah got off to a hot start on Saturday, as the T-Birds jumped out to a 30-16 lead over the Chippewas. However, Central Michigan started heating up as the half continued, as an 8-0 run got Central Michigan right back into the contest. The final minutes of the opening half were a backand-forth affair, with the T-Birds taking a 42-40 advantage into the break. Ivan Madunic and Brandon Better led the way offensively for Southern Utah in the opening 20 minutes, as Madunic had 14 and Better had 10. Madunic finished the first half 4-of-5 from behind the three point line. SUU broke out on a 9-2 run to get things going in the second half, creating a little bit of separation between them and the Chippewas. Despite Central Michigan staying within striking distance the entire way, the Thunderbirds never relinquished the lead and eventually pulled away 86-80. Better led all scorers with 17, closely followed by James McGee and Madunic who dropped in 16. Jadon Cohee finished with 12 points and seven assists. “We’re excited, and we’re doing what we said we were going to do,” McGee said. “We said we were going to play as a team and get stops, and we did and the outcome was great. Madunic’s 16 is a new career-high. “We were just so prepared,” Madunic said about the team’s performance. “We practiced really hard this week, coach had a great game plan and we just executed.” Cohee’s seven assists was also a career high. Central Michigan was led by Cecil Williams, who finished with 21 on Saturday.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S RECAP: Southern Utah @ Iowa IOWA CITY, Iowa - Southern Utah’s non-conference slate came to a close on Tuesday evening in Iowa City, as the Thunderbirds fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes 92-64. With the result the Thunderbirds moved to 6-5 on the season, and will take that record into Big Sky Conference play next week. “Shots weren’t falling for us and we got in foul trouble early in the first half, and those things kind of compounded each other and we ended up with some different lineups and it proved to be too much for us to overcome,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said. The Thunderbirds held an early lead at 3-2, but the Hawkeyes got going in a hurry. Iowa jumped out to a 13-3 lead quickly after that, and held the lead the remainder of the opening half. The Hawkeyes led by 20 after 20 minutes of play. Southern Utah wasn’t able to make much of a dent in the Hawkeye lead in the second half, and the Hawkeyes came away with a victory in the contest.
Brandon Better and Jadon Cohee both finished with 12 points in the game for Southern Utah. Cohee also pulled in six rebounds and dished out five assists. Jamal Aytes and Jacob Calloway both finished with 8 points. Dre Marin had six boards for the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds did some damage from behind the three point line, knocking down eight. “We got to work on a lot of things, but the number one lesson when you’re playing a quality Big Ten team on their floor is that your margin for error is very small,” Simon said. “For the game we didn’t turn it over too bad, but in the first four minutes we had four which put us in a hole early and gives a team like that a lot of confidence on their home floor.” As a team, the Hawkeyes shot 52 percent from the field during the contest. Luka Garza led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 17. Next up for the Thunderbirds will be the start of Big Sky Conference play, as the Thunderbirds will host the Bobcats of Montana State at the America First Event Center on December 28. Follow the Thunderbirds all season @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook. Read all about the Thunderbirds on www.suutbirds.com.
S OUT H E RN U TAH T HU ND ER B IR D S 2016-17 Season / Big Sky Stats
S OUT H E RN U TAH R ECO R D B O O K INDIVIDUAL RECORDS Points Scored 51 by Skip Mead vs Westminster, 1969-70 Field Goals 23 by Rod Oliver vs Westmont, 1965-66 Field Goal Attempts 30 by Skip Mead vs. Westminster, 1969-70 Field Goal Accuracy Record: 1.000, (9-9), Monte Widdison vs. Redlands, 1978 3-Pt. Field Goals 8 by David Palmer at Denver, 12/6/03 8 by Jason Baker vs UMKC, 1/29/04 8 by Kelvin Lee vs. Cal Poly P. 11/25/89 8 by James McGee vs. Seattle U. 12/19/16 3-Pt. Field Goal Attempts 13 by Jeff Monaco vs. Boston College, 3/15/01 (NCAA Tournament) 13 by Davor Marcelic vs. New Mexico State, 11/27/92 3-Pt. Field Goal Accuracy (min. 4 att.) 1.000, (7-7) Dave Marek vs. IUPUI, 1/29/09 Free Throws Made 24 by Skip Mead vs Westminster, 1970 Free Throw Attempts 28 by Skip Mead vs. Westminster, 1970 Free Throw Percentage 1.000 (19-19) by Skip Mead, 1970 Rebounds 27 by Mel Wadsworth vs. Azusa Pacific, 1966 Assists 15 by Jeff Monaco at Western Illinois, 2/1/01 15 by Steve Hoagland vs. Regis, 1980-81 Blocked Shots 10 by Brad Kanis at Utah Valley, 12/22/06 Individual Single-Game Top-10 Points 51 49 43 42
Skip Mead, ‘70, vs. Westminster Rod Oliver, ‘66, vs. Westmont Davor Marcelic, 91, vs. CS Northridge Richard Barton, ‘91, vs. Denver
42 41 41 40 39 38
Doug Rhodus,’72, vs. Westminster Tim Lewis, ‘70, vs Ft. Lewis Doug Rhodus, ‘71, vs Ft. Lewis John Johnson, ‘66, vs Ft. Lewis Ted Thomas, ‘88 vs US International David Palmer, 04 vs Denver
Rebounds – Game 27 Mel Wadsworth, 1966 25 Gil Mullen, 1970 23 Al Winfield, 1971 23 Eddie Owens, 1970 22 Quinton Davis, ‘76 vs LA Baptist 22 Eddie Owens, 1970 22 John Carey, 1967 20 Kerry Sherwood, ‘91 vs Wisconsin-Mil. 19 Butch Douglas, ‘79 vs Western State Assists – Game 15 Jeff Monaco, 00-01, at Western Illinois 15 Steve Hoagland, 79-80 14 Rod Dixon, 90-91, vs. Denver 13 Jeff Monaco, 98-99, vs IUPUI 13 Maz Trakh, 85-86, vs. Grand Canyon 12 Jay Collins, 02-03, vs Long Beach State 12 Maz Trakh, 85-86, vs LaVerne 12 Trent Scarlet, 84-85 vs Adams State 11 Geoff Payne, 07-08, vs Centenary* Steals – Game 9 Frederick House, vs W. Oregon, 12-19-00 9 Frederick House, vs Idaho State, 11-25-00 8 Jeff Monaco, at Utah, 1-1-00 7 Dana Achtzehn, at Stanford, 1-2-92 7 Keith Berard, vs Humbold State, 11-25-94 7 Frederick House, vs Western Illinois, 3-5-00 7 Frederick House, vs Oakland, 2-10-00 7 Frederick House, vs Montana, 11-29-99 6 Geoff Payne at UMKC, 1-12-08* Blocked Shots – Game 10 Brad Kanis, at Utah Valley, 2007 7 Sean Allen, vs. Northwest Nazarene 1994 6 Matt Hodgson vs. IPFW, 2010 6 Sean Allen, at Cal Poly, 1995 6 Sean Allen vs Sacramento State, 1995 5 Ivan Madunic vs. Loyola Marymount, 2016 5 Cal Hanks vs. North Dakota, 2012 5 Jayson Cheesman at Gonzaga, 2012 5 Kenyatta Clyde vs. Weber State, 1998 5 Sean Allen vs Eastern Washington, 1993 *Mark reached multiple times, most recent is listed
S OUT H E RN U TAH R ECO R D B O O K INDIVIDUAL RECORDS Points Scored 143 vs. Westminster, 2/17/70 Fewest Points Allowed 34 vs. Montana Tech, 12/19/02 (vs. all opponents) 35 at Chicago State, 2/16/02 (vs. Division I opponent) Field Goals Made 58 vs. South Alabama, 12/10/94 Field Goal Attempts 106 vs. Cal Baptist, 1976-77 Field Goal Percentage .780 vs. Montana Tech, 12/19/02 (vs. all opponents) .696 vs. Cal State Northridge, 1/30/93 (vs. Division I opponent) 3-Pt. Field Goals 16 vs. NAU 12/31/16 15 vs. UTSA, 11/30/14 14 vs. South Alabama, 12/10/94 14 at Chicago State, 2/26/00 14 vs. Oakland, 2/23/06 14 vs. Seattle U. 3-Pt. Field Goal Attempts 39 vs Seattle U. 12/17/16 32 vs Portland State, 1/14/17 30 vs. Cal Poly SLO, 2/8/96 30 at Sacramento State, 11/22/99
Additional Single-Game Team Records High Score: 143 vs. Westminster, 2/17/70 (SUU 143, Westminster 106) – H High Road Score: 140 vs. South Alabama, 12/10/94 (SUU 140, USA 72) – N High Opponent Score: 132 by Oklahoma, 12/20/88 at Oklahoma (SUU 64) High Opponent Score at Home: 121 by Grand Canyon, 1987-88 (SUU 101) High Losing Score: 106 vs. UNLV, 2/12/68 (UNLV 109, SUU 106) Opponent High Losing Score: 111 by Westmont(1965-66) and Adams State (1968-69) (SUU 132, Westmont 111 and SUU 125, Adams State 111) Largest Winning Margin: 68 vs. South Alabama,12/10/94 (SUU 140, USA 72) Largest Losing Margin: 68 vs. Oklahoma 12/20/88 (Oklahoma 132, SUU 64) Highest Combined Score: 249, SUU 143, Westminster 106, 2/17/70 Selected Career Records
3-Pt. Field Goal Percentage (min. 10 att) .833 (10-12) at CS Northridge, 3/1/91 Free Throws Made 54 vs. Bethesda University, 11/18/16 44 vs. Weber State, 12/14/91 Free Throw Attempts 78 vs. Bethesda University, 11/18/16 51 vs. Cal State Los Angeles, 1984-85 51 vs. Weber State, 12/14/91 Free Throw Percentage 1.000 (14-14) vs. Western New Mexico, 1980-81 Rebounds 98 vs. Greenville, 1967-68 98 vs. Los Angeles Baptist, 1976-77 Assists 36 vs. South Alabama, 1994-95 36 vs. New Mexico Highlands, 1980-81
Blocked Shots – Career 113 Sean Allen, 93-95 99 Matt Hodgson, 09-11 85 Kenyatta Clyde, 97-99 68 Tarvish Felton, 96-99 67 Jayson Cheesman, 12-13 59 Kerry Sherwood, 89-91 55 Donnie Jackson, 01-03 46 Frederick House, 1999-2001 45 Richard Barton, 86-87, 90-93 38 Cal Hanks, 11-13
