The Southern Utah University men’s basketball team is set to take on their in-state rival Utah Tech University on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 6:30 p.m. in the America First Event Center. This game can also be streamed on ESPN+.
“We are asking all the fans to come out and pack it,” said Thunderbird head coach Rob Jeter. “As a team, we have to be efficient and understand that it is a possession-by-possession game.” This will be Jeter’s first game against Utah Tech.
Utah Tech
Utah Tech enters this game with a 7-9 record overall and is 3-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. In the WAC resume seeding system, the Trailblazers rank No. 7 out of 11 teams in the conference. After dropping their first two games of 2024, Utah Tech came out on top against Stephen F. Austin State University 75-70 on Jan. 11., a team which Southern Utah lost to 84-82 on Saturday, Jan. 13.
The Trailblazers come into the game ranked No. 1 in the conference in three-point percentage at 36.3%. Junior guard Beon Riley leads the team in three-point percentage at 45.8%, followed by guard David Elliott at 42.9%. Although Utah Tech shoots the ball well, they are eighth in the conference in scoring, averaging just 70.1 points per game. UTU’s leading scorer is junior guard Noa Gonsalves, as he is averaging 11.8 points per game.
Southern Utah
Southern Utah comes into this game with a record of 5-11 overall and 0-5 in the WAC. Southern Utah remains the only team in the WAC to be winless in conference games. In SUU’s five conference games, the Thunderbirds have a -15.2 margin of loss.
One of Southern Utah’s struggles this year has been the defense. SUU ranks second to last in the WAC in opponent points per game at 79.1 and last in opponent field goal percentage at 50.4%. With that being said, the offense has impressed. Junior shooting guard Dominique Ford leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game. Forward Parsa Fallah ranks first in the WAC in field goal percentage at 59%.
Southern Utah is 4-2 all-time against Utah Tech, including a 76-75 win in last year’s WAC tournament.
Author: Jack Paul
Photographer: Anden Garfield
Editor: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
