The Southern Utah University men’s basketball team will go up against two Western Athletic Conference opponents this week. Southern Utah will start the week by playing the Utah Tech University Trailblazers on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. The following matchup will be on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m. against the No. 1-seeded Grand Canyon University Lopes. Both games are available on ESPN+.
Utah Tech Trailblazers
The Trailblazers currently sit at an 8-14 overall record and are tied for seventh in WAC play with the Thunderbirds at 4-7. Utah Tech has had struggles on offense, sitting dead last in both the field goal percentage and free throw percentage categories in the WAC as well as ninth in scoring. They have a hard time protecting the ball and have the most turnovers in the conference. The bright spot in their offense has been three-point shooting. Utah Tech leads the conference in three-point percentage and place fifth in three-pointers made.
Defense is another concern for this team. Despite being the second-best blocking team in the WAC, they place 10th in points allowed. Stopping a lot of three-pointers and getting good, clean shots will be essential for the Trailblazers.
Heading the offense for the Trailblazers is guard Noa Gonsalves. He averages 12 points per game on 45.6% shooting. He is also very dangerous at the free-throw line, shooting at 86.1%. Another player to watch would be center Tanner Chistensen. He averages 11.2 points and 6.9 rebounds, and he anchors the defense with nearly two blocks per game.
Grand Canyon Lopes
GCU is currently 20-2 overall and sits at first place in the WAC with an 11-1 record. This powerhouse team ranks top five in all major offensive and defensive stats in the conference, excluding assists. The Lopes place first in scoring, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds and blocks.
The star of the Lopes is the all-around guard Tyon Grant-Foster, who averages 19 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks. Another great talent for Grand Canyon is forward Gabe McGlothan, who averages 15.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals while also shooting 45% from three-point range.
The Lopes have won their last four games and look to extend that to five. The key will be limiting the Thunderbirds’ scoring and minimizing turnovers.
Southern Utah
Southern Utah has an overall record of 9-13 and is tied for seventh in the WAC at 4-7. Offensively, the Thunderbirds have had a great season, placing third in scoring and second in field goal percentage in the conference.
Struggles for SUU have come on the defensive side of the ball. They place ninth in the WAC in allowed points and rebounds. Limiting the second-chance opportunities has been difficult for Southern Utah as of late but will need improvement to win both of these matchups. The one thing that SUU does very well on the defensive side of the ball is defending the three-point shot, where they rank second in the WAC.
Leading the scoring effort for the Thunderbirds is guard Dominique Ford, who averages 16.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Forward Parsa Fallah is another great contributor, averaging 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.
Author: Jacob McQueary
Photographer: Anden Garfield
Editor: Anden Garfield
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