Coming off their first conference win of the season, the Southern Utah University men’s basketball team will go on the road to face Seattle University on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m. This game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Southern Utah
The Thunderbirds are 9-8 overall, and hold a 1-2 record in the Western Athletic Conference. They are scoring 75.8 points per game shooting 45.4% from the field, 32.6% from three-point range and 73.1% from the free-throw line.
SUU also has a solid defense, only allowing 73.3 ppg and place second in the WAC in blocked shots, with 4.8 per contest. The biggest key to victory for Southern Utah will be reducing the number of turnovers, as they currently average 14.1 a game.
Jamir Simpson has been leading the offensive charge for SUU, averaging 16.2 points and 4.8 rebounds on 42.2% shooting. He has reached double-digit scoring in eight of the team’s nine wins this year.
Fellow guard Dominique Ford has also been a big presence on the court. Ford leads the WAC averaging 23 points per game in conference play while shooting 88.9% from the free-throw line..
On defense, Brock Felder has held down the paint all season averaging 2.1 blocks. Another notable defender is Tavi Jackson, who has been a great perimeter defender and averages a team-high of 1.4 steals.
Seattle U
The Redhawks are 6-10 and have a 1-1 record in the WAC. They average 73.6 points shooting 42.2% from the field, 34.3% from three and 73.7% on free throws. Their defense has been aggressive, recording 7.6 steals per game
A big contributor on both sides of the ball is forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe. The forward from Toronto averages 15.5 ppg, leads the WAC with 10.9 rebounds and swipes 1.2 steals on 57% shooting. Guard pair John Christofilis and Paris Dawson are strong scorers as well, earning 11.4 and 10.9 per contest points respectively.
The Redhawks will need to find a way for players to step up in the paint in order to stop the Thunderbirds slashing-guard duo of Ford and Simpson.
Author: Jacob McQueary
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Jack Paul