Southern Utah Preview

So next up in Ft. Myers is Southern Utah--the Thunderbirds--out of the Big Sky Conference.  This is a very solid mid-major program.  They have been in the Tourney once (in 2001) and won a game in the CIT in 2019.  They were very good last year, finishing 20-4 and winning their regular season title with a kenpom of 135.  They lost the conference tournament and would have been in the NIT in a normal year.

They return four starters from that team and Blue Ribbon picked them to win the Big Sky again.  This year they are 1-3 in D1 games.  They lost @ Dixie State (311), which is not good, but then @ St. Mary's (36) and in 2OT to Cal (126).  FWIW, their coach claims an error by the scorer's table cost them the win. They beat Yale yesterday in OT.

Their kenpom right now is #136.  They are 2 point favorites.

Their coach is Todd Simon, who attended CMU.  He isn't listed as a letterwinner so I assume he didn't play for them.  He was interim coach at UNLV when Dave Rice was fired mid-season.  From there he went to Southern Utah, where he has taken the team from 6-27 to 20-4 last year.

Their leading player heading into the season was Tevian Jones, Blue Ribbon's pick for Big Sky POY.  He's not off to a great start, with 14 PPG on 31% overall shooting and 27% from 3FG.  He did have 24 against Yale.

Their leading scorer is John Knight III, a 6'3" G who is a redshirt senior.  He was pre-season All-Big Sky and is scoring 19 PPG on 57% shooting--virtually all 2FG.  They also have 6'6" Maizen Fauset, who averages a double-double, at 10.8 and 10.4.

They are #6 in the nation in experience.

Offensively, they are struggling at .92 points per game.  They are taking 46% of their FGs from 3FG and only making 26%.  They are about average taking care of the ball and a little above average on the offensive boards and getting to the line.  They also shoot FTs poorly.

Defensively, they are allowing 1.02 points per possession, which is also below average.They are well below average defending the shot and forcing turnovers, but do a good job on the defensive boards and a very good job keeping teams off the line.

This is a solid opponent and well-coached.  It will be a good test for BG to string together two strong games as part of putting a little run together.  I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes.