SUU’s Fausett named Big Sky men’s basketball player of the week

Maizen Fausett of Southern Utah University brings the ball up the court vs. Montana, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 3, 2020 | Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Following Southern Utah University’s first regular-season sweep of the Montana Grizzlies since joining the league, the Big Sky Conference announced earlier this week that Thunderbird forward Maizen Fausett has been named the conference’s Player of the Week for men’s basketball.

“Maiz is a warrior,” SUU head coach Todd Simon said about the junior forward following last Thursday’s contest. “If I had 15 Maizes I would sleep great at night, I’d love coming to work every single day and we’d win one million games. I mean, what a special kid that is. He looks like he went 10 rounds with Tyson, because he gets hit in the face every single day, not just in games but in practice, and it never jolts him. He just does his job.”

In the Dec. 3 win over Montana, Fausett finished with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and hit two clutch free throws with under a minute left to give the Thunderbirds the lead.

He followed up that performance with another solid one on Saturday, scoring 16 points and pulling down nine rebounds. He also had a big dunk with 1:23 to play to pull SUU within one.

Southern Utah University’s Maizen Fausett makes a layup vs. Montana, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 5, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Thunderbirds won both games by a single point, with a deciding free throw in the final seconds making the difference both times.

In the two games against Montana, Fausett averaged 15.0 points per game, 7.0 rebounds per game, shot 50% from the field and had three steals and two blocks.

Fausett is the first Thunderbird men’s basketball player to earn Big Sky Player of the Week honors since Cameron Oluyitan in December of 2018.

On the season, Fausett is averaging 13.5 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting an impressive 56% from the field on the year, and 44% from 3-point range. Both of those numbers are team highs for players with more than 20 field goal attempts.

The Thunderbirds, who defeated Utah Valley University in Orem Wednesday night, 81-71, will play back-to-back home games next week, starting with a contest against Dixie State University Thursday at 7 p.m.

Written by Bryson Lester, SUU Athletics.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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