CEDAR CITY — Southern Utah University exacted revenge on Utah Tech with an 81-71 men’s basketball win Friday night.
The Trailblazers (11-16 overall, 3-11 in Western Athletic Conference) handled their rivals to the north earlier this season, defeating the Thunderbirds 86-79 in St. George on Feb. 4.
But Friday’s WAC duel in the America First Event Center was a different story.
According to SUU Athletics, the squads traded shots during the initial few minutes of play with Southern Utah (18-9, 10-4) leading 7-5 heading into the first media timeout at 15:59. Maizen Fausett kept the hosts ahead before Utah Tech’s Cameron Gooden made it 15-13 with a layup at the 11:33 mark.
The Thunderbirds responded as Drake Allen and Harrison Butler hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Allen hit a layup to extend the lead to 23-13.
Utah Tech’s Jacob Nicolds, who netted 22 points, drilled a trey with 9:33 to go in the first half to stymie the SUU run, but the Thunderbirds maintained their lead, going into halftime up 38-31
Utah Tech came out of the locker room with a 7-0 run to knot the game at 38-38 at the 18:40 mark.
Fausett, who scored 20 points to become SUU’s No. 3 scorer with 1,446 points, ended the Blazer run with a layup in the paint to grab a 40-38 advantage, and Jason Spurgin cleaned up a missed shot with a put-back to give Southern Utah a 42-38 lead.
After the T-birds hit two short shots to go up 46-38, the Blazers kept the game close over the next few minutes as Noa Gonsalves hit a pair of 3-pointers and Isaiah Pope, Utah Tech’s high scorer with 24, added a jumper to make it 48-46.
Nicolds and Tanner Christensen then took charge for the Blazers, controlling the inside and helping the guests creep back in it, capped by a Christensen dunk to put Utah Tech up 53-52 with 8:35 to play.
But the lead was short-lived.
Butler, Allen and Tevian Jones helped SUU regain and build a lead, eventually going up 68-57, compliments of a Butler trey, with 5:28 remaining.
The margin remained near double digits the rest of the way, with Utah Tech only getting as close as 74-67 with 1:11 to play following a pair of Pope charities.
But Fausett and Jones hit their free throws down the stretch, and Butler added a 3-pointer to keep the Blazers at bay until the final buzzer.
According to Utah Tech Athletics, the Trailblazers shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) on the night, though they were held to just 8-of-26 (.308) from the perimeter. Utah Tech also posted a season-high 86.7 percent (13-of-15) clip at the foul line and turned the ball over just 12 times, which was the team’s second-lowest total in WAC play this season.
Jones led three Thunderbirds in double figures with 22 points. SUU went 26-of-63 (.413) from the floor with 11 made 3-pointers (11-of-25) and was 18-of-20 (.900) at the line. The T-Birds also outrebounded Utah Tech by a 44-28 count, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass, which led to 20 SUU second-chance points (20-6).
Utah Tech goes back on the road Thursday, Feb. 23, for a 5:30 p.m. MT tilt against UT-Rio Grande Valley, followed by a 1 p.m. matchup vs. UT-Arlington Saturday, Feb. 25.
SUU battles UT-Arlington on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 6 p.m. MT before taking on Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 3:30 p.m. MT.
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