CEDAR CITY, Utah. The Southern Utah men's basketball team closed out the regular season in dominant fashion with an 81-71 conquest of the Cal Baptist Lancers in the final home game at the America First Event Center on Friday, March 3.
SUU's record improved to 20-11 and 12-6 in the Western Athletic Conference, while CBU fell to 16-15 and 8-10 in WAC play.
20-Win Seasons
Southern Utah head coach Todd Simon now owns a trio of 20-win seasons at the helm of the Thunderbirds. Along with the 20-11 mark this season, SUU went 20-4 in 2020-21 and 23-12 a year ago. The effort matched the school record set by Stan Jack for the most 20-win seasons (3) as head coach at Southern Utah. Additionally, both accomplished the feat in back-to-back-to-back seasons.
SUU 20-Win Seasons
Year, Coach, Record
1976-77, Stan Jack, 21-7
1977-78, Stan Jack, 20-8
1978-79, Stan Jack, 20-6
1986-87, Bob Schermerhorn, 21-6
1991-92, Neil Roberts/Bill Evans, 20-8
2000-01, Bill Evans, 25-6
2020-21, Todd Simon, 20-4
2021-22, Todd Simon, 23-12
2022-23, Todd Simon, 20-11
Career-Scoring Charts
Senior forward Maizen Fausett became just the third member of the 1500-point club in school history with 12 points this evening. That pushed his career tally to 1,507. He stands behind only Davor Marcelic's amazing school record of 1,710 from 1989-92 and NCAA Tournament team leader Jeff Monaco's 1,568 from 1997-2001.
Senior guard Harrison Butler scored 11 points as he became just the fifth player to join the 1400-point club in school history with 1,403 in his career.
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,507; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,403; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,350; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE) (1,447 overall)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
T-Bird Tidbits
- If not for Simon and Fausett's historic evenings, sophomore center Jason Spurgin would have drawn top billing with a season-high 20 points to go with two blocks. The two swats moved him into sole possession of fifth place on the single-season blocks charts with 49 this year, leapfrogging Kenyatta Clyde's 48 set in 1998-99. Spurgin is just one more block from joining the 50-swat club.
- Sophomore guard Drake Allen joined four total double-digit scorers with 15 points and eight assists.
- Butler led the way for SUU with eight rebounds.
- The key to the game came down to SUU outshooting CBU, 53.7 to 42.1 from the field. The teams scored an identical amount of threes (8) and free throws (15), but Southern Utah drained five more from the field (29-24).
- Southern Utah closed the season with a 13-2 record in the America First Event Center.
Conference Success
With a 12-6 record in the Western Athletic Conference this year, Southern Utah has now put together three consecutive 10+ win conference seasons under head coach Todd Simon.
Bill Evans is the only previous head coach to accomplish double-digit conference success with back-to-back 10+ win seasons while playing as part of the Mid-Continent Conference in 1999-00 and 2000-01.
10+ Win Conference Seasons Under Todd Simon
12-6, 2022-23 (Western Athletic Conference)
14-6, 2021-22 (Big Sky)
12-2, 2020-21 (Big Sky)
Previous 10+ Win Conference Seasons
13-3, 2000-01 (Mid-Continent, NCAA Tournament Appearance)
10-6, 1999-00 (Mid-Continent)
First Half
Jason Spurgin started the night off quickly with a layup in the paint to put the 'Birds up 2-0 with 19:41 to go. Harrison Butler followed with a trifecta to push the lead to 5-0 at the 19:11 mark. Spurgin pushed the initial run to 7-0 with another layup with 17:58 to play.
Following a three-pointer to get Cal Baptist on the board, Maizen Fausett took a Drake Allen assist to the hole for two, taking a 9-3 advantage with 17:19 on the clock.
The Lancers turned in a quick 5-0 burst to pull to within a point before Fausett canned a pair from the charity stripe after drawing a foul with an aggressive drive through the lane as SUU took an 11-8 advantage with 15:01 on the clock.
Cameron Healy tacked on a corner trifecta thanks to a bullet pass from Butler to take a 14-8 lead with 14:12 to go. CBU, however, countered with an old-fashioned three to pull to within 14-11 at 13:51.
After forcing a traveling turnover, Dee Barnes unfurled a triple to push the 'Birds ahead 17-11 with 12:48 on the clock. Allen followed by hammering home a dunk to grab a 19-11 lead with 12:23 to go, inducing a Cal Baptist timeout.
The Lancers came out of the break on fire with a 5-0 spurt, but Fausett put a quick end to it with a trifecta to put SUU back up 22-16 with 10:50 on the clock. That was Fausett's seventh point pushing him into the 1,500-point club. The Lancers answered with a three of their own before Barnes drained a trifecta of his own to take a 25-19 lead for SUU at 10:10.
After another three from Cal Baptist, Spurgin flushed a layup to take a 27-22 advantage with 9:32 to play. Butler spun his way to a layup to snare a 29-22 lead with 6:26 on the clock.
The Lancers turned in a quick 4-0 run to close to within three points before Allen scored a nifty layup as the 'Birds took a 31-26 lead at the 4:50 mark. After a Spurgin block moved his season swat tally to 48, Butler drained a pair at the line as SUU extended its lead to 33-26. Spurgin tied Kenyatta Clyde's 48 blocks from 1998-99 for the fifth-most blocks in a season.
After CBU split at the free-throw line, Spurgin sank a soft-touch jumper at 3:33 to take a 35-27 lead. The Lancers responded with an old-fashioned three-point play before Spurgin crushed a dunk to stretch the lead back to 37-30 with 2:55 on the clock. Tevian Jones joined the scoring party with two at the charity stripe as the 'Birds pushed the advantage to 39-30 at 2:33.
A 4-0 run from CBU pulled the Lancers to within five before Spurgin sank a layup followed by a free throw as Southern Utah led 42-34 with 1:25 to go. Cal Baptist answered with a triple before Fausett slashed his way to two for a 44-37 advantage with 43 seconds on the clock. CBU closed the half with a layup as Southern Utah led 44-39 heading into the half.
Second Half
The Lancers opened with a layup before Drake Allen unleashed a dunk to snatch a 46-41 advantage with 19:42 to go. After another CBU layup, Tevian Jones responded with one of his own for a 48-43 lead with 19:01 on the clock. CBU banked a jumper then Maizen Fausett popped a three-pointer en route to a 51-45 lead for SUU with 17:29 to go. Jason Spurgin stretched the run to 5-0 with an old-fashioned three-point play for a 54-45 lead at 16:58.
After a Cal Baptist triple, Harrison Butler flipped in a layup for a 56-48 advantage with 16:20 on the clock. After a scoreless minute for both squads, Butler drove the lane to draw a foul. He drilled both free throws to extend the lead to 58-48 with 15:12 to go.
Following a CBU layup, Jones went 3-for-3 at the charity stripe to stretch the lead to 61-50 with 14:05 on the clock. Allen banked in a layup to snare a 63-50 lead for the 'Birds with 13:16 to play. Parsa Fallah added to the scoring with a layup as SUU pushed the lead to 65-50 with 12:09 to go.
With CBU connecting on a layup, Cameron Healy uncorked a trey as the 'Birds snatched a 68-52 lead at 11:25. The Lancers sank a triple before Jones notched a pair at the line to increase SUU's lead back to 70-55 with 9:21 on the clock. Spurgin flushed a dunk en route to a 72-55 lead with 8:41 on the clock to force a CBU timeout.
Cal Baptist went on a quick 4-0 run out of the break before Allen converted a layup to snare a 74-59 lead with 7:34 on the clock. Spurgin cleared 20 points after a block with a dunk to take a 76-59 advantage with 7:14 to go. After a CBU layup, Allen returned fire with a layup of his own as Southern Utah improved its lead to 78-61 with 5:50 on the clock.
The Lancers responded with a layup before Allen nailed a trifecta as the 'Birds took an 81-63 advantage with 3:37 to play.
With SUU working to drain the clock as well as sub out the seniors one at a time for curtain calls down the stretch, the Thunderbirds managed to win 81-71
Notable Plays
Next Up
Southern Utah will compete in the Western Athletic Conference Championship Tournament for the first time ever as the conference hosts the event at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., March 7-11. Thanks to the WAC resume seeding process, teams will not know the tournament bracket until tomorrow.
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