CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- WAC play continues for the Men's Basketball team as they are set to host the Utah Tech Trailblazers on Thursday, Jan 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the America First Event Center. And then will travel to California on Saturday, Jan 20 to take on the Lancers of California Baptist at 6 p.m.

Both games will be available to live stream on ESPN+ or follow along with the live stats.

Utah Tech
The Trailblazers are 7-9 on the year and 3-2 in WAC play. They currently sit fourth in the record standings and are seventh in the resume seeding system with -1.52 points. 

Utah Tech averages 70 points per game while giving up nearly 76 per game. Opponents shoot 43% from the field and 33% from three. Teams average three more rebounds per game and attempt two more free throws. 

The Trailblazers have three players averaging double-digits in scoring, led by Noa Gonalves at just under 12 points per game. Gonsalves shoots an impressive 41% from three and has only missed two of his 19 free throw attempts this season. He also leads the team with 18 steals on the year. 

Tanner Christensen, the 6'10 center, averages 11.4 points per game, leads the team at 6.7 rebounds per game, and has 30 blocks on the year. Beon Riley averages just over 10 points per game on nearly 50% from the field and almost 46% from three, he is also the team's second-leading rebounder.

Aric Demings averages 8.9 points per game, but is the coach on the floor, racking up 43 assists on the year, to lead the team. 

California Baptist
The Lancers are 10-7 on the year and 3-3 in conference play. They currently sit eighth in the resume seeding with -1.56 points and are sixth in the record standings. 

The Lancers and the Thunderbirds already played once this year, in which CBU came away with a 91-66 victory in Cedar City. Scotty Washington was the star in that game for the Lancers, making his first five three-point attempts and finishing with 21 points on 6-8 from three. 

CBU averages 68 points per game but is holding opponents to just 63. They win the rebounding battle by nearly 6.5 per game and shoot nearly 15 free throws per contest. 

CBU is led by Dominique Daniels Jr, who the Thunderbirds kept in check, holding him to just nine points in the first meeting. He averages nearly 18 points per game on 39/31/83 percentage shooting splits. He also leads the team with 48 assists on the year. 

Yvan Ouedraogo, the GCU transfer, is averaging 10.8 points per game and leads the team with 15 blocks on the year. Hunter Goodrick has been impressive for CBU, nearly averaging a double-double at 8.6 points per game and a team-leading 9.3 rebounds per game. 

Scotty Washington has just 10 made threes on the year and six of them were against the Thunderbirds. 

"We all know how hard it is to win in this league. Top to bottom there is a lot of talent and some really good players and teams, so what we have to do is just focus on us. Make sure that we are doing all of the necessary things to be successful and learn to trust our process," said Head Coach Rob Jeter. 

FOLLOW US

Stay up to date during the 2023-24 Southern Utah Men's Basketball season by following @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.

DONATE

To help support Thunderbird athletics consider making a donation today! To learn more about how you can support click here.