PROVO, Utah-Wednesday, BYU men’s basketball (1-1) continues its season with a third straight home game by hosting Southern Utah (2-0) at the Marriott Center.
The Cougars are coming off a disappointing 76-71 loss to San Diego State Saturday, the first defeat in the Mark Pope era at BYU.
Pope is currently 78-57 (.578) as a head coach as he was at the helm at nearby Utah Valley from 2015-2019.
The Cougars average 73.5 points per game, tying them for 180th nationally with Tennessee Tech, Minnesota, North Dakota State and Northwestern State.
With the absence of star forward Yoeli Childs because of an NCAA suspension, senior guard TJ Haws leads the Cougars with 15 points per game.
Redshirt junior guard Alex Barcello adds 14 points a game thus far on the season for BYU. Barcello also has 2 blocks on the season to lead the Cougars in that category.
The Cougars’ defense gives up 67 points per game, tying them for 155th nationally with Duquesne, Connecticut, Loyola Marymount, Winthrop, Charleston Southern, George Washington, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin.
The Thunderbirds are flying high as they upset Big Ten Conference foe Nebraska 79-78 in double overtime at Lincoln, Neb. for the program’s first win over a Power 5 program on the road since downing Colorado at Boulder, Colo. in 1996. The win over the Cornhuskers was also the first for SUU over a Big Ten program in school history.
In his fourth season at the helm of the Thunderbirds’ program, Todd Simon is 38-63 (.376) at SUU and the Nebraska win was his biggest victory to date.
The explosive Thunderbirds are currently averaging 94.5 points per game. This ties them for 18th nationally with New Mexico and Memphis.
Redshirt senior forward Dwayne Morgan leads the Thunderbirds in both points (18.5) and rebounds (7) per game. Junior guard Dre Marin (15 points per game) and redshirt senior guard/forward Cameron Oluyitan (13 points, 7 rebounds per game) have also been stalwarts for SUU early on.
The Thunderbirds’ defense gives up 72 points per game, tying them for 222nd nationally with Georgia and Cal State Bakersfield.
Junior guard John Knight III leads the Thunderbirds with four blocks on the season, showcasing his versatility. Knight also averages 8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.
To beat the Cougars, SUU will have to come up with another historic performance as they are currently 0-11 all-time against BYU. The series recurs for the first time since the 2007 season. All of these games have been played at the Marriott Center.
