CEDAR CITY, Utah-Thursday, Dixie State (3-0) and Southern Utah (3-1) men’s basketball meet at the America First Event Center for the initial meeting in school history for both squads at the Division I level.
The Thunderbirds score 79.6 points per game, tying them for 80th nationally with Utah Valley.
SUU surrenders 68 points per contest, which ties them for 142nd nationally with UC Irvine, Oklahoma State and Morehead State.
Junior guard Tevian Jones, the reigning Big Sky Conference player of the week, scores 18.8 points per game to lead the Thunderbirds.
Junior forward Maizen Fausett scores 14.6 points per game and posts a team-best 6 rebounds per contest for SUU.
Senior guard John Knight III has a team-best 29 assists and 7 steals for the Thunderbirds. SUU’s leader in blocked shots is Croatian redshirt senior forward/center Ivan Madunic who has 8.
Thunderbirds head coach Todd Simon is in his 5th season at the helm of the SUU program, having posted a record of 57-79 (.419) at Cedar City.
The Trailblazers have won their first three games as a Division I school, having vanquished North Dakota, St. Katherine and Denver.
Head coach Jon Judkins is only 11 wins short of surpassing legendary University of Utah women’s head coach Elaine Elliott (582-234, .713) for the most wins in Utah college basketball history.
Judkins has amassed his 572 victories at both Dixie State University and Snow College.
Since advancing to NCAA status, the Trailblazers are 80-68 (.540) all-time against non-conference opponents.
The Trailblazers score 77.7 points per game, ranking them 103rd nationally. Dixie State surrenders 63.7 points per contest, tying them for 68th nationally with Purdue and Texas Christian.
Junior guard Cameron Gooden leads the Trailblazers with 13 points per game.
Junior forward Jacob Nicolds posts 12.7 points and a team-best 7 rebounds per contest for Dixie State.
Sophomore guard/forward Frank Staine posts 11.7 points per contest and team-bests in assists (13) and steals (6) for the Trailblazers.
Senior guard Dason Youngblood has a team-best three blocked shots for Dixie State.
