CEDAR CITY, Utah-Saturday, Southern Utah men’s basketball (4-4) hosts Utah Valley (4-6) at the America First Event Center for a non-conference in-state duel.

The Thunderbirds are coached by Todd Simon (40-67, .374) who is in his fourth season at SUU. He signed an extension through 2024 Wednesday.

SUU averages 78.5 points per game, tying them for 64th nationally with South Alabama in scoring offense.

Junior guard John Knight III (12.6 points per game), redshirt senior Dwayne Morgan (11.8 points per game, a team-best 6 blocked shots), redshirt senior guard/forward Cameron Oluyitan (11 points, 5.4 rebounds per game, a team-best 19 assists and 14 steals) and redshirt junior guard Jakolby Long (10.3 points per game) all score in double figures on average for the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds surrender 63 points per game, tying them for 68th nationally in scoring defense with West Virginia, Minnesota, Saint Louis, Oakland and Delaware.

The Wolverines are coached by Mark Madsen (4-6, .400) who is in his first season as a Division I men’s basketball head coach.

Utah Valley scores 70 points per game, tying them for 229th nationally in scoring offense with Kansas City, Chicago State, Drake and Central Arkansas.

Senior guard TJ Washington (15.8 points, 5.1 rebounds per game) is the Wolverines’ leading scorer.

Junior guard Isaiah White (14 points per game ; a team-best 10 rebounds per game), redshirt junior guard Brandon Averette (12 points per game) and redshirt junior guard/forward Casdon Jardine (11.5 points per game) score in double figures on average for the Wolverines.

Turkish national, redshirt junior guard, Cavit Ege Havsa posts a team-best 3.1 assists per game and is tied for the team lead in steals with Averette and sophomore guard Trey Woodbury.

Defensively, the Wolverines symmetrically surrender 70 points per game. This ties them for 201st nationally in scoring defense with Brown and Wright State.

The Wolverines have posted 60 blocked shots on the season, which ranks them third nationally. Furthermore, UVU blocks 6 shots per game. This ties the Wolverines for 14th nationally with Tennessee and Auburn.

Senior forward Emmanuel Olojakpoke has a team-best 32 blocked shots, ranking him fifth nationally. He ranks 10th nationally with 3.2 blocks per contest as well for the Wolverines.

The Wolverine lead the all-time series against the Thunderbirds, 4-2.