Southern Utah Thunderbirds Take Care Of Business Against Arlington
Feb 23, 2023, 8:33 PM | Updated: Feb 24, 2023, 10:17 am
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Southern Utah Thunderbirds traveled to the College Park Center to take on the UT Arlington Mavericks on Thursday.
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The Thunderbirds last game was a 7-point loss to in-state foe Utah Valley. The Mavericks last game was a 5-point win over the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds entered the match as the second seed in the Western Athletic Conference.
First Half
After both teams couldn’t score in the opening minutes, the Thunderbirds broke the seal and jumped out to a 5-0 lead.
Maizen flushes it inside to start the night 🤠#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/R5E5JPPFDy
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
SUU took this momentum and ran with it. Ball movement and efficient shooting got them a 13-4 lead after 5 minutes of play.
The Thunderbirds did much of their work in the paint early on.
Spurg ⬇️ the defender for the easy ✌️#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/hNqQ5CeimZ
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
UT Arlington made it closer over the next few minutes by getting stops and swinging the ball around the arc on offense.
BT in transition to get us going 🎯#BuckEm🐎 || #BSWArlington pic.twitter.com/94FXD1ZVZX
— UTA Men’s Basketball (@UTAMavsMBB) February 24, 2023
Halfway through the first half, Southern Utah led, 17-11.
SUU opened up their first double-digit lead of the game with 7 minutes left in the half.
Defense ➡️ Offense. T-Birds ✋ the ball out of the air for 2️⃣ more#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/tgzhbRm2Th
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
After the Mavericks got it back down to 5, Dee Barnes hit a big three to take some of the momentum back.
Dee goes Deep for 3️⃣
He has 5️⃣ off the bench for the ‘Birds 🦅#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/KS3b4GMxXz
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
Barnes was on fire in the first half. He scored 17 points on 6/6 shooting.
Dee is starting to heat up 🔥👨🍳
He leads the team with 1️⃣5️⃣ points#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/TZuSHznRgz
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
The Thunderbirds led at halftime, 42-30.
🆙 at the half 😎#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/PmPNyvmsTT
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
Second Half
Southern Utah came out aggressive in the second half. They double-teamed the ball which led to some transition opportunities.
Tevian Jones 🤝 Making tough shots#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/0qJ8ndX5sf
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
Drake Allen converted a four-point play early in the half.
FOUR POINT PLAY BY DRAKE 😱#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/2shj5grvv5
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
After almost going down by 20, the Mavericks stormed back to make it a 12-point game again.
so S M O O T H 🤌@TheReal_TJones has 1️⃣1️⃣ points so far#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/yHfWtY4g7g
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
They continued their run to drop the lead to single digits. SUU was able to respond with a trip to the free throw line.
With ten minutes left in the game, Southern Utah led 62-53.
Dee Barnes continued to pour it in for SUU.
.@DeeBarnes22 CANNOT MISS 🔥
He has 2️⃣0️⃣ on 7-9 shooting 👏#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/9xcOHCKt62
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
With five minutes left in the game, the Thunderbirds opened a 15-point lead.
This four point play by Tevian *chefs kiss* 🧑🍳🔥#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/onIVXYTGra
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
Southern Utah held onto their double-digit lead for the rest of the game. They take the win on the road, 86-76.
Took care of business tonight 😎#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/Qxe5YrM10k
— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 24, 2023
Chandler Holt is a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter at @ChandlerHoltKSL.
