Southern Utah Pulls Off Comeback Win, Advances To WAC Championship Game

LAS VEGAS – The Utah Valley Wolverines matched up with the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament on Thursday.

In the quarterfinals, the Wolverines pulled out a convincing 14-point win over the Tarleton Texans. The Thunderbirds beat the Utah Tech Trailblazers by 1 point.

The winner of the game goes on to play the Grand Canyon University Lopes in the WAC Tournament championship at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

First Half

Jason Spurgin opened up scoring for the Thunderbirds with some work in the paint.

Spurgin starting where he left off 💪#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/3j6aK0AQfm

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 11, 2023

The Wolverine offense came out hot. They made all of their first three attempts from the field.

Southern Utah was able to keep it close by forcing five UVU turnovers in the first five minutes.

Trey with a good look.. and knocks it down… pic.twitter.com/kN2uIZ4qLk

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 11, 2023

Halfway through the opening half, Utah Valley led by two, 13-11.

Aziz Bandaogo had a powerful putback slam that followed an SUU run.

Aziz with the putback pic.twitter.com/h2f8CZgO8U

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 11, 2023

Cameron Healy hit a big three to give Southern Utah their biggest lead of the game.

🎯 SWISH 🎯@camb0healy puts SUU 🆙 2️⃣1️⃣-1️⃣7️⃣ ‼️#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/9apd1FueMc

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 11, 2023

Trey Woodbury was on fire from deep in the first half. He made three of his first five attempts.

The Thunderbirds only had two makes from three as a team.

Trey Wood likes March pic.twitter.com/buuI5MgJIy

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 11, 2023

Woodbury led the way during a 10-1 Wolverine run.

Trey with 13 so far in the first half… two more and a 33-28 lead. pic.twitter.com/un17p4R3LR

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 11, 2023

Utah Valley led by eight at the half, 41-33.

Halftime from Las Vegas 🌆#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/Rn6ZnEC6Jd

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 11, 2023

Second Half

The Wolverines expanded on their lead to start the second half. They went on an impressive 13-0 run.

Justin Harmon drove to the rim and made a layup plus a foul to give UVU a 20-point lead.

Justin Harmon! And 1! pic.twitter.com/IGoSGSUWdO

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 11, 2023

Bandaogo threw down a highlight alley-oop slam.

Oh my… pic.twitter.com/OVBnWz16Xd

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 11, 2023

The Thunderbirds started the second half shooting 1/5 from the field.

Tevian Jones created a three-point play to stop the bleeding for Southern Utah.

Tevian with the 🪣 ＋ 1️⃣#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/KOamZAltHz

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 11, 2023

Bandaogo caught another lob just minutes later.

A little razzle-dazzle to Aziz pic.twitter.com/O6tzhtdTRY

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 11, 2023

SUU went on a run to drop the lead to eleven, 66-55, with ten minutes left in regulation.

The Wolverines answered with a third lob to Bandaogo.

Breaking that pressure with an oop to Aziz. pic.twitter.com/bVRtdhSanv

— UVU Men’s Basketball (@UVUmbb) March 11, 2023

Woodbury continued to shoot the lights out from deep. He had 25 points on 7/11 shooting from behind the arc.

Southern Utah went into a press and forced some UVU turnovers. They were able to drop the lead to 7 with three minutes left.

No quit in our guy @DeeBarnes22 🙅‍♂️#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/IseR8psolE

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 11, 2023

Harrison Butler hit a big three to drop the Wolverine lead to just five.

.@little_toof hits the BIG 👌

SUU trails by only five, 7️⃣7️⃣-8️⃣2️⃣#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/6TzmkAAPEo

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 11, 2023

Tevian Jones drove to the lead and threw down a poster slam to cut the lead to one.

The pace picked up in the final minutes. The in-state rivals traded baskets down the stretch.

OH MY @TheReal_TJones 🤯🤯🤯

SUU cuts the Wolverines lead to only 1️⃣#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/ph2VjsSv6e

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 11, 2023

Harmon went to the free-throw line with 15 seconds left and missed both.

Tevian Jones got fouled on a three-pointer and made the shot to tie the game. He made the free throw to give SUU their first lead of the second half.

TEVIAN FOR THE WIN 🤯🤯🤯

AND 1️⃣#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/4fkzvN4S91

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 11, 2023

The Wolverines ran the floor but missed their last-second layup attempt. Southern Utah pulls off the comeback victory, 89-88.

Chandler Holt is a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter at @ChandlerHoltKSL.

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