Southern Utah Loses To New Mexico In 2022-23 Season Opener
Nov 7, 2022, 9:24 PM
Southern Utah guard Tevian Jones (Courtesy of Southern Utah Athletics)
(Courtesy of Southern Utah Athletics)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Thunderbirds proved to be a game opponent for the Mountain West’s New Mexico Lobos, but Southern Utah came up short in the 89-81 loss.
Southern Utah traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to face the Mountain West’s New Mexico Lobos.
Tevian Jones finished with a game high 28 points in the loss. Maizen Faucett dropped in 13 points while grabbing 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. No other Thunderbird scored in double-digits.
First Half
The Lobos opened with a 4-0 run to start the game, holding Southern Utah without a point for nearly three minutes.
The Thunderbirds finally got on the scoreboard when Harrison Butler hit nailed two free-throws after drawing a shooting foul against New Mexico’s Morris Udeze.
This fadeaway jumper by Amound Anderson was dirty 😤
Amound leads the T-Birds with 9️⃣ points so far ‼️#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/OnafdjqEYt
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) November 8, 2022
Southern Utah’s Amound Anderson went a perfect 4-4 from the field, finishing with nine points in the half. Drake Allen and Dee Barnes each chipped in five points during the opening 20 minutes of action.
First half in the 📚#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/ITfVZ5QizQ
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) November 8, 2022
Second Half
With New Mexico threatening to pull away early in the second half, Tevian Jones got hot for the Thunderbirds. Jones knocked down three three’s in the opening ten minutes of the second half.
Tevian Jones cooking to start the second half 🔥#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/emNdLvF2Xf
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) November 8, 2022
During the stretch, he went 5-9 from the field, scoring 13 points. During one stretch, Jones accounted for 11 straight Thunderbird points.
Yep, he's still cooking 👨🍳
Tevian leads the T-Birds in scoring with 1️⃣7️⃣#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/EdcQV8DXZF
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) November 8, 2022
With just under nine minutes remaining and New Mexico hanging on to an eight point lead, Maizen Faucett scored back to back buckets, bring SUU with in four, 63-59.
After New Mexico’s Jamal Mashburn Jr. missed a technical free throw, allowing Harrison Butler to come down and hit a jumper, cutting the lead to two.
The Lobos answered the 8-0 Southern Utah run, throwing a haymaker of their own with a 5-0 run to take a 68-61 lead.
Late in the game and trailing 82-78 after the fifth three of the night from Jones, Southern Utah’s defense couldn’t get the necessary stop on the other end. Morris Udeze got free, finishing with a rim rattling dunk to give the Lobos a six point lead.
Jones knocked down his sixth three of the night but it wasn’t enough as UNM made five free throws down the stretch to ice the win away.
FINAL.#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/Yqgifw5cd8
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) November 8, 2022
Up Next
The Thunderbirds return home where they will host the University of La Verne at the America first Event Center on Thursday, November 10.. Tip-off for this game is scheduled for 7 p.m. (MST).
