Southern Utah Overcomes Double-Digit Deficit To Defeat Portland State

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah men’s basketball overcame a double-digit deficit in the first half to beat the Portland State Vikings by double figures.

The Vikings hosted the T-Birds on Thursday, March 4.

SUU trailed by 12 points with five and half minutes remaining in the first half before going on a 16-0 run to close out the opening 20 minutes of action.

Over the final 26:28 of game time, the Thunderbirds outscored the Vikings by 22 points and won the game, 68-58.

WE'RE ON A 16-0 RUN AND THERE ISN'T ENOUGH 🔥 EMOJI'S IN THE WORLD RN pic.twitter.com/Yds83Znq0h

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 5, 2021

Southern Utah finished the contest shooting 42.3 percent from the field, including 20.8 percent from beyond the arc.

the dude is en fuego pic.twitter.com/lS0z59I6VD

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 5, 2021

The T-Birds were led by John Knight III’s game-high 26 points.

‼️ ‼️ ‼️ pic.twitter.com/gY4oNfFlug

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 5, 2021

Tevian Jones added 21 points.

Portland State ended the game shooting 31.3 percent overall and 28.0 percent from beyond the arc.

The Viking were led by James Scott’s 20 points.

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With the win, the Thunderbirds improved to 18-3 on the season and a 11-2 record in Big Sky Conference games.

FINAL | Big time win in Portland ⚡️

18-3 Overall, 11-2 Big Sky 📈

… ONE. WIN. AWAY. 👀#StormTheSky x #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/ceZ665cc2X

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) March 5, 2021

Southern Utah’s next game is the second contest of a back-to-back against Portland State. The T-Birds and Vikings will rematch on Saturday, March 6 at 1:05 p.m. (MDT).