Southern Utah Soars Past New Mexico State For Fourth Straight Victory

SALT LAKE CITY – The Southern Utah men’s basketball team flew past the New Mexico State Aggies for the Thunderbirds’ fourth consecutive victory.

The T-Birds hosted the Aggies at America First Events Center on Thursday, January 19.

SUU beat New Mexico State, 111-76.

Great team win tonight 🙌#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/ViMmUj4Ra3

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) January 20, 2023

The Aggies opened the contest with an early lead before the Thunderbirds flew ahead and never looked back.

With 18:16 left in the first half, New Mexico State’s Deshawndre Washington buried a set of free throws as part of a personal 5-0 run. The foul shots gave the Aggies a 9-4 lead.

20 seconds later, Harrison Butler buried a jumper to cut into New Mexico State’s lead. Then Tevian Jones proceeded to hit back-to-back three-pointers to put the Thunderbirds ahead on the scoreboard.

Southern Utah never trailed again.

By halftime, the T-Birds had built their lead to 20 points at 58-38. Southern Utah exited the locker room and continued to pour it on. The Thunderbirds once led by 37 points. SUU scored 53 points over the final 20 minutes of action to capture the 35-point victory.

SUU finished the evening shooting a blazing 63.8 percent overall and 20-35 for 57.1 percent from three-point range. New Mexico State shot 43.1 percent, including 26.9 percent from downtown.

Zion hits ANOTHER ONE 🎯

The T-Birds have now hit 2️⃣0️⃣ three pointers tonight 🤯#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/FeA7soCwYG

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) January 20, 2023

Southern Utah had five fewer turnovers than NMSU and dished out 16 more assists than the Aggies.

Six Thunderbirds reached double figures in scoring. Tevian Jones led SUU with 18 points on 6-11 shooting, including 4-8 from distance. He added two rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

Human highlight reel @TheReal_TJones 🥵#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/0fLtj6kvgK

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) January 20, 2023

Butler and Maizen Fausett each scored 15 points. The Thunderbirds’ second unit combined to score 47 points.

With the win, the Thunderbirds improved their record to 14-6 this season, including 6-1 in Western Athletic Conference contests. SUU currently sits in first place in the WAC.

Southern Utah’s next game is on the road against the Seattle Redhawks on Saturday, January 21 at 4 p.m. (MDT). The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

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