Hosting the rival Trailblazers after an upset loss in St. George, the T-birds looked to get revenge at home on Friday night.
College hoops: Utah Tech’s blazing start fuels upset win over rival SUU
The game between the two schools separated by just over 50 miles was close throughout.
After a back-and-forth start, Southern Utah took a six-point lead just over seven minutes into the game, before a pair of Utah Tech free throws and a layup by Cameron Gooden cut the deficit to just two points.
The T-birds responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by five points from Drake Allen and a Harrison Butler three-pointer to give the home team its first double-digit lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the opening half.
The Trailblazers made the score 27-21 at the 6:25 mark, but five straight points from Tevian Jones put SUU ahead by 11 once again just over a minute later.
While it appeared the T-birds could be on the verge of pulling away, Utah Tech trimmed the deficit back to four before Tevian Jones knocked down a three-pointer with 14 seconds left to give SUU a 38-31 halftime advantage.
Second half
The visiting Trailblazers responded to the T-birds’ last-second three from the first half, scoring the first seven points of the second frame. A Jacob Nicolds three-pointer at the 18:40 mark evened up the score for Utah Tech.
SUU wasn’t about to be upset a second time in the season by the Trailblazers, however, especially on their own home floor.
Southern Utah scored the next eight points to take a 46-38 lead with just under 16 minutes to play, highlighted by five points from Maizen Fausett.
The game of runs continued, with Utah Tech again battling back to retake the lead at the 8:45 mark, 53-52. A shot from downtown by Noa Gonsalves started the 15-6 spurt for the Trailblazers, while Tanner Christensen silenced the home crowd momentarily with a dunk to recapture the lead.
The T-birds responded by scoring the next eight points in the game, including four from Drake Allen, to go in front 60-53.
A pair of threes from Tevian Jones and Harrison Butler helped push SUU’s lead to 11 just moments later, while a Maizen Faucett layup gave the home team its largest lead of 13 with just under five minutes to go.
The deficit proved to be too much to overcome for the Trailblazers, as the T-birds used a slew of free throws down the stretch to seal the 81-71 victory.
The win improves Southern Utah’s record to 18-9 overall and 10-4 in WAC play.
The loss drops Utah Tech to 11-16 overall, and 3-11 in conference action.
Star performers
Tevian Jones led the way with 22 points in SUU’s win, while Maizen Faucett added 20 to go along with 9 rebounds. Following the strong performance, Faucett has moved into third all-time in program history in points scored (1,446).
Drake Allen chipped in 19 points for the T-birds, with Harrison Butler adding 11.
As a team, Southern Utah knocked down 11-of-25 three-pointers in the win (44%), while also shooting 90% from the free-throw line (18 of 20).
Isaiah Pope was the top scorer in the loss for the Trailblazers, notching 24 points. Jacob Nicolds added 22 points for the visitors.
Up next
Southern Utah
The T-birds (18-9, 10-4 WAC) will now travel to Texas for a pair of games to close out the road portion of the season schedule.
SUU will first battle UT Arlington on Thursday, February 23 at 6 p.m. MT before facing Sam Houston on Saturday, February 25 at 3:30 p.m. MT. Both games can be seen on ESPN+.
Utah Tech
The Trailblazers (11-16, 3-11 WAC) will head to the Lone Star State for its final two away games of the season next.
Utah Tech will tangle with UTRGV on Thursday, February 25 at 5:30 p.m. MT before taking on UT Arlington on Saturday, February 25 at 1 p.m. MT. Both games can be seen on ESPN+.
Gymnastics: No. 21 SUU equals program record in victory over Utah State
