2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds basketball team represented Southern Utah University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds were led by third-year head coach Todd Simon and played their home games at the America First Events Center in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 17–17, 9–11 in Big Sky, play to finish in seventh place. They defeated Idaho State and Northern Colorado to advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament where they lost to Eastern Washington. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Drake in the first round before losing in the second round to Cal State Bakersfield.[1][2]

2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball
CIT, second round
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record17–17 (9–11 Big Sky)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • John Wardenburg
  • Chris Pompey
  • Trent Angelucci
Home arenaAmerica First Events Center
Seasons
2018–19 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Montana 16 4   .800 26 9   .743
Northern Colorado 15 5   .750 21 11   .656
Eastern Washington 12 8   .600 16 18   .471
Weber State 11 9   .550 18 15   .545
Portland State 11 9   .550 16 16   .500
Montana State 11 9   .550 15 17   .469
Southern Utah 9 11   .450 17 17   .500
Northern Arizona 8 12   .400 10 21   .323
Sacramento State 8 12   .400 15 16   .484
Idaho State 7 13   .350 11 19   .367
Idaho 2 18   .100 5 27   .156
Conference tournament winner

Previous season

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The Thunderbirds finished the 2017–18 season 13–19, 5–13 in Big Sky play, to finish in tenth place. In the Big Sky tournament they defeated Idaho State and Idaho to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Eastern Washington.

Offseason

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Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Jamil Jackson 1 G/F 6'6" 190 Sophomore Minneapolis, MN Transferred to IUPUI
Jordan Lyons 5 G/F 6'7" 200 Freshman Brampton, ON Transferred to Vincennes
Jadon Cohee 12 G 6'4" 205 RS Junior Langley, BC Graduate transferred to British Columbia
Taelin Webb 13 G 5'11" 195 RS Junior Fresno, CA Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
James McGee 14 G 6'2" 200 RS Senior San Clemente, CA Graduated
Jamal Aytes 15 F 6'6" 240 RS Senior San Diego, CA Graduated
Christian Musoko 34 F/C 6'8" 245 Senior Kinshasa, Congo Graduated
Joel Swallow 44 F 6'9" 230 RS Sophomore Howell, UT Walk-on; did not return

Incoming transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school
Jason Richardson 3 G 6'2" 210 RS Junior Hawthorne, CA Junior college transferred from Fullerton College
Jakolby Long 13 G 6'5" 207 Junior Mustang, OK Transferred from Iowa State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Long will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Daouda Ndiaye 14 C 7'0" 215 Senior Dakar, Senegal Transferred from Illinois State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Ndiaye will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have one year of remaining eligibility.

2018 recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Harrison Butler
#58 SF
Santa Ana, CA Mater Dei High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Oct 30, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN grade: 78
Josh Cornish
SG
Baltimore, MD Dulaney High School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Mar 27, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Maizen Fausett
SG
Saratoga Springs, UT Westlake High School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) N/A Sep 21, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2018.

Roster

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2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Dato Aphkhazava 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Fr None Batumi, Georgia
G 1 Kenton Eskridge 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Mt. Zion Prep Atlanta, GA
G 2 Brandon Better 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Crossland HS
Moberly Area CC
Suitland, MD
G 3 Jason Richardson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Junípero Serra HS
Fullerton College
Gardena, CA
G 4 Dre Marin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Apollo HS Glendale, AZ
G 5 Dillon Glendenning (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Fr Findlay Prep Dallas, TX
F 10 Jacob Calloway 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr On Point Academy Juneau, AK
F 12 Maizen Fausett 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Westlake HS Saratoga Springs, UT
G 13 Jakolby Long   6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Jr Mustang HS
Iowa State
Mustang, OK
C 14 Daouda Ndiaye   7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Windermere Prep
Illinois State
Dakar, Senegal
G 15 Harrison Butler 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Mater Dei HS Santa Ana, CA
G 21 Josh Cornish 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Dulaney HS Cockeysville, MD
F/C 22 Ivan Madunic 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr None Split, Croatia
G/F 23 Cameron Oluyitan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Clements HS
Boise State
Houston, TX
F 25 Dwayne Morgan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Sr St. Frances Academy
UNLV
Baltimore, MD
G/F 30 Elijah Graves (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Liberty HS Las Vegas, NV
F 32 Andre Adams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr IMG Academy
Arizona State
Avondale, AZ
G 33 Matthew Johnson (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Coronado HS Las Vegas, NV
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: August 5, 2024

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 30, 2018*
6:30 p.m.
Life Pacific W 96–53 
America First Events Center (2,356)
Cedar City, UT
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2018*
6:30 p.m.
West Coast Baptist W 109–63  1–0
America First Events Center (1,572)
Cedar City, UT
November 10, 2018*
7:00 p.m.
at San Jose State W 66–59  2–0
Event Center Arena (371)
San Jose, CA
November 18, 2018*
2:00 p.m.
at Seattle W 73–70  3–0
Redhawk Center (999)
Seattle, WA
November 23, 2018*
8:00 p.m., MWN
at UNLV L 71–76  3–1
Thomas & Mack Center (7,567)
Paradise, NV
November 29, 2018*
6:30 p.m., Pluto TV
San Diego Christian W 111–64  4–1
America First Events Center (2,363)
Cedar City, UT
December 5, 2018*
8:00 p.m.
at Long Beach State L 71–82  4–2
Walter Pyramid (1,876)
Long Beach, CA
December 8, 2018*
2:30 p.m., ESPN3
at Central Michigan L 86–95  4–3
McGuirk Arena (1,832)
Mount Pleasant, MI
December 15, 2018*
7:00 p.m., Pluto TV
Pepperdine W 78–69 OT 5–3
America First Events Center (1,772)
Cedar City, UT
December 21, 2018*
9:00 p.m., P12N
at USC L 49–91  5–4
Galen Center (3,125)
Los Angeles, CA
Big Sky regular season
December 29, 2018
2:00 p.m., Pluto TV
Montana State L 62–92  5–5
(0–1)
America First Events Center (1,802)
Cedar City, UT
December 31, 2018
6:30 p.m., Pluto TV
Montana L 76–89  5–6
(0–2)
America First Events Center (1,451)
Cedar City, UT
January 3, 2019
7:05 p.m.
at Idaho State L 68–88  5–7
(0–3)
Holt Arena (1,461)
Pocatello, ID
January 5, 2019
7:00 p.m.
at Weber State
Old Oquirrh Bucket
W 90–82 OT 6–7
(1–3)
Dee Events Center (6,751)
Ogden, UT
January 12, 2019
2:00 p.m., Pluto TV
Northern Arizona W 84–82  7–7
(2–3)
America First Events Center (1,856)
Cedar City, UT
January 17, 2019
6:00 p.m., Pluto TV
Portland State W 83–69  8–7
(3–3)
America First Events Center (2,307)
Cedar City, UT
January 19, 2019
2:00 p.m., Pluto TV
Sacramento State W 76–71  9–7
(4–3)
America First Events Center (1,672)
Cedar City, UT
January 24, 2019
7:00 p.m.
at Northern Colorado L 68–79  9–8
(4–4)
Bank of Colorado Arena (1,368)
Greeley, CO
January 28, 2019
2:00 p.m.
at Northern Arizona L 77–80 OT 9–9
(4–5)
Walkup Skydome (705)
Flagstaff, AZ
February 2, 2019
3:05 p.m.
at Eastern Washington L 79–82  9–10
(4–6)
Reese Court (1,244)
Cheney, WA
February 4, 2019
8:00 p.m.
at Idaho W 75–64  10–10
(5–6)
Cowan Spectrum (634)
Moscow, ID
February 7, 2019
6:30 p.m., Pluto TV
Weber State
Old Oquirrh Bucket
W 65–53  11–10
(6–6)
America First Events Center (3,069)
Cedar City, UT
February 9, 2019
2:00 p.m., Pluto TV
Idaho State W 78–72  12–10
(7–6)
America First Events Center (1,871)
Cedar City, UT
February 14, 2019
8:05 p.m.
at Sacramento State L 73–84  12–11
(7–7)
Hornets Nest (615)
Sacramento, CA
February 16, 2019
8:05 p.m.
at Portland State L 69–78  12–12
(7–8)
Viking Pavilion (1,130)
Portland, OR
February 21, 2019
6:30 p.m., Pluto TV
Eastern Washington W 76–62  13–12
(8–8)
America First Events Center (1,578)
Cedar City, UT
February 23, 2019
2:00 p.m., Pluto TV
Idaho W 85–76  14–12
(9–8)
America First Events Center (1,604)
Cedar City, UT
March 2, 2019
7:00 p.m.
at Montana L 54–70  14–13
(9–9)
Dahlberg Arena (4,383)
Missoula, MT
March 4, 2019
7:00 p.m.
at Montana State L 83–90  14–14
(9–10)
Brick Breeden Fieldhouse 
Bozeman, MT
March 7, 2019
6:30 p.m., Pluto TV
Northern Colorado L 53–70  14–15
(9–11)
America First Events Center (2,172)
Cedar City, UT
Big Sky tournament
March 13, 2019
1:00 p.m., Pluto TV
(7) vs. (10) Idaho State
First round
W 94–80  15–15
CenturyLink Arena 
Boise, ID
March 14, 2019
6:30 p.m., Eleven
(7) vs. (2) Northern Colorado
Quarterfinals
W 83–63  16–15
CenturyLink Arena 
Boise, ID
March 15, 2019
9:00 p.m., Eleven
(7) vs. (3) Eastern Washington
Semifinals
W 77–61  16–16
CenturyLink Arena (2,900)
Boise, ID
CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
March 22, 2019*
6:30 p.m., watchcit.com
Drake
First round
W 80–73 OT 17–16
America First Events Center (2,714)
Cedar City, UT
March 25, 2019*
6:30 p.m., watchcit.com
Cal State Bakersfield
Second round
L 67–70  17–17
America First Events Center (3,027)
Cedar City, UT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain.

Source:[3]

References

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  1. ^ Register staff (March 22, 2019). "College basketball: Southern Utah beats Drake in CIT's opening round". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  2. ^ "Lee scores 15 to lead CS Bakersfield past S. Utah 70-67". ESPN. March 25, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  3. ^ "2018-19 Men's Basketball Schedule". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved August 5, 2024.