2020–21 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

2020–21 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball
2020–21 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball
Big Sky regular season champions
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	20–4 (12–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Todd Simon (5th season);
Associate head coach	John Wardenburg
Assistant coaches	Chris Pompey; Flynn Clayman;
Home arena	America First Event Center
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team represented Southern Utah University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds, led by 5th-year head coach Todd Simon, played their home games at the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 20-4, 12-2 in Big Sky Play to finish as regular season champions. They defeated Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament before losing in the semifinals to Montana State.

2020–21 Big Sky men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Southern Utah	12	–	2	.857	20	–	4	.833
Weber State	12	–	3	.800	17	–	6	.739
Eastern Washington†	12	–	3	.800	16	–	8	.667
Montana State	8	–	6	.571	13	–	10	.565
Idaho State	8	–	6	.571	13	–	11	.542
Montana	7	–	9	.438	15	–	13	.536
Northern Colorado	6	–	8	.429	11	–	11	.500
Portland State	6	–	8	.429	9	–	13	.409
Sacramento State	5	–	9	.357	8	–	12	.400
Northern Arizona	4	–	10	.286	6	–	16	.273
Idaho	1	–	17	.056	1	–	21	.045

† Conference tournament winner

Previous season edit

The Thunderbirds finished the 2019–20 season 17–15, 9–11 in Big Sky play to finish in seventh place. They received the #7 seed in the Big Sky tournament, were they defeated the #10 seed Idaho in the first round 75–69.^[1] They were scheduled to face off against the #2 seed Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals, but the remainder of the tournament was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Roster edit

2020–21 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Damani McEntire	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Hargrave Military Academy	Indianapolis, Indiana
G	1	Nick Fleming	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Highland Community College	Atlanta, Georgia
G	2	Aanen Moody	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	RS Jr	North Dakota	Dickinson, North Dakota
G	3	John Knight III	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Utah State	Jackson, Mississippi
G	4	Dre Marin	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Apollo High School	Glendale, Arizona
G	5	Tevian Jones	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Illinois	Chandler, Arizona
F	12	Maizen Fausett	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Westlake High School	Saratoga Springs, Utah
G	13	Darnell Latham Jr.	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Sr	Lincoln College	Chicago, Illinois
C	14	Jason Spurgin	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Toowoomba Grammar School	Toowoomba, Australia
G	15	Harrison Butler	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Mater Dei High School	Santa Ana, California
G	21	Kingsley Box	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Flinders College	Melbourne, Australia
F/C	22	Ivan Madunic	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	RS Sr	DME Academy	Split, Croatia
F	23	Courtese Cooper	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Jr	LSU	Elgin, Illinois
G	25	Dee Barnes	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Mount St. Mary's	Great Mills, Maryland
G/F	30	Marquis Moore	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Detroit Mercy	Los Angeles, California
G	33	Martel Williams	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Middlebrooks Academy	Las Vegas, Nevada

Head coach

Todd Simon (UNLV)

Assistant coach(es)

John Wardenburg (BYU)
Chris Pompey (Pittsburgh)
Flynn Clayman (Troy)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 9, 2020

Schedule and results edit

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 5:00 pm		at Loyola Marymount	L 83–85	0–1	Gersten Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
November 28, 2020* 1:00 pm, Pluto TV		Saint Katherine	W 95–47	1–1	America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
December 3, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Montana	W 64–63	2–1 (1–0)	America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
December 5, 2020 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Montana	W 75–74	3–1 (2–0)	America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
December 9, 2020* 6:00 pm		at Utah Valley	W 81–71	4–1	UCCU Center Orem, UT
December 17, 2020* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Dixie State	W 85–78	5–1	America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
December 18, 2020* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Bethesda	W 98–64	6–1	America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
December 21, 2020* 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Bethesda	W 96–57	7–1	America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
January 7, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Idaho	W 85–80	8–1 (3–0)	America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
January 9, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Idaho	W 83–67	9–1 (4–0)	America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
January 14, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Eastern Washington	L 63–75	9–2 (4–1)	Reese Court Cheney, WA
January 16, 2021 1:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Eastern Washington	W 99–94	10–2 (5–1)	Reese Court Cheney, WA
January 21, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Weber State	L 67–91	10–3 (5–2)	Dee Events Center Ogden, UT
January 23, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Weber State	W 77–72	11–3 (6–2)	America First Event Center (689) Cedar City, UT
February 4, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Northern Colorado	Canceled		America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
February 6, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Northern Colorado	Canceled		America First Event Center Cedar City, UT
February 6, 2021* 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Benedictine Mesa	W 110–58	12–3	America First Event Center (456) Cedar City, UT
February 9, 2021* 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		San Diego Christian	W 109–50	13–3	America First Event Center (200) Cedar City, UT
February 18, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Sacramento State	W 88–69	14–3 (7–2)	America First Event Center (946) Cedar City, UT
February 20, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		Sacramento State	W 77–57	15–3 (8–2)	America First Event Center (665) Cedar City, UT
February 24, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Northern Arizona	W 85–80	16–3 (9–2)	America First Event Center (944) Cedar City, UT
February 26, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Northern Arizona	W 92–62	17–3 (10–2)	Rolle Activity Center (0) Flagstaff, AZ
March 4, 2021 8:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Portland State	W 68–58	18–3 (11–2)	Viking Pavilion (0) Portland, OR
March 6, 2021 1:00 pm, Pluto TV		at Portland State	W 73–54	19–3 (12–2)	Viking Pavilion (0) Portland, OR
Big Sky tournament
March 11, 2021 11:00 am, Eleven	(1)	vs. (8) Northern Colorado Quarterfinals	W 91–83	20–3	Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID
March 12, 2021 5:00 pm, Eleven	(1)	vs. (5) Montana State Semifinals	L 77–80	20–4	Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Source^[3]

References edit

^ "Thunderbirds Survive Vandal Surge, Advance To Second Round". Southern Utah University Athletics. March 11, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
^ "BIG SKY CONFERENCE CANCELS REMAINDER OF 2020 BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS". Big Sky Conference. March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved December 9, 2020.

[1] "Thunderbirds Survive Vandal Surge, Advance To Second Round". Southern Utah University Athletics. March 11, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.

[2] "BIG SKY CONFERENCE CANCELS REMAINDER OF 2020 BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS". Big Sky Conference. March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.

[3] "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved December 9, 2020.

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