2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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]
Previous season
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
Departures
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
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
College recruiting information
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
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
Star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : N/A 247Sports : N/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
Star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : N/A 247Sports : N/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:
Roster
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
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