2019–20 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Southern Utah Thunderbirds basketball team represents Southern Utah University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds are led by fourth-year head coach Todd Simon and play their home games at the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Big Sky Conference.

2019–20 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball
Conference	Big Sky Conference
2019–20 record	16–15 (9–11 Big Sky)
Head coach	Todd Simon (4th season)
Assistant coaches	John Wardenburg Chris Pompey Flynn Clayman
Home arena	America First Event Center

2019–20 Big Sky men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern Washington	16	–	4		.800			23	–	8		.742
Northern Colorado	15	–	5		.750			22	–	9		.710
Montana	14	–	6		.700			18	–	13		.581
Portland State	12	–	8		.600			18	–	14		.563
Northern Arizona	10	–	10		.500			16	–	14		.533
Montana State	10	–	10		.500			16	–	15		.516
Southern Utah	9	–	11		.450			17	–	15		.531
Sacramento State	8	–	12		.400			16	–	14		.533
Weber State	8	–	12		.400			12	–	20		.375
Idaho State	4	–	16		.200			8	–	22		.267
Idaho	4	–	16		.200			8	–	24		.250
As of March 11, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll NOTE: The 2020 Big Sky Tournament was canceled prior to the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Thunderbirds finished the 2018–19 season 17–17 overall, 9–11 in Big Sky play, finishing in 7th place. In the Big Sky Tournament, they defeated Idaho State in the first round,[1] upset No. 2 seeded Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals,[2] before falling to Northern Colorado in the semifinals.[3] They were invited to the CIT, where they defeated Drake in the first round,[4] before losing to Cal State Bakersfield in the second round.[5]

Roster

2019–20 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) 179 lb (81 kg) Fr Hargrave Military Academy Indianapolis, IN G 1 Jakolby Long 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) RS Fr Mustang HS Iowa State Mustang, OK G 3 John Knight III 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Callaway HS Utah State Jackson, MS G 4 Dre Marin 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Apollo HS Glendale, AZ F 12 Maizen Fausett 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Westlake HS Saratoga Springs, UT G 13 Chase Verdugo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 174 lb (79 kg) Fr Walden Grove HS Sahuarita, AZ C 14 Daouda N'Diaye 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Windermere Prep Illinois State Dakar, Senegal G 15 Harrison Butler 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Mater Dei HS Santa Ana, CA G 21 Josh Cornish 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) RS Fr Dulaney HS Cockeysville, MD G/F 23 Cameron Olutiyan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Clements HS Boise State Sugar Land, TX F 23 Dwayne Morgan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) RS Sr St. Frances Academy UNLV Baltimore, MD F 32 Andre Adams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Westview HS Arizona State Avondale, AZ F 33 Jarryd Hoppo 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 186 lb (84 kg) Fr Westminster School Adelaide, South Australia	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

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Bethesda	W 110–66	1–0	America First Event Center (2,087) Cedar City, UT
November 9, 2019* 12:00 pm, BTN+		at Nebraska	W 79–78 ^2OT	2–0	Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,828) Lincoln, NE
November 13, 2019* 7:00 pm		at BYU Maui Invitational campus-site game	L 63–68	2–1	Marriott Center (10,661) Provo, UT
November 18, 2019* 9:00 pm, P12N		at UCLA Maui Invitational campus-site game	L 61–76	2–2	Pauley Pavilion (4,427) Los Angeles, CA
November 23, 2019* 9:30 am		vs. Charleston Southern Maui on the Mainland	W 80–45	3–2	Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,526) Johnson City, TN
November 24, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPN+		at East Tennessee State Maui on the Mainland	L 58–70	3–3	Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,053) Johnson City, TN
November 29, 2019* 12:00 pm, Pluto TV		West Coast Baptist	W 126–40	4–3	America First Event Center (1,501) Cedar City, UT
December 1, 2019* 2:00 pm, WCC Network		at Loyola Marymount	L 51–61	4–4	Gersten Pavilion (622) Los Angeles, CA
December 7, 2019* 2:00 pm		Utah Valley	W 73–72	5–4	America First Event Center (3,017) Cedar City, UT
December 14, 2019* 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		UC Santa Barbara	W 62–61	6–4	America First Event Center (1,810) Cedar City, UT
December 19, 2019* 8:00 pm		at Long Beach State	W 84–63	7–4	Walter Pyramid (1,336) Long Beach, CA
Big Sky regular season
December 30, 2019 8:00 pm		at Portland State	W 83–81	8–4 (1–0)	Viking Pavilion (755) Portland, OR
January 2, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Montana	L 58–60	8–5 (1–1)	America First Event Center (2,059) Cedar City, UT
January 4, 2020 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Montana State	W 59–53	9–5 (2–1)	America First Event Center (1,806) Cedar City, UT
January 9, 2020 7:00 pm		at Idaho State	W 71–55	10–5 (3–1)	Reed Gym (1,332) Pocatello, ID
January 16, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Northern Arizona	L 72–75	10–6 (3–2)	America First Event Center (3,346) Cedar City, UT
January 18, 2020 1:00 pm, Pluto TV		Sacramento State	W 74–49	11–6 (4–2)	America First Event Center (2,018) Cedar City, UT
January 25, 2020 3:00 pm		at Eastern Washington	L 78–81 ^OT	11–7 (4–3)	Reese Court (1,561) Cheney, WA
January 27, 2020 7:30 pm		at Idaho	W 73–45	12–7 (5–3)	Cowan Spectrum (914) Moscow, ID
January 30, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Weber State	L 65–75	12–8 (5–4)	America First Event Center (4,021) Cedar City, UT
February 1, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Idaho State	W 80–75	13–8 (6–4)	America First Event Center (2,163) Cedar City, UT
February 6, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Northern Colorado	L 60–68	13–9 (6–5)	America First Event Center (2,196) Cedar City, UT
February 8, 2020 2:00 pm, Pluto TV		Portland State	W 85–57	14–9 (7–5)	America First Event Center (2,085) Cedar City, UT
February 13, 2020 8:00 pm		at Sacramento State	L 55–70	14–10 (7–6)	Hornets Nest (914) Sacramento, CA
February 15, 2020 4:00 pm		at Northern Arizona	L 69–82	14–11 (7–7)	Walkup Skydome (678) Flagstaff, AZ
February 20, 2020 7:00 pm		at Northern Colorado	L 66–68	14–12 (7–8)	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,503) Greeley, CO
February 22, 2020 7:00 pm		at Weber State	L 71–82	14–13 (7–9)	Dee Events Center (6,141) Ogden, UT
February 27, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Eastern Washington	L 51–69	14–14 (7–10)	America First Event Center (2,368) Cedar City, UT
February 29, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV		Idaho	W 87–55	15–14 (8–10)	America First Event Center (2,174) Cedar City, UT
March 5, 2020 7:00 pm		at Montana State	L 65–73	15–15 (8–11)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,073) Bozeman, MT
March 7, 2020 7:00 pm		at Montana	W 85-80 ^OT	16-15 (9-11)	Dahlberg Arena  Missoula, MT
Big Sky Tournament
March 11, 2020 12:00 pm, Pluto TV	(7)	vs. (10) Idaho First round	W 75–69	17–15	CenturyLink Arena (2,503) Boise, ID
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Source[6]

References

1. "Thunderbirds Advance Past Idaho State, Await Northern Colorado". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
2. "T-Birds Advance to Semifinals Following Upset Victory Over Northern Colorado". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
3. "Eastern Washington Returns to #BigSkyMBB Championship Game With Win Over Southern Utah". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
4. "Southern Utah Grinds Out Overtime Win Over Drake In CIT Opening Round". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
5. "CSU Bakersfield vs. Southern Utah - Game Summary - March 25, 2019". ESPN. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
6. "2019-20 Men's Basketball Schedule". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved January 4, 2020.