LONG BEACH, Calif. — The Southern Utah Thunderbirds Men’s basketball team lost their second game of the year to the Long Beach State 49ers. The Thunderbirds fell to 4-2 while the 49ers improve to 3-7.

The Thunderbirds were very much into the game at halftime, but a late run with five minutes to go pushed the 49ers ahead. A three pointer with 5:15 left to go in the half put the 49ers up and by six and they never looked back. The Thunderbirds had a chance to gain momentum as KJ Byers was ejected from the game with 10:48 left to go in the first half.

While the Thunderbirds dropped a game that they very well could have won, there were some bright spots. Andre Adams led the Thunderbirds in scoring with 18 points. Along with his 18 points, Adams racked up seven rebounds and two blocks.

The leading scorer for the 49ers was Deishuan Booker, who had 21 points.

The story of the game was SUU’s poor shooting. They had a rough first half in which they shot 37% from the field and 20% from the three point line. If SUU would have made just a couple more shots in the first half, it could have been a whole new ball game. SUU’s shooting struggles continued in the second half in which they shot 38% from the field and 35% from the three point line. SUU also shot 61% from the free throw line in the second half, which has been a storyline all year. If SUU is going to compete for a Big Sky title, they need to shoot better from the free throw line. SUU shooting was their downfall in this game.

This game was a back and forth game for most of the game, Long Beach State always seemed to have the lead, but SUU was always right there, but a late game run ended the Thunderbirds hopes of a 5-1 start.

Next game:

SUU (4-2): Saturday Dec 8 @ Central Michigan University

LBSU (3-7): Saturday Dec 8 @ Fresno State

 

 

CEDAR CITY, Utah, – The Southern Utah Thunderbirds Men’s basketball team continued their hot start to the season as they went on to rout the San Diego Christian Hawks 111-64. The Thunderbirds improve to 4-1 while the Hawks drop to 2-5.

The Hawks were able to stay in the game early, but after a three pointer by Kenton Eskridge with 14:55 left to go in the first half, the Thunderbirds took 10-7 lead and never gave the it back.

SUU improved to 4-1 with their only loss being a 76-71 loss @UNLV.

SUU’s offense struggled in the first five minutes of the game, but after they took a 10-7 lead, the offense exploded. SUU’s leading scorer was Junior, Jacob Calloway. He had 20 points on 6-9 shooting and was 4-5 from the three-point line. He was also a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. Along with scoring, Calloway grabbed 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 0 turnovers. He was certainly the biggest difference maker. Along with Calloway, Maizen Fausett was one of the biggest difference makers on the floor. Fausett put together a game with 12 points, 14 rebounds, and a monster block that sent the America First Event Center into a frenzy.

The story of the game was Southern Utah’s three-point shooting. SUU made 15 3’s shot 40.5% from the three-point line, while San Diego Christian only shot 30%. After SUU took the lead, San Diego Christian simply could not come back. Every time San Diego Christian would seemingly be back in it, SUU would come down the court and hit a three to put the game away.

The first half ended with SUU winning 56-32, the second half was where SUU really put them away. It seemed as San Diego went on small runs in the 1^st in which they had a chance, but once the second half got under way, there was no stopping the Thunderbirds as they went on to win 111-64.

Next Game:

SUU (4-1): Wednesday Dec 5 vs. Long Beach State

SDCC: (2-5): Thursday Dec 6 @ Hope International University

Sports is one of those things that provides a lot of things, tradition is certainly one of them One of my favorite sports traditions is Thanksgiving Football. Thanksgiving and football go hand in hand, but at our house, as soon as the games start, the TV stays there. While all the food is cooking we are watching football. I’ll usually be on the couch, dog laying right next to me, watching the Thanksgiving games. I guess this could be a Thanksgiving tradition as well. NFL Football and Thanksgiving has always been a staple. Whether my team is playing or not, Thanksgiving is a day of food and football. The games start in the morning, then go until the evening. It seems like there is always a game on since they have three games, one after another. Although it is unfortunate the Cowboys are always on… My sports tradition isn’t anything special, but it’s my favorite because I get to enjoy Thanksgiving with football on.

SUU Basketball is 3-0 for the first time ever. That is a huge accomplishment for SUU! Earlier in the year I interviewed Trent Angelucci, an assistant basketball coach. He said that he believed the team could be very good. He said that last year some of their best players were on the bench and unable to play because of red shirting and transfer rules. He also said that he was very excited because they are starting to go to position less basketball and have long, athletic players that can all shoot. So far, Trent is right. SUU basketball has looked really good so far, Not only are they 3-0, but there is a notable difference this year. SUU basketball is on the rise. This is a very good thing, especially since SUU football has had a down year. I hope that SUU students see that SUU basketball on the rise and the arena begins the fill up. I think that if SUU basketball continues to improve, the atmosphere could become better than what it is at the football games. SUU’s next game is on the road against UNLV, which is a huge game. UNLV is a D-1 team which will prove to be a huge test. If SUU play tough or even upsets UNLV, that will prove that SUU is for real. When I interviewed Angelucci, I asked him what he would consider a success, he responded “To win the Big Sky.” If we looked at the team last year, winning the conference would seem like a very tall task, but now? It looks like the Thunderbirds have a legitimate chance.

The Jump is an incredibly popular NBA podcast on ESPN. In the part of the episode we listened to they were talking different stories around the league. They talked about the Jimmy Butler trade, the beef between KD and Draymomd, Markelle Fultz’s shooting issues, and Carmelo Anthony’s future. The Jump is hosted by Rachel Nichols and a rotating cast of co-hosts. This episode included future NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady and sports writer Jackie MacMullan. This podcast did a really good in terms of talking about current events. The podcast came out yesterday and Jimmy Butler was traded a couple days ago. It is very important for podcast to be current because no one likes to hear about things that have happened weeks ago.

The podcast I listened to was Door Bumper Clear. This is a NASCAR podcast hosted by Brett Griffin, TJ Majors, and Casey Heimes. Brett and TJ are spotters for NASCAR drivers. Spotters are the ones who are up above the stands telling their drivers where other cars are and being their second pair of eyes. Spotters are very important to the success of the driver and team. This episode Freddie Kraft, the spotter for Bubba Wallace filled in. While they talk about NASCAR, they talk about random topics as well. The flow of racing and non racing topics they go really well together.

The best person I ever competed with was a guy on my high school golf team. His name is Will. He was a year younger than me I believe. He was on the varsity team freshman year. He was incredible. He had access to really nice facilities and had lessons every week, but he worked his tail off and man did it show. He was always our lowest scorer. I never even sniffed his numbers.It was crazy seeing someone that good. I believe he may have a chance to get on the tour. In high school he was consistently +1-3 in matches. I was amazed every day. He was the best player I played with and against.

Another person that I played with always got me to play my best. We had a bit of an incident his first year on the team(won’t go into that), and since I kinda had a bad taste in my mouth when it came to him. So even if it meant a meaningless putting contest, I wanted to beat him. I wanted to beat him more than anything. It was fun having someone like that to compete against. He certainly made me play my best because I wanted to have a lower score than him more than anything in that moment. He was very good don’t get me wrong, but all I wanted to do was beat him.

An SUU version of Wild Bill with the name Jaden could be Thundering ______ whatever costume he is wearing.

Basketball and football are two of biggest sports at SUU, yet football games are usually full, but basketball games are not. Why is this? I think the biggest reason is that the football team has had a lot of success. You see it all the time. When Lebron left the Cavs they went from being on of the top in attendance to near the bottom. There are some teams that always have a packed stadium, but mostly, winning cures all. SUU’s basketball team looks to be very good this year. It’s an unfortunate reality, but winning brings people to the arena. As SUU students see the basketball team be better and start to win games, more people will start showing up. If the game last night is an indicator, they could be really good. Something that SUU could actually do to help is promote it more. With SUU football we have tailgates, we have our themes for games, do the same for basketball. Tailgating for basketball is a bit more difficult, but so what? Do something. It does not have to be a full on tailgate, but maybe if we had food before the game that could be something.

The WNBA is losing money, there is no other way to put it. The WNBA is losing the NBA millions every year and now the players are demanding more money. NBA salaries are based of a percentage. A percentage of the profits go to the players and a percentage to everyone else. The WNBA incorporates that same system since the NBA runs the WNBA. The question is how does the WNBA make money. Can they? The NBA already markets them like crazy, yet the stands are still empty. The sad reality is that less people are interested in women’s professional sports. One of the ways I would try to market the NBA is by having women’s basketball in the Olympics. The women’s US soccer team is incredibly popular. While part of that is Patriotism, another is that America loves a winner. I am sure a women’s US basketball team could be very good. The issue is the players want more money, but if they leave wants to make a profit they cannot afford that. The reason NBA players make so much is because of economics. The NBA makes BILLIONS. I’d be surprised if the WNBA made more than $10 and without the help of the NBA, they wouldn’t make even close to that. The WNBA cannot afford to pay the players more than they already are. The WNBA isn’t losing money for lack of exposure. The NBA gives them plenty of that. The issue is lack of interest. Lack of interest is killing the league and honestly I don’t see a way out. It’s unfortunate, but it’t the reality of business.

Like I talked about yesterday with college sports, there are a lot of issues with pro sports. One of the biggest issues that they face today is for a lot of people, the inability to go. Unless you are a fan of teams like the Cavs or Bucs, tickets are EXPENSIVE! While sure, tickets aren’t the primary way teams make money, what good is a team if their arena is empty. Pro sporting events are now more like corporate events. I am not saying that tickets have to be cheap per say, but how much better would sports be if every stadium was like Arrowhead of CenturyLink Field. College atmospheres are so much better than pro. For example, a couple years ago I went to Miami for Christmas and my parents and I went to a Heat game vs. Brooklyn. We were in the upper sections and the tickets were around $200 per person. This was after Lebron left Miami as well. Some sports are better than others, but for the most part it depends on the team. Dodger tickets aren’t terrible and Anaheim Ducks tickets aren’t bad. But Yankees tickets or New York Rangers tickets are CRAZY. I think that it is important for teams to make tickets less expensive so more people can go. I understand it’s a business, but more butts in seats means more people visiting the team store and more people buying concessions. If tickets were a bit less expensive it would benefit the team and the customer.

College sports are a wonderful thing. College football and college basketball atmospheres can be some of the best in all of sports. Nothing beats the first few days of March Madness. There are issues though. The NCAA is a corrupt organization. Mark Emerett is on par with Roger Goodell as the most hatred leaders in all of sports. There are so many issues with the NCAA that it could eventually go down. The amount of recruiting regulations and rules are stupid. The biggest example being the cream cheese rule. It’s been debated over and over whether college athletes should be paid, this is not what this is about, but the fact that the NCAA takes in all of this money and treats their players like dirt is an issue. Another example of this is that the NCAA forbids players to make any money off their own likeness. Signing autographs for money is a violation. I believe that a college football player had a YouTube channel about his life as a football player. As soon as he monetized it, it was a violation. I believe that at a certain point the NCAA is going to fall, hard. It could destroy college sports, but who knows, maybe it will end up saving them.