Utah Valley, Southern Utah renew in-state rivalry in key WAC title tilt

OREM — When Southern Utah left the Big Sky to join in-state foes Utah Tech and Utah Valley in the Western Athletic Conference in 2021, the Thunderbirds dreamed of in-state rivalries playing a key role on conference races.

A year later, that's exactly what SUU has.

The league-leading Wolverines and Thunderbirds will contend for more than in-state bragging rights Saturday at 6 p.m. MST in Orem, with the winner gaining an inside track to the WAC regular-season title with five games remaining until the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas.

Utah Valley had to get by California Baptist first, but the Wolverines knew exactly what to expect from the game circle behind it, the one circled on each of its supporters' calendars — even if not (publicly) on their own, after a 79-67 loss to the Thunderbirds in Cedar City.

"I just know what type of respect we have for Southern Utah, for the basketball program but also for the university, the supporters, the fans in Cedar City," Utah Valley coach Mark Madsen said. "I'm excited for the game; it's going to be a great basketball game. I think in-state rivalries, especially conference rivalries, are great for the game of basketball. They're going to be really excited, and we are, too. It's going to be a great game."

The Wolverines (19-6, 10-2 WAC) can't afford to overlook anyone, said point guard Blaze Nield, especially in a WAC where Seattle is just a game behind SUU and a trio of Sam Houston State, Grand Canyon and Stephen F. Austin a half-game behind that. But Saturday's contest will have plenty of juice behind it.

"We're super excited," said Nield, the BYU transfer who had 14 points, four rebounds and three assists in Wednesday's 71-55 win over the Lancers. "We'll get over the emotions of tonight, and start preparing for SUU. I think it will be dog fight, a battle, just like it was down there."

Utah Valley has won 10 of its 12 games since WAC play opened at the start of the 2023 calendar year, with its two losses coming by a combined 17 points. The Wolverines had an 11-game win streak — the second-longest win streak in the program's Division I history that included wins over BYU and Oregon during an unbeaten December — snapped in an 85-80 setback to Seattle U., but have won five of six games since then.

The lone loss, of course, is that defeat in Cedar City.

The Wolverines are led by four double-digit scorers in Justin Harmon (13.5 points per game), Trey Woodbury (13.3), Le'Tre Darthard (13.0) and Aziz Bandaogo (11.6), the 7-foot Akron transfer from Senegal who also averages 10.8 rebounds and just under three blocks per game.

Utah Valley has a one-game advantage on the SUU (17-8, 9-3), thanks in large part to the Thunderbirds' stunning 86-79 loss at Utah Tech a week ago. But SUU rebounded with a 72-62 win over Tarleton late Thursday night, and carries the momentum of a five-game winning streak dating back to 2015.

The Thunderbirds once topped NCAA Division I in scoring offense, and still average 84.3 points per game — good for the fifth-most in the nation.

Quick turnaround or not, head coach Todd Simon's birds know what's at stake with his high-flying birds.

"It's a quick turnaround; these Thursday-Saturday home-road deals are a little tricky," Simon said. "But these guys are mature, and they know what's at stake. Road wins are always tough. This league is spectacular; it's the 11th-ranked league in the nation, a borderline major league. It's hard to win at anyone's arena. We just have to play our style of basketball, and we'll be fine."

The Thunderbirds are led by a trio of seniors who all rank among the top-10 in program history in scoring in Maizen Fausett (1,419 points), Harrison Butler (1,348) and Tevian Jones, the one-time Illinois transfer who has 1,251 of his 1,349 career points in an SUU uniform.

Fausett, the 6-foot-6, 235-pound forward who prepped at Westlake High, is just the fourth Thunderbird all-time to clear 1,400 career points and ranks just 15 points behind former teammate Dre Marin's top-three mark in program history after scoring 12 points to rally Southern Utah past Tarleton.

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