2022–23 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team represented Southern Utah University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds, led by seventh-year head coach Todd Simon, played their home games at the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah, as first-year members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 24–13, 12–6 in WAC play to finish in third place. They defeated Utah Tech and Utah Valley in the WAC tournament before losing to Grand Canyon in the championship game. They received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational tournament where they defeated North Alabama and Rice to advance to the semifinals. There they lost to Eastern Kentucky in double overtime.

2022–23 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball
CBI, Semifinals
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	24–13 (12–6 WAC)
Head coach	Flynn Clayman (interim)
Associate head coach	Flynn Clayman
Assistant coaches	Bryce Martin Lourawls Nairn Jr.
Home arena	America First Event Center
Seasons ← 2021–22 2023–24 →

2022–23 WAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Utah Valley	15	–	3		.833			28	–	9		.757
Sam Houston	14	–	4		.778			26	–	8		.765
Southern Utah	12	–	6		.667			24	–	13		.649
Grand Canyon †	11	–	7		.611			24	–	12		.667
Seattle	11	–	7		.611			20	–	12		.625
Stephen F. Austin	11	–	7		.611			19	–	13		.594
Tarleton*	9	–	9		.500			17	–	17		.500
California Baptist	8	–	10		.444			17	–	16		.515
Abilene Christian	7	–	11		.389			13	–	17		.433
UT Rio Grande Valley	6	–	12		.333			15	–	17		.469
UT Arlington	6	–	12		.333			11	–	21		.344
Utah Tech*	5	–	13		.278			14	–	19		.424
New Mexico State**	2	–	16		.111			9	–	15		.375
* Ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
** Season cancelled on February 11, 2023.
† Conference tournament winner

On March 15, 2023, it was announced that head coach Todd Simon had been hired as the next head coach at Bowling Green, replacing Michael Huger.^[1] On April 12, the school named Western Illinois head coach Rob Jeter the team's new head coach.^[2]

Previous season

The Thunderbirds finished the 2021–22 season 23–12, 14–6 in Big Sky play to finish in second place.^[3] In the Big Sky tournament, they were upset by No. 7 seed Portland State in the quarterfinals.^[4] They received an invitation to The Basketball Classic, where they defeated Kent State,^[5] UTEP,^[6] and Portland,^[7] before falling to Fresno State in the semifinals.^[8] This was the team's final season as a member of the Big Sky Conference, as they moved to the Western Athletic Conference, starting in the 2022–23 season.^[9]

Roster

2022–23 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Felix Lemetti 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Omaha Stockholm, Sweden G 2 Deng Dut 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Jr Wyoming Melbourne, Australia G 3 Drake Allen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Snow College Eagle Mountain, Utah G 4 Braden Housley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Skyridge High School Lehi, Utah G 10 Cameron Healy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) GS Central Michigan Sydney, Australia F 12 Maizen Fausett 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Westlake High School Saratoga Springs, Utah G 13 Dee Barnes 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Sr Mount St. Mary's Great Mills, Maryland C 14 Jason Spurgin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So Toowoomba Grammar School Toowoomba, Australia G 15 Harrison Butler 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Sr Mater Dei High School Santa Ana, California F 20 Marshal Destremau 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Aquinas College Perth, Australia G 21 Josh Valentine 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 174 lb (79 kg) RS Fr Foothill High School Pleasanton, California C 22 Parsa Fallah 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS Fr Kouchin Amol Amol, Iran G 23 Andrew Marshall 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 204 lb (93 kg) RS Fr Coronado High School Las Vegas, Nevada G 25 Zion Young 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Jr Oakland Chicago, Illinois G 32 Peter Dadson Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Hillcrest Prep Sydney, Australia G 33 Martel Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 213 lb (97 kg) RS Fr Middlebrooks Academy Las Vegas, Nevada G 55 Tevian Jones 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Sr Illinois Chandler, Arizona	Head coach Todd Simon (UNLV) Assistant coach(es) Flynn Clayman (Troy) Bryce Martin (Boise State) Lourawls Nairn Jr. (Michigan State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: January 5, 2023

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2022* 7:00 pm, MW Network		at New Mexico	L 81–89	0–1	The Pit (8,181) Albuquerque, NM
November 10, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		La Verne	W 117–55	1–1	America First Event Center (1,718) Cedar City, UT
November 12, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Saint Katherine	W 91–48	2–1	America First Event Center (1,534) Cedar City, UT
November 14, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Bethesda	W 126–67	3–1	America First Event Center (1,173) Cedar City, UT
November 18, 2022* 6:00 pm, Big 12 Now		at No. 6 Kansas	L 76–82	3–2	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
November 25, 2022* 9:00 pm, BeTheBeast		vs. Texas State North Shore Classic	L 65–78	3–3	Cannon Activities Center (828) Laie, HI
November 26, 2022* 7:30 pm, BeTheBeast		vs. Sacramento State North Shore Classic	W 91–87 ^2OT	4–3	Cannon Activities Center (1,344) Laie, HI
November 30, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Montana State	L 83–86	4–4	America First Event Center (2,116) Cedar City, UT
December 3, 2022* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Idaho State	W 69–59	5–4	Reed Gym (1,220) Pocatello, ID
December 6, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		West Coast Baptist	W 120–49	6–4	America First Event Center (959) Cedar City, UT
December 10, 2022* 5:00 pm		vs. Cal State Fullerton Jack Jones Hoopfest	W 67–60	7–4	Michelob Ultra Arena  Paradise, NV
December 17, 2022* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern Arizona	W 106–101 ^OT	8–4	America First Event Center (873) Cedar City, UT
December 21, 2022* 5:00 pm, P12N		at Colorado	L 78–86	8–5	CU Events Center (5,108) Boulder, CO
WAC regular season
December 28, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at New Mexico State	W 79–75	9–5 (1–0)	Pan American Center (4,942) Las Cruces, NM
December 31, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Texas–Rio Grande Valley	W 94–88 ^OT	10–5 (2–0)	America First Event Center (1,204) Cedar City, UT
January 5, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Tarleton	L 65–68	10–6 (2–1)	Wisdom Gym (1,105) Stephenville, TX
January 7, 2023 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Abilene Christian	W 74–72	11–6 (3–1)	Moody Coliseum (1,122) Abilene, TX
January 12, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Sam Houston	W 86–74	12–6 (4–1)	America First Event Center (2,178) Cedar City, UT
January 14, 2023 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Stephen F. Austin	W 67–58	13–6 (5–1)	America First Event Center (1,583) Cedar City, UT
January 19, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		New Mexico State	W 111–76	14–6 (6–1)	America First Event Center (2,093) Cedar City, UT
January 21, 2023 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Seattle	L 60–81	14–7 (6–2)	Redhawk Center (928) Seattle, WA
January 26, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Utah Valley	W 79–67	15–7 (7–2)	America First Event Center (4,013) Cedar City, UT
February 1, 2023 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at California Baptist	W 72–71	16–7 (8–2)	CBU Events Center (2,705) Riverside, CA
February 4, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Utah Tech	L 79–86	16–8 (8–3)	Burns Arena (3,962) St. George, UT
February 9, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Tarleton	W 72–62	17–8 (9–3)	America First Event Center (1,862) Cedar City, UT
February 11, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Utah Valley	L 83–90	17–9 (9–4)	UCCU Center (5,168) Orem, UT
February 17, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Utah Tech	W 81–71	18–9 (10–4)	America First Event Center (4,554) Cedar City, UT
February 23, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at UT Arlington	W 86–76	19–9 (11–4)	College Park Center (1,526) Arlington, TX
February 25, 2023 3:30 pm, ESPN+		at Sam Houston	L 57–64	19–10 (11–5)	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1,772) Huntsville, TX
March 1, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Grand Canyon	L 78–83	19–11 (11–6)	America First Event Center (1,460) Cedar City, UT
March 3, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		California Baptist	W 81–71	20–11 (12–6)	America First Event Center (1,859) Cedar City, UT
WAC tournament
March 9, 2023 8:00 pm, ESPN+	(3)	vs. (11) Utah Tech Quarterfinals	W 76–75	21–11	Orleans Arena  Paradise, NV
March 10, 2023 8:00 pm, ESPN+	(3)	vs. (2) Utah Valley Semifinals	W 89–88	22–11	Orleans Arena (3,003) Paradise, NV
March 11, 2023 8:30 pm, ESPN2	(3)	vs. (5) Grand Canyon Championship	L 66–84	22–12	Orleans Arena  Paradise, NV
College Basketball Invitational
March 18, 2023 12:30 p.m., FloHoops	(4)	vs. (13) North Alabama First round	W 72–50	23–12	Ocean Center  Daytona Beach, FL
March 20, 2023 12:00 p.m., FloHoops	(4)	vs. (12) Rice Quarterfinals	W 81–79	24–12	Ocean Center  Daytona Beach, FL
March 21, 2023 5:00 p.m., ESPN2	(4)	vs. (8) Eastern Kentucky Semifinals	L 106–108 ^2OT	24–13	Ocean Center  Daytona Beach, FL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Sources^[10][11]

References

1. Skebba, Jay (March 22, 2016). "BGSU hires Todd Simon as men's basketball coach". WTOL. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
2. Walker, Sean; April 12, KSL com | Posted-; A.m, 2023 at 9:59. "Southern Utah finalizes hiring of new coach Rob Jeter from Western Illinois". www.ksl.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. "2021-22 Men's Basketball Standings". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
4. "Southern Utah Falls to Portland State in Big Sky Tournament Quarterfinals". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
5. "Southern Utah beats Kent State in The Basketball Classic". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
6. "Southern Utah gets past UTEP 82-69 in The Basketball Classic". Fox Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
7. "Portland Pilots' season comes to an end as Southern Utah scores a 77-66 Basketball Classic win". Oregonlive.com. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
8. "Southern Utah's Memorable Season Ends at Fresno State". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
9. "WAC Officially Welcomes Southern Utah and UT Arlington". Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
10. "2022-23 Men's Basketball Schedule". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
11. "2022-23 Southern Utah Thunderbirds Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved January 5, 2023.