# 2018–19 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

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.

## 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2018. ||||||

## 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: