MBB Preview: The Lancers Look for the Season Sweep on Saturday vs. Southern Utah
1/17/2024 1:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University men's basketball will host a single conference game this week as they welcome in the Southern Utah Thunderbirds on Saturday evening.
The Lancers are 10-7 and have won two straight Western Athletic Conference games by an average of 14.5 points per game. The Lancer's 3-3 conference mark ties them for fifth in the conference standings with Utah Valley, Seattle U, and UT Arlington. CBU has excelled at home, with eight of their ten wins coming at the Fowler Events Center, including back-to-back conference wins over Tarleton and ACU heading into Saturday's contest.
Vs. SOUTHERN UTAH:
The Thunderbirds entered the contest 5-11 overall and have yet to win a conference game. The Thunderbirds are 0-5 in WAC contests, including falling to the Lancers in late November in both teams' first conference games of the season. In that matchup, CBU won 91-66, boasting their highest-scoring output of the season so far and having their largest margin of victory over a conference opponent in a road contest in program history. CBU shot 52% from the field and a blistering 48% from deep. Scotty Washington scored a career-high 21 points on six made threes in the game to help the Lancers get the 25-point road win.
The Lancers will have their first opportunity to register a conference sweep in this game, and a win would give CBU a 2-3 record against the Thunderbirds after dropping both contests a year ago.
SCOUTING SUU:
The Thunderbirds excel at converting free throws and getting to the line, ranking in the top 100 in all three categories. Southern Utah makes 16 free throws per game and converts them at a 74% clip while attempting 22 per contest.
The Thunderbirds are fifth in the conference in scoring at 77 per game and are led by Dominique Ford and Parsah Fallah. Ford leads the charge at 15 per contest and has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season. Ford scored a season-high 25 points against Montana State and has scored over 20 three different times this year. Ford is joined by Parsa Fallah, who averages 15 points and six rebounds per contest. Fallah is seventh in the WAC in scoring and is top 15 in rebounding.
CBU AT A GLANCE:
The Lancers have been one of the best defensive teams in college basketball thus far this season, placing 21st in the nation in scoring defense. CBU only allows 63.6 points per game and has only allowed 70 points in three games all season long. Over their past four contest, the Lancers only allowed their opposition to shoot 6-49 from the perimeter (12%), including allowing just one triple in the 68-53 victory over ACU on Saturday.
CBU has also excelled tremendously on the glass this season, ranking 68th in total rebounding (39.0), 41st in offensive rebounding (12.8), and most impressively, 39th in rebounding margin (6.4). The Lancers are led in rebounding by their starting frontcourt of Hunter Goodrick and Yvan Ouedraogo, who are first and second in the WAC in rebounding at 9.3 and 8.7, respectively.
Goodrick and Ouedraogo also rank in the top 60 nationally in rebounding, making CBU the only team in the nation to have multiple players rank in the top 60 in rebounding average.
MATCH INFORMATION:
Opponent: Southern Utah
Date and Time: Saturday, January 20 at 5 PM
Location: Riverside, CA- Fowler Events Center
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: FOX AM 1350
Tickets: Here
