CEDAR CITY, Utah – UT Arlington men's basketball (9-5, 1-1 WAC) is in the Beehive State to take on Southern Utah (4-10, 0-1 WAC) on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live on
ESPN+ and on the radio on the Varsity Network App with the Voice of the Mavs, Josh Sours on the call.
The Mavs bounced back in a big way Thursday with a win over WAC preseason favorite California Baptist (63-51) to even their league record. UTA's next opponent, Southern Utah, is off to a 4-10 start, and is 0-1 in WAC play, following an 80-66 loss to Utah Tech in St. George, Utah, to open their conference season on Dec. 29.
The Thunderbirds are led by third-year head coach Rob Jeter, who joined Southern Utah after three seasons as the head coach at Western Illinois. In addition to his time with the Leathernecks, Jeter was also a head coach at UW-Milwaukee (2005-16), where he was the program's winningest coach. Jeter has also been an assistant at Minnesota and UNLV.
Southern Utah is led by freshman guard Elijah Duval, who is scoring 13.2 ppg and 3.3 apg. Senior forward Jaiden Feroah is also scoring in double figures, averaging 11.6 ppg and 5.9 rpg for the Thunderbirds this season.
The Mavs and Thunderbirds split their meetings a year ago, with each team winning on its home floor. Southern Utah beat UTA 73-68 in Cedar City in January of last year, while the Mavs held off Southern Utah with a 70-68 win in Arlington at the end of the same month.
Thursday's meeting between UTA and Southern Utah will be the sixth all-time, with the Mavericks holding the slight 3-2 advantage.
For the Mavs, senior guard
Marcell McCreary has been on a tear, having scored in double figures in 11 of his last 12 games, including a 14-point outing against CBU on Thursday afternoon. Senior forward
Raysean Seamster, who was a preseason All-WAC selection by the league's head coaches scored 13 points and pulled down six rebounds and had a career-high five steals on Thursday. He is averaging a team-high 14.0 ppg and 6.8 rpg.
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