Southern Utah hosts Tarleton State after Johnson’s 33-point game

By Canadian Press on January 14, 2026.

Tarleton State Texans (11-6, 2-2 WAC) at Southern Utah Thunderbirds (4-13, 0-4 WAC)

Cedar City, Utah; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Tarleton State visits Southern Utah after Dior Johnson scored 33 points in Tarleton State’s 84-80 loss to the Abilene Christian Wildcats.

The Thunderbirds have gone 3-2 in home games. Southern Utah averages 13.1 turnovers per game and is 2-2 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents.

The Texans are 2-2 against WAC opponents. Tarleton State scores 80.2 points and has outscored opponents by 7.6 points per game.

Southern Utah is shooting 44.6% from the field this season, 0.7 percentage points lower than the 45.3% Tarleton State allows to opponents. Tarleton State averages 80.2 points per game, 0.2 fewer than the 80.4 Southern Utah gives up.

The Thunderbirds and Texans square off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Elijah Duval is averaging 12.6 points and 3.3 assists for the Thunderbirds. Jaiden Feroah is averaging 12.5 points over the last 10 games.

Johnson is shooting 56.9% and averaging 23.8 points for the Texans. Camron McDowell is averaging 14.6 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Thunderbirds: 2-8, averaging 71.4 points, 32.3 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 5.5 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.2 points per game.

Texans: 7-3, averaging 81.8 points, 29.0 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 13.8 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.2 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press