How to Watch (and bet)
Date: Saturday, 12/13/25
Tip-Off Time: 3:00 pm PT
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: Huskies Gameday App, Sports Radio KJR
Location: Seattle, WA
Betting Line: Washington Huskies -26.5
Southern Utah Thunderbirds 2025-26 Statistics:
Record: 4-7 (3-0 against non-D1 schools)
Points For per Game: 67.4 (305th)
Points Against per Game: 87.0 (343rd)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 99.5 (311th)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency:
112.7 (291st)Strength of Schedule: 94th
Southern Utah Key Players:
G- Elijah Duval, Sr. 6’3, 180: 13.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.6 apg, 49.5% FG, 24.1% 3pt, 62.5% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats:
-1.64 (4th), 96.6 Adj Off Eff (4th), 109.8 Adj Def Eff (3rd)
Duval has come in as a freshman and taken over the keys to the car as he is 12th nationally in percentage of possessions used in D1 games. The assist rate is very good but the turnover rate is much higher than you’d like and he’s shooting just 21.4% from deep against D1 opponents. A high steal rate suggests he’s already a solid defender but the offense isn’t as efficient as it needs to be for such a high volume player.
G- Dylan Jones, Sr. 6’6, 190: 9.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 41.9% FG, 33.8% 3pt, 100.0% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: -2.95 (6th), 99.8 Adj Off Eff (3rd), 118.7 Adj Def Eff (7th)
Jones is a former JUCO transfer who played last season at Fairleigh Dickinson where he put up almost identical numbers just on better shooting from 3-point range. Over 82% of his career shots have come from behind the arc so Washington’s defenders should know that if he gets the ball on the perimeter he’s only looking to shoot it.
G- Tanner Hayhurst, Jr. 6’6, 204: 8.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 50.7% FG, 51.3% 3pt, 85.7% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: -0.41 (2nd), 102.8 Adj Off Eff (1st), 109.2 Adj Def Eff (2nd)
Hayhurst started out at BYU and barely played but has moved into a starting role the last few games thanks to his efficient start on offense. He has lit up their non D-1 opponents (10 of 16) from 3-point range and is also shooting 43.5% against D1 opponents. Hayhurst is more likely to drive it than Jones but is still primarily a shooter and isn’t a huge threat to drive the ball. His free throw rate of 4.1% is one of the lowest I’ve ever seen so he doesn’t draw fouls at all.
F- Jaiden Feroah, Sr, 6’9, 214: 13.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.2 blk, 57.8% FG, 41.4% 3pt, 96.8% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: +1.6 (1st), 101.1 Adj Off Eff (2nd), 112.1 Adj Def Eff (4th)
Feroah played last season at Holy Cross where he was an incredibly efficient but incredibly low usage offensive player. He shot nearly 60% on 2-point shots and 39% on 3-pointers last year while somehow averaging fewer than 7 points per game. This year he has seen similar efficiency levels on offense (34th nationally in true shooting percentage) but also taken a huge leap up in block rate into the top 75 nationally. In SUU’s last game against Oregon State he had 27 points on 5/9 3-pt shooting with 5 assists and 4 steals so he is capable of stuffing the stat sheet.
F- Isaiah Cottrell, Sr. 6’11, 245: 8.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.1 blk, 48.6% FG, 6.7% 3pt, 78.8% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: -1.46 (3rd), 91.0 Adj Off Eff (7th), 108.8 Adj Def Eff (1st)
Husky fans may remember Cottrell’s name as he was pursued by UW out of high school as a four-star recruit from Las Vegas. Instead, Cottrell went to West Virginia for a few years before transferring back home to UNLV for a pair and now is playing his 6th season at Southern Utah. Things never quite panned out for Cottrell who is playing more than 17 minutes per game for the first time now. He’s averaging by far a career best 23.2% defensive rebound rate but is 1/15 on three-point attempts.
The Outlook
Washington is coming off a week-long break following their massive comeback win at USC last Saturday. Their opponent is coming off the same amount of rest having fallen by 11 at Oregon State in Corvallis a week ago. That’s about where the comparisons between Washington and Southern Utah end.
The Thunderbirds project as by far the worst team in the watered down WAC this season and it’s tough to find many encouraging things to find about their resume. They have won 4 games but 3 of them were against D2/D3 competition while the one D1 win was by 2 points over #341 Stetson. A few of the losses have been respectable. I mentioned the 11-point loss to #179 Oregon State and there was also a 7-point loss at #178 Robert Morris plus a 5-point loss at #245 Nebraska Omaha. SUU has been able to play sort of close on the road against teams worse than Washington but not terrible. There’s also a 72-point loss to Gonzaga on that resume which is their only game against a KenPom top-50 team.
Washington is not going to win this game by 72. But this is Washington’s last game against a sub-300 KenPom team and the Huskies should be able to keep things rolling a bit with a blowout win. The Thunderbirds somehow rank 361st or worse in both 3-point offense and 3-point defense. They’re shooting 25.1% from behind the arc and their opponents are shooting 41.0%. Woof. The only major category in which they rank in the top 100 nationally is defensive free throw rate. They don’t commit many fouls but they also allow opponents to take and make a ton of shots at the rim anyways. It doesn’t seem like a winning combination (and hasn’t been).
If there’s one thing in SUU’s favor it’s that they are much bigger than your average mid-major squad. They rank 35th nationally in average height with a lineup that runs 6’6 or taller at every spot outside of the point guard position. Washington may have an athletic advantage but they won’t be able to physically overwhelm Southern Utah with their size.
As long as the Huskies play close to their abilities though then it shouldn’t matter. If Washington takes care of the ball then the Southern Utah defense won’t put nearly enough pressure on the Dawgs to slow down their offense at all. And when SUU is on offense they struggle to shoot from outside, hold onto the ball, or secure offensive rebounds. Even an uncharacteristically bad shooting night from Washington shouldn’t matter thanks to the extra possession advantage they’re likely to enjoy.
I’m tempted to say that Southern Utah gets the backdoor cover but with another 6 days off between games I could see Coach Sprinkle keeping the foot on the gas a little longer than necessary.
Prediction
Washington Huskies– 92, Southern Utah- 64
Season picks: 6-3 straight up, 4-5 against the spread
