Big Sky Basketball power rankings: Wild 2 weeks of 2019-20 conference play

4. Southern Utah (9-5, 2-1) NET: 159

The Thunderbirds started conference play with a good road victory at Portland State 83-81.  But then Southern Utah dropped a 60-58 loss at home to Montana, before bouncing back to beat Montana State 59-53.

Southern Utah is an experienced and deep team.  Junior John Knight III is starting to heat up and now leading the team averaging 13.1 ppg.  However, the T-Birds tend to turn the ball over and are horrendous from beyond the arc, shooting 26.9%.  6’7 senior Cameron Oluyitan and 6’8 redshirt senior Dwayne Morgan contributes 12.6 ppg and 11.0 ppg, respectively.

The Thunderbird defense carries the load for Southern Utah.  They say defense travels and the T-Birds are one of the better road teams in the Big Sky.  They should be able to demonstrate that fact at Idaho State on Jan. 9.

3. Eastern Washington Eagles (9-5, 2-1) NET: 128

Although one of the favorites to win the Big Sky, I had to knock the Eagles down from their roost to number three after two weeks of conference play.  A 75-69 loss at Idaho State, sandwiched by two uninspiring two-point wins over Weber State and Portland State, is the reason.

The Eagles high-flying offense is still ranked #3 in the country, scoring 85.9 ppg.  Guard Jacob Davison is still leading the team with 17.6 ppg.  Upfront, Eastern has a pair of high quality forwards with Kim Aiken Jr. (16.4 ppg, 11.1 rpg) and Mason Peatling (15.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg).  Freshman point guard Ellis Magnuson is 25th in the nation with 5.9 assists per game.

Eastern just had a defensive breakdown against Idaho State.  The Bengals finished shooting 62.1% on two-point attempts and 52.9% from beyond the arc.

The Eagles host the game of the week in the Big Sky, as they defend their home court against the Montana Grizzlies on Thursday, Jan. 9.