Dixie State saw its six-game win streak come to a halt after a lopsided 87-59 decision at in-state rival Southern Utah on Wednesday night in the America First Event Center. With the loss, DSU closed its non-conference slate at 7-6, while the Thunderbirds moved to 8-4 overall.

For the second-straight road game, the Trailblazers found themselves in an early hole as SUU scored the game's first 10 points. The T-Birds hit four of their first six shots, including pair of 3-pointers, to race out to the early lead.
 
DSU looked as if it righted the ship thanks to consecutive Dancell Leter buckets and a Cameron Gooden trey, which pulled the Blazers to within five points at 12-7 six minutes into play.

However any thought of another possible Dixie State come-from-behind road win was quickly quelled by SUU, which struck for nine-straight points to extend to a 21-7 advantage at the 11:31 mark of the frame.

The Thunderbirds maintained a double-digit cushion the rest of the period, and would close the first half on a 24-4 run over the final seven-plus minutes to take a decisive 50-17 lead into the locker room.
 
Dixie State did manage to outscore (42-37) and outrebounded (20-16) SUU in the second stanza, but the deficit proved to be too great to overcome.
 
Leter led the Blazers with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting and pulled down four rebounds, while Gooden finished with 12 points and three assists.  

Dixie State shot 37.3 percent from the floor (22-of-59), which included a paltry 4-of-24 (.167) from the perimeter. The Blazers also struggled from the foul line, going 11-of-18 (.611) from the stripe, and were outrebounded by a 37-33 count.
 
T-Bird guard Tevian Jones led all scorers with 18 points, while Maizen Fausett posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards. SUU wound up shooting 55.9 percent (33-of-59) on the night with 11 made 3-pointers (11-of-28, .393).

Dixie State rings in the New Year, and begin its second season of WAC play next weekend with a pair of conference home games. DSU will kick off its league slate vs. Tarleton State on Thursday, Dec. 30, and will welcome in WAC newcomer Abilene Christian on Saturday, Jan. 1. Tip-off both nights inside the Burns Arena will be at 7 p.m.