ST. GEORGE - Dixie State head coach Jon Judkins had the sense his players wanted to get through their work against Academy of Art on Monday night as quickly as possible so they could enjoy a break for Christmas.
With 12 different players putting points on the stat sheet. DSC never trailed and beat the visiting Urban Knights 78-62 at Burns Arena for its third win in a row.
"It was hard (to get motivated). Like everyone else. they know Christmas is coming up and two days off." Judkins said. "Once they got the lead. they felt like it was 'game over.' but I wanted them to have the drive for the full 40 minutes."
Dixie State (4-5) was led in the scoring column by 12 points and 11 rebounds from Andy Palmer (St. George. UT/Pine View) and 11 points from Nick Howard (Sandy. UT/Jordan). They never trailed in the game against the winless Urban Knights (0-13) and built a 50-32 halftime lead with 54 percent shooting from the floor.
But in the second half the visitors from San Francisco. who are in their probationary year in the Pac West Conference. didn't quit. outscoring Dixie State 30-28.
"As coaches. we tried not to show the players (AAU's) record." Judkins said. "They have a lot of good athletes and they rebound well.
"We fell asleep in the second half and tried to hard to do too much."
The Urban Knights were led by Weleh Dennis. who drained six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 30 points. Hayden Hunter added 13 and Marcus Crawford chipped in with 11.
If there was one thing that helped Judkins feel good about Dixie State's performance. it was 22 assists. Ben Hartman (Santa Clara. UT/Snow Canyon) and Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) each led with four.
Dixie State also enjoyed a 43-28 rebounding edge.
"We shared the ball early. but there were a couple of times where we didn't make the extra pass and had a man wide open." he said. "Finishing with 22 assists is still pretty good."
After enjoying the Christmas break. Dixie State will return to practice on Friday in preparation for back-to-back matchups against Mesa State on Monday and Fort Lewis on Dec. 30. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.
DSC will begin the Pacific West Conference season against Chaminade at Burns Arena on Jan. 3.
BY TOM ZULEWSKI
tzulewski@thespectrum.com
