Dixie State Game Notes | UCSD Game Notes
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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Dixie State College (4-2, 1-0 PWC) at UC San Diego (3-4, 0-3 CCAA)
DATE: Dec. 11, 2011
SITE: RIMAC Arena (5,000)
TIP-OFF: 1 p.m. PT (2 p.m. MT)
RADIO (Red Storm Radio Network): SportsRadio 1210, 107/102 FM The Fox
TALENT: John Potter (play-by-play)
SERIES: UCSD leads 1-0
SUNDAY AFTERNOON ON THE BEACH: Dixie State College plays a rare Sunday afternoon non-conference game on Dec. 11, 2011, at the RIMAC Arena against UC San Diego from the CCAA. Tip time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Pacific (2 p.m. Mountain) from La Jolla, Calif. The Sunday matinee will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1210AM ESPN with John Potter calling the play-by-play.
STORM WATCH: DSC enters the game at UCSD with a 4-2 overall record and a 1-0 mark in the Pacific West. The Red Storm have won four out the last five games including two consecutively. Dixie State is led in scoring and rebounding by senior forward Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (11.3/5.5). Senior point guard Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) dishes out a team-best 3.2 assists per game while scoring 9.0 points. DSC is averaging 65 PPG while holding opponents to a Pacific West Conference-best 61.2 points on the defensive end.
LAST TIME OUT: Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) led DSC with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots en route to a 72-63 win over Notre Dame de Namur in Pacific West Conference play inside the Burns Arena. Redshirt freshman guard De'Quan Thompson posted a career-high 13 points (5-5 FG, 3-3 3FG) off the bench while sparking a game changing run in the second half. The Storm built upon a three-point halftime lead by scorching the nets over the final 20 minutes - 72% from the field, 85% from behind the arc and 91% from the free throw line. The win was the ninth straight in the all-time series with the Argonauts.
TOP 10 FOR THE MAC ATTACK: Dixie State College junior shooting guard McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) has been named to the Pacific West Conference Honor Roll for week three. He scored 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting with three triples and tied a career high with four steals in Friday's loss to CSU Pueblo In Saturday's win over Colorado Mesa, Massey had 13 points and a career-best five assists in 37 minutes. “He was consistent with it when we needed him,” Jon Judkins, DSC head coach, said. “He hit some big shots and grabbed some steals in our first win here at Mesa (against CMU).” This is the first honor roll mention for Massey in 2011. Grand Canyon's Nick Witherill was named Pac West Player of the Week after leading the 'Lopes to a 2-0 week, including a win over No. 22 Seattle Pacific.
SECOND HALF STRUGGLES: Until Monday's win over NDNU, the Red Storm had been outscored in the second half of its previous five regular season games. Even with the last win, DSC is being outpointed 231-206 over the final 20 minutes. On the flip side, Dixie State is plus-48 (184-136) in the first half.
POSITIVE RESULTS AT THE “3”: Dixie State is 2-0 since moving junior Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) into the starting small forward position and having sophomore Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) come off the bench. Clegg has averaged 6.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists while Groskreutz, off the bench, has averages of six points and 5.5 rebounds.
A BREAK FROM THE PAC: Starting with Sunday's game against UCSD, the Storm have three non-conference games to close out the 2011 part of the schedule. On Dec. 16-17, DSC travels to Phoenix for a two-day weekend tournament hosted by Grand Canyon. The Red Storm face CSU San Bernardino on Friday and Saint Martin's on Saturday, both games at 3 p.m. A 16-day break follows before DSC returns to action at Academy of Art on Jan. 3, 2012.
SCOUTING UCSD: The Tritons (3-4) lost a low scoring battle 49-41 at Cal State L.A. on Saturday, Dec. 3 in conference play. Tyler McGrath led all UCSD scorers with nine points while Christian Hatch had seven rebounds. UCSD had lost three in a row, all in CCAA action. UCSD posted an 11-17 record last year, with a win against Dixie State in the Disney Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim, Calif. The CCAA preseason coaches vote put the Tritons in tenth position out of 12 teams. Chris Carlson embarks on his fifth season as the head coach at UC San Diego in 2011-12. The 11th coach in program history, enters the game with an overall record of 57-61 (.483). Carlson worked under coach Ben Howland at UCLA, Pittsburgh and Northern Arizona prior to arriving at UCSD. He prepped at Helix High in San Diego.
ALL TIME AGAINST THE TRITONS: UC San Diego holds the lone victory in the all-time series with Dixie State. The Tritons defeated DSC 65-57 at the Disney Tipoff Classic in Anaheim, Calif., on Nov. 13, 2010. DSC was held to 36 percent shooting for the game. Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) was the only Storm player in double figures with 18 points. Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie), Everton Araujo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Torquato Caleiro) and McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) each had nine respectively. Christian Hatch led all scorers on 8-of-11 shooting for 20 points. DSC's only lead of the game came on a Jeremiah Barnes (Compton, CA/Los Altos) free throw 12 seconds in. Hatch scored the next six UCSD points and the Tritons never lost the lead.
JUDKINS APPROACHING ANOTHER MILESTONE: Head coach Jon Judkins posted win number 100 on the Dixie State bench last season, but he approaches another milestone. Judkins has 391 career coaching victories, putting him just nine wins from 400. The coach had 284 wins in 12 seasons at Snow College prior to taking over the head spot at Dixie State.
