MBB Notes: Storm Front Settles Over Phoenix

DSC faces Grand Canyon in road PWC battle

GAME #17
	vs.
Game Info	Saturday, Feb. 5 \| 5:15 p.m. \| Game Notes
Location	Antelope Gymnasium
Game Day	Live Stats
TV/Radio	KXDS 91.3 FM -Live Audio

Game #17 • Dixie State (11-5, 4-2 PacWest) at Grand Canyon (10-6, 5-1 PacWest)
Saturday, February 5, 2011 • 5:15 PM (MT) • Phoenix, AZ • Antelope Gymnasium (2,000)

UP NEXT - In the Valley of the Sun, two geographic rivals set to do battle in a critical Pacific West Conference matchup that will shake up the NCAA West Region rankings. Dixie State College (No. 8 in the West) looks to avenge a loss earlier in the year against the Grand Canyon Antelopes on Saturday, February 5 at 5:15 p.m. inside Antelope Gymnasium. Both teams are coming off impressive wins last Saturday. DSC shut down Chaminade in the second half to cruise to a 70-52 win inside the Burns while GCU knocked the Seasiders of BYU-H off the perch of conference unbeatens, 69-64, in a nationally televised contest.

RED STORM WATCH - The Red Storm, the defending PacWest Conference Co-Champions, are currently led by Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie), averaging a team-high 14.1 points a game. Whitehead and Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (11.3 PPG), the only other Red Storm player in double-figure scoring average this season, both pull down on average 5.4 boards. Dixie State is scoring 70.8 points per game and holding opponents to 62.2 points per contest - a differential of 8.6 points. DSC is pulling down an average of 36.3 rebounds in a game (+1.2 over opponents) and has been stingy on defense, forcing 16.2 turnovers each game with a +1.5 turnover margin.

SATURDAY's OPPONENT - Grand Canyon toppled previously unbeaten BYU-Hawaii last Saturday in a game televised on CBS College Sports 69-64. Gaby Ngoundjo tallied a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds in the victory. He was subsequently named PWC Player of the Week for that performance and a 12/12 effort two days prior against Chaminade. Nick Witherall added 11 points. The Lopes held BYU-H to 38.8-percent from the floor, their 12th straight time GCU has held an opponent under 50-percent shooting.

The Lopes currently sit in 2nd place in the Pac West, a half-game behind BYU-Hawaii.

In the first meeting this season, Grand Canyon snapped DSC's 15-game winning streak at home. Steve Morin hit a three-pointer from the right wing in the final seconds to give GCU a 71-68 win in the conference opener for both squads.

Grand Canyon, under the direction of head coach Russ Pennell, are powered by Kyle Speed, who averages 10.7 points per game. Five other Lopes average six points or more a game - Nick Witherall (9.9), Brad Carroll (8.9), Rony Tchatchoua (8.3), Gaby Ngoundjo (6.6) and Chris Johnson (6.3).

RED STORM VS GRAND CANYON IN THE PACIFIC WEST
2006-07
Dixie State 90, Grand Canyon 81 (2/1/07 in Phoenix)
2007-08
Dixie State 77, Grand Canyon 66 (1/1108 in St. George)
Dixie State 69, Grand Canyon 61 (1/12/08 in St. George)
Dixie State 86, Grand Canyon 81 (2/9/08 in Phoenix)
2008-09
Dixie State 68, Grand Canyon 59 (1/22/09 in Phoenix)
Grand Canyon 78, Dixie State 64 (1/23/09 in Phoenix)
Dixie State 79, Grand Canyon 63 (3/5/09 in St. George)
Dixie State 69, Grand Canyon 60 (3/6/09 in St. George)
2009-10
Grand Canyon 82, Dixie State 80 (1/30 in Phoenix)
Dixie State 78, Grand Canyon 68 (2/6 in St. George)
2010-11
Grand Canyon 71, Dixie State 68 (1/8 in St. George)
Overall Record: 8-3

REGIONALLY SPEAKING - Dixie State checked in at No. 8 in the NCAA West Region Poll released Wednesday. The Storm jumped two spots after a 1-1 week in the PWC. Other Pac West teams in the rankings include BYU-Hawaii at No. 6 and Chaminade at No. 10.

APPROACHING CAREER MARKS - Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) ranks second with 854 points in 67 career games at Dixie State. To reach the 1,000-point benchmark, he needs to average 14.6 points in the remaining contests. To surpass current assistant coach Ryan Sanchez for the D-II scoring record (1,052), Whitehead will need 19.8 PPG. Jeremiah Barnes (Compton, CA/Los Altos) sits third on the D-II assist list with 158 dimes. To pass Sanchez, he needs 39 assists. Reaching Dan Stock's record of 238 helpers, Barnes will need 8.0 assists over the final 10 Pac West games. Also approaching a milestone is head coach Jon Judkins - he is eight wins away from number 100 in his Dixie State College tenure and 24 wins away from 400 for his career.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN... - Teams searching for a NCAA tournament bid have to win on the road. This year's Dixie State basketball team has fared well away from St. George, especially late in the non-conference season and early in the Pac West. The Red Storm have won their last five games on the road and eight of the last nine. Most recently, DSC swept the three games that encompass the San Francisco road swing at Academy of Art, Dominican and Notre Dame de Namur.

WHERE THE HEART GROWS FONDER - After Saturday's road test at GCU, the next five Pac West games will be contested in the comfy confines of Burns Arena. The Red Storm are 2-2 this year at home - beating Pacifica College and Chaminade while losing back-to-back to Grand Canyon and BYU-Hawaii in January.

HONOR ROLL STREAK - Junior forward Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) has been named to the PWC Top 10 Honor Roll for two consecutive weeks.

STORM ON THE RADIO - Dixie State games can be heard on KXDS (91.3 FM) with John Potter calling the play-by-play. At home games, Potter is joined by former DSC assistant coach Mike Olson.

LIVE STATS - Fans can follow Red Storm home games through the DSC web site at www.DixieAthletics.com via Sidearm Sports, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game. Road game live stats will be available through DixieAthletics.com on the front page calendar.

ON THE INTERNET - All of Dixie State's home games are available to watch live through America One via the internet at www.DixieAthletics.com. DSC fans can also listen to every game both home and away thanks to Network1Sports.com, via DSC's web site. Select games on the road will also be available. Check the front page calendar on DixieAthletics.com for availability.

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