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Rematch with the Penguins - MBB Game Notes

Dixie State Game Notes
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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Dixie State College (8-4, 3-1 PWC) vs. Dominican (3-12, 2-2 PWC)
DATE: Jan. 13, 2012
SITE: Burns Arena (4,835)
TIP-OFF: 7:30 p.m. Mountain
RADIO (Red Storm Radio Network): SportsRadio 1210, 107/102 FM The Fox, online at DixieAthletics.com
TALENT: John Potter (play-by-play) & Devin Dixon (analysis)
SERIES: Dixie State leads Dominican 4-1

PENGUINS LOOKING FOR SEASON DOUBLE: Dixie State College, coming off a 2-1 road trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, open up with the first of four consecutive homes games against the club that defeated them in the aforementioned trip, the Dominican Penguins. Tipoff time inside the Burns Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. Mountain with live coverage in the Red Storm Radio Network (SportsRadio 1210, 107/102 Cool FM The Fox, DixieAthletics.com) beginning 15 minutes prior to tip.

STORM WATCH: DSC enters the Dominican game with an 8-4 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the Pacific West. The Red Storm have averaged 76.25 points per game in eight victories while posting just 57.5 points per game in four losses. Dixie State is led in scoring and rebounding by senior forward Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (11.4/6.9). Senior point guard Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) dishes out a team-best 3.5 assists per game while scoring 11.0 points. Juniors McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) averages 10.0 points per contest and Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) adds 8.3 PPG. DSC is averaging 70.0 PPG while holding opponents to 65.4 points on the defensive end.

PEEKING AT THE PENGUINS: The Penguins (3-12, 2-2 PWC) opened conference play with a pair of upset victories over Grand Canyon and Dixie State. Since then, the Penguins lost to Cal Baptist at home in overtime and lost to GCU on Wednesday 81-52 in Phoenix. DU is 0-2 in games against non-conference common opponents - the Penguins lost to UC San Diego in the Disney Tip-Off Classic by five and also lost to Seattle Pacific on the road by 25. Booker T. Harris is in his first year as head coach after spending the last two years at Metro State in Denver. Harris also served as an assitant at the University of San Diego, CSU San Bernardino and Long Beach State. He played college ball at the University of San Francisco for three years, including the Dons' appearance in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

LAST TIME OUT: McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) poured in a career-high 21 points to push Dixie State to a 73-67 Pacific West Conference victory at Gleason Gym. He hit 7-of 11 shots from the field including three shots from beyond the arc. He also sank all four free throw attempts. Backcourt mate Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) added 12 points on a perfect day from the field (4-4FG, 3-3 3FG). The Red Storm (8-4, 3-1 PWC) sprinted out to a 12-6 lead, but seesawed the lead on multiple point-scoring streaks and droughts. NDNU (5-8, 1-4 PWC) took a four-point lead with under a minute left in the half. Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (nine points, 10 rebounds) banked a lay-up and Massey hit two free throws to knot the game at 29-29 at the half. Dixie State scored eight of the first 11 points to tilt the scales in its favor, but could not shake the Argonauts until late in the second half. Up by five, 52-47, with 8:23 left, the Storm hit three-pointers of three consecutive possessions. Cole stepped into his off the left-angle, while Massey cashed in the next two. The last came as the shot clock buzzed at zero. Massey and Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) iced the game down the stretch hitting eight straight foul shots. The Red Storm shot 47.9 percent from the field, aided by a 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) performance in the second half. The Argos also shot 47 percent from the floor, but was outpaced in free throws attempts (26 to 15). Eric Bell led the Argos in scoring with 14 points.

COLE, GRIFF TABS ANOTHER TOP 10:  Dixie State College seniors Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) and Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) earned spots on the Pacific West Conference Top 10 Honor Roll for efforts last week while the Storm were in the San Francisco area.

Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) - Dixie State (Sr., 6-0, 185, G, Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe)...helped Red Storm to 2-1 trip to the Bay Area...averaged 14.0 points and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 55.6% (10 for 18) from the field...made 17 of 21 (81.0%) from the line...ranked third in three-point shooting (83.3%) after making 5 of 6 attempts.

Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) - Dixie State (Sr., 6-5, 215, F, Cheney, WA/Cheney)...led Red Storm to 2-1 road trip to Bay Area...averaged 10.3 rebounds and 11.0 points per game...ranked second in pulling down rebounds for the week.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Burns Arena has been one of the best home court advantages in the Pacific West Conference over the past three seasons. DSC leads in winning percentage since the beginning of the 2009-2010 season with a 23-3 home record, a .885 winning percentage. Over the same time period, Grand Canyon has the most home wins with 27 (.771) and BYU-Hawaii follows with 25 wins (.833).

INSIDE THE RECORD BOOKS: Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) finds himself 67 points away from 500 for his DSC career. He also needs to average 14.6 PPG over the Storm's final 14 conference games to become the player with the highest two-year point total – currently held by Donovan Plunkett (Oroville, CA/Las Plumas) with 638 points from 2009-2011. Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) has 132 assists in his Dixie State career. To pass Jeremiah Barnes (Compton, CA/Los Altos) with the best two-year assist total, Cole will need 84 dimes – or an average of six per contest in the regular season.

OWEN MAKES JUMPS IN JUNIOR YEAR: DSC center Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) is known by friends and acquaintances as fun and easy-going. But on the court, Owen has taken advantage of increased minutes and starting opportunities in his junior campaign. The results are easy to see in his stat line. His PPG average of 8.3 is nearly five points higher than last season. Owen's 12 steals and 33 free throws made have already eclipsed the marks from last year (9 and 30, respectively). He currently leads the Red Storm from the field with a .688 percentage and has the DSC D-II current all-time best field goal percentage (.620).

SEASON VS. SEASON COMPARISONS: This season marks the sixth year of NCAA Division-II competition for Dixie State College. Though 12 games, the 2011-2012 squad ranks offensively near the middle of every offensive category when compared to past seasons. The best statistical category this season is assist average – the Red Storm dish out 15.6 dimes a game; just 0.1 behind the all-time season best of 15.7 set last year. At 70.0 points per game and a .731 free throw percentage, this year's team currently ranks 5th best in both categories (No. 1: 76.8 PPG in 2009-10, .768 FT in 2007-08).

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 395 career coaching victories, putting him just five wins from 400. The coach had 284 wins in 12 seasons at Snow College prior to taking over the head spot at Dixie State.

AROUND THE PAC WEST: Early action this week in the Pacific West Conference has seen the diminishing of the upset bug. On Monday, Hawaii Hilo defeated ART U 69-62 behind 16 bench points from Terrell Mack. Tuesday's action saw Gary Satterwhite nailing a 3-pointer helping BYU-Hawaii to a comeback 62-60 win at Hawaii Pacific. On Wednesday, Grand Canyon exacted revenge for a loss to Dominican on the road with an 81-54 win over the Penguins. GCU posted five guys in double figures while Conner Haysbert of Dominican led all game scorers with 21 points. Remaining on the schedule is a trio of Saturday games: NDNU travels south to tangle again with Cal Baptist, ART U surfs the North Shore against BYUH, and Chaminade island hops to face Hawaii Hilo.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets to DSC basketball games can be purchased at Cox Auditorium Box Office prior to game day and at the Burns Arena East Box Office one hour prior to game time. Reserved seats are $7 for center court locations. General admission tickets are priced at $5 for adults. DSC students and kids under 12 are free. Purchase advanced tickets online at tickets.dixie.edu.

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