Sea Warriors come to Utah's Dixie for PWC tussel with Storm (Game Notes)

Hawaii Pacific and Dixie State tangle for first time this season

Dixie State Game Notes
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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Dixie State College (10-4, 5-1 PWC) vs. Hawaii Pacific (7-7, 2-4 PWC)
DATE: Jan. 21, 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 the all-time series 7-2 over HPU

HPU AT DSC – PACWEST GAME OF THE WEEK: Dixie State College, winners of three straight Pacific West Conference games, face Hawaii Pacific University in the Pacific West Conference Game of the Week on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2012. Start time inside the Burns Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. Mountain with live coverage on the Red Storm Radio Network (SportsRadio 1210, 107/102 Cool FM The Fox, DixieAthletics.com) beginning 15 minutes prior to tip with John Potter (@PotterSez) and Devin Dixon (@devdixon).

STORM WATCH: DSC arrives for the HPU game with a 10-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the Pacific West. The Red Storm have averaged 74.9 points per game in 10 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) (11.8/6.9). Senior point guard Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) dishes out a team-best 3.9 assists per game while scoring 11.6 points. Juniors McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) averages 9.4 points per contest and Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) adds just fewer than eight a game. DSC is averaging 69.9 PPG while holding opponents to 64.0 points on the defensive end, including a conference-best 40.9 field-goal percentage defense.

LAST TIME OUT: Tied at the half, Dixie State College began the second half of play with 13 unanswered points, building a cushion the Red Storm would ride to a 73-56 win in Pacific West Conference play against the Grand Canyon Antelopes. Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) scored 11 of his 16 points after intermission for the Red Storm (10-4, 5-1 PWC), who captured their third consecutive league win. Kyle Speed (12 points) and Braylon Pickrel (11 points, nine rebounds) were the only Grand Canyon (8-5, 2-3 PWC) players in double figures. GCU flustered the home team with a high-energy press that led to 13 Red Storm turnovers in the first half. Extra opportunities gave the Lopes a 10-point lead with 7:22 left before the break. The Storm responded by instituting a press of its own and reeling off nine straight points, part of an 18-5 run. Three Canyon free throws knotted the game at halftime, 33-33. DSC snapped the tie with a 13-0 run over the first 3:39 of the second half. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) sparked the run with his lone 3-pointer. Four short-range shots and two free throws later, the Storm led 46-33. GCU chipped away at the lead, closing within five. Massey turned the tide with his sticky fingers. The junior guard tied a single-game DSC record with six steals, leading the way as the Storm swiped 13 steals – a team best in 2011-12. The Red Storm shot 49.1 percent from the floor and outrebounded GCU 38-29.

SURVEYING THE SEA WARRIORS: The Sea Warriors (7-7, 2-4 PWC) defeated Cal Baptist, handing the Lancers their first PWC loss by the score of 58-54. Forward Glenn Miller had 12 points and nine rebounds while the HPU defense held CBU to just 36 percent shooting for the night. Fran Urli and LaBrent Chappell joined Miller in double figures. The Warriors are in a stretch of the season where they play nothing but teams from the Southwestern pod of the PacWest. Presently, they are on stop two of a road trip that will end at Grand Canyon on Tuesday. Then, HPU will return home and prepare for matchups with Cal Baptist, GCU and the Red Storm to begin a five-game homestand. HPU was 0-1 in games against non-conference common opponents - they dropped a 70-52 decision to Seattle Pacific inthe opening game of the GNAC/PacWest Challenge in November. Darren Vorderbruegge enters his sixth year as the Director of Athletics and fourth as head basketball coach at Hawaii Pacific University. Originally arriving at HPU as the head coach for the men's basketball program in June, 2006, it didn't take long for “Coach V” to make his mark. After a two year hiatus from basketball to focus on leading the Athletic Department, he returned to the sidelines in 2010.

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

DIXIE STATE GETS 50^th PWC WIN: With Monday's win over Grand Canyon, the Red Storm picked up its 50^th win in PacWest play since becoming a full fledged member in 2007. Currently in its 5^th year of league play, the Red Storm are looking for its third straight 10-win campaign and fourth such achievement overall.

OTHER NOTES FROM GCU WIN: DSC won its 100^th game in the Jon Judkins era when scoring more than 60 points in a game. The Storm are 100-43 in such games. Additionally, Dixie State has posted wins in back-to-back games without a blocked shot for the first time in the NCAA-era. The last time DSC had consecutive games without a defensive blocked shot was in November 2006 – losing to then Mesa State (now Colorado Mesa) and defeating CSU Pueblo.

JONES BECOMING A FIXTURE ON THE TOP 10: Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) earned another spot on the Pacific West Top 10 Honor Roll for his work in the Storm's win over Dominican. He scored 17 points, collected seven rebounds and shot 62.5% (5 for 8) from the field - also had two steals. Player of the week honors went to Junior Ale of BYU-Hawaii for the second time this season.

COLE SCORING STRING: Dixie State College senior Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) has scored in double figures in five straight games (game-high 16 points against GCU) and six of the last seven. He has scored 16 points twice in the streak and began the string with a career-best 22 points in a victory over CSU San Bernardino.

GRIFF CLEANING UP THE GLASS: Over the last eight games, senior forward Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) has averaged eight rebounds a game to lead the Red Storm. In DSC's previous seven games, Jones eclipsed the eight-rebound mark just once – with 11 against Montana State-Billings on November 11.

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 25-3 home record, a .892 winning percentage.

INSIDE THE RECORD BOOKS: Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) finds himself 39 points away from 500 for his DSC career. He also needs to average 14.8 PPG over the Storm's final 12 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 143 assists in his Dixie State career. To pass Jeremiah Barnes (Compton, CA/Los Altos) with the best two-year assist total, Cole will need 73 dimes – or an average of 6.08 per contest in the regular season.

AROUND THE PAC WEST: In the only other game Monday night, ART U notched its first conference win of the season defeating Hawaii Pacific 76-68 at Blaisdell Arena. Outcomes on Thursday brought a lot of teams back into the PacWest race, thanks to a pair of upsets. HPU defeated previously unbeaten Cal Baptist in Riverside 58-54 and Notre Dame de Namur knocked off BYU-Hawaii 71-70 in Belmont. The only team in league with an unblemished mark is Chaminade – the Silverswords beat Dominican 78-70. Grand Canyon bounced back with a home win over Hawaii Hilo 77-64. On Saturday's schedule, four mainland games have first-place implications. Chaminade looks to remain unbeaten at NDNU. DSC hosts Hawaii Pacific, Cal Baptist welcomes Hawaii Hilo, and BYU-Hawaii heads to Kezar Pavilion for a game with Academy of Art.

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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