First place showdown: DSC at BYU-Hawaii (MBB Notes)

Storm face the Seasiders in Pacific West Game of the Week

Dixie State Game Notes
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Dixie State College (14-4, 8-1 PWC) at BYU-Hawaii (11-7, 8-1 PWC)
DATE: Feb. 4, 2012
SITE: Cannon Activities Center (4,500)
TIP-OFF: 7:30 p.m. Hawaiian (10:30 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)
SERIES: BYU-Hawaii leads the all-time series 8-3 over Dixie State

BATTLE FOR FIRST PLACE: Dixie State College, winners of seven straight, meet up with the squad that knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament in the West Regional final – the Seasiders of BYU-Hawaii. Start time at the Cannon Activities Center is set for 7:30 p.m. Hawaiian (10:30 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). BYU-TV will televise the game live with BYU-H announcers Lad Panis and Dave Porter supplying the analysis.

STORM WATCH: DSC enters the game with a 14-4 overall record and a 9-1 mark in the Pacific West. The Red Storm have averaged 76.8 points per game in the victories while posting just 57.5 points per game in four losses. Dixie State is led in scoring by senior point guard Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) at 12.2 points per game and forward Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) with 12.1 points per game. Cole dishes out 4.5 assists a game while Jones leads the club with 6.4 rebounds a game. Juniors McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) averages 10.1 points per contest and Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) adds just fewer than eight a game. DSC is averaging 72.7 PPG while holding opponents to 65.1 points on the defensive end, including a conference-best 40.6 field-goal percentage defense.

LAST TIME OUT: Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) played only 15 minutes, but made every second count. The junior notched his second career double-double – 12 points and 10 rebound – in Dixie State's 74-58 victory at Chaminade in Pacific West Conference play. Dixie State won its seventh consecutive game and improved to 14-4 on the year, 9-1 in the PacWest. Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) matched Owen with 12 points. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) added 11 points and Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) chipped in 10 in 28 minutes. Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) scored the opening five points of the game en route to a nine-point, seven-assist effort. After pushing an early lead to six points, Chaminade (9-7, 7-2 PWC) went on an 8-1 run to take their only lead of the night, 13-12. De'Quan Thompson nailed a 3-pointer and Jones followed with jumper. The game remained close until the seven-minute mark. Holding a three-point advantage, Dixie State outscored the Silverswords 15-to-8 to take a 39-29 lead into intermission. In the second half, every Silversword run was matched the Storm as the lead fluctuated between eight and 12 points. DSC made its definitive run beginning with 10:17 remaining after Waly Coulibaly's triple sliced the Red Storm lead to nine. Thompson streaked to the bucket for a lay-in, Jones connected with an and-1, Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) slashed to the hole for two and Jones capped the 9-0 run with a jumper. The Storm led by as many as 21 points late in the second half. For the fourth straight game, DSC shot 50 percent or better from the floor (30-of-60 FG, 7-13 3FG). Despite being outrebounded by two, DSC limited their giveaways to 12. Matt Cousins led all scorers with 17 points while Bennie Murray tallied 14.

SCOUTING THE SEASIDERS: The Seasiders (11-7, 8-1 PWC) of BYU-Hawaii, the defending national runners-up, easily handled Cal Baptist on Thursday by the score of 86-69. Junior Ale led a balanced offensive attack woth 22 points. BYUH played without the services of All-American Jet Chang, who was serving a suspension. BYUH was 0-2 in games against common DSC non-conference opponents. The Seasiders lost twice to Seattle Pacific, 76-65 and 89-76. Ken Wagner is the most successful basketball coach in BYU-Hawaii history. Coming off his sixth trip to the NCAA II National Tournament, he began serving in the fall of 2003 as the athletic director at BYU-Hawaii, a post he also held from 1992-2000. Wagner came to BYU-Hawaii in 1990 after proving himself as a high school and junior college coach. He started at Lehi (Utah) High School in 1980 after graduating from BYU in 1979 with a bachelor's in physical education. At Lehi, he guided his teams to two state championships before leaving in 1985. Along the way, in 1982, he earned his master's degree in physical education and coaching from the University of Utah. He then went to Dixie Junior College in St. George, Utah, where he compiled a record of 126-36 (.778) and had his team ranked in the NJCAA top twenty in four of his five years there.

D.O. - TOP 10 WORTHY: Dixie State junior Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) nabbed a spot on the Pacific West Conference Top 10 honor roll for games played between Jan. 23-29. The distinction was announced by the league's media office in Arizona on Monday.
He led Red Storm to an 88-73 win over Hawai'i Hilo on Jan. 24 - its lone game of the week...scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds, handed out three assists and shot 75.0% (3 for 4) from the field in the victory...was perfect from the line (5 for 5).

COLE SCORING STRING, DISHING DIMES: Dixie State College senior Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) has scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games, after scoring a game-tying high 17 points at Hilo. In the last five games, Cole has picked up his helpers – accounting for 34 assists.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Teams that make the NCAA Tournament will sing a similar tune – win at home and become tough winners on the road. Dixie State has posted the best road and neutral court since 2009 in the Pacific West Conference with a 30-14 record (.681). One other team, BYU-Hawaii (27-17), has a record above .500 over the same period.

PRETTY GOOD AT HOME SWEET HOME, AS WELL: 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 27-3 home record, a .900 winning percentage.

GRIFF GETS TO 500: With 11 points against Hawaii Hilo, Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) surpassed the 500-point mark for his two-year DSC career. The senior forward has 513 points scored in 47 games for the Red Storm. In addition, Jones has scored in double figures in six consecutive games.

GOOD ON THE COURT AND IN THE CLASSROOM: For the Fall 2011 semester, the DSC men's basketball team posted a team grade point average of 3.08 – the highest for any single men's team. Three players – Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon), Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) and McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) – came in with 3.8 individual averages. The entire department earned a collective 2.95 GPA – the highest mark in school history.

AROUND THE PAC WEST: On Tuesday, Grand Canyon broke a length road-losing streak in a 73-56 win at Hawaii Pacific. GCU had lost ten consecutive games away from Phoenix before Tuesday's victory. Jerome Garrison led the Lopes with 19 points helping the team outscore the Sea Warriors 44-28 after intermission. Academy of Art rallied in the final seconds to tie up their game with Notre Dame de Namur in overtime Wednesday. With 0.7 seconds left, ART U threw an inbound pass out of bounds and gave NDNU 0.5 ticks. Trent Henwood slipped a screen and laid in the game-winning shot at the buzzer for the Argos, 57-55. In Wednesday's other league game, BYU-Hawaii welcomed Cal Baptist to Laie for the first time. The Seasiders were rude hosts, defeating the Lancers 86-69 in a game played without the services of last year's NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Jet Chang (suspended). BYU-H shot a blistering 72 percent in the second half. Junior Ale led all scorers with 22 points.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets to DSC home 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.

DSC HISTORY IN THE PAC WEST:
2011-12:                                  8-1
2010-11:                                  13-3
2009-10:                                  14-2
2008-09:                                  8-4
2007-08:                                  10-8
TOTAL:                                   53-18

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