TOURNEY TIME: DSC faces Seattle Pacific Friday

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

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Dixie State College (20-6, 15-3 PWC) vs. Seattle Pacific (21-7, 13-5 GNAC)
DATE: March 8, 2012
SITE: Sam Carver Gymnasium (2,534 capacity)
TIP-OFF: 1:30 p.m. Mountain (12:30 p.m. Pacific)
RADIO (Red Storm Radio Network): SportsRadio 1210, 107/102 FM The Fox, online at DixieAthletics.com
ONLINE VIDEO: Live Video - Video feed is FREE and will have the audio feed from John Potter over it!
TALENT: John Potter (play-by-play)
SERIES: Seatele Pacific leads 3-2 over Dixie State

DANCING IN BELLINGHAM: On the heels of winning the 2011-2012 Pacific West Conference championship, Dixie State College returns to the Division II NCAA Basketball National Basketball Tournament. In the opening round, DSC (No. 6 seed) faces No. 3 Seattle Pacific at Carver Gymnasium on the campus of Western Washington University. Start time is set for 1:30 p.m. Mountain (12:30 p.m. Pacific), 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). This will be the opening game of the entire tournament since the West Region begins a day earlier than the other seven regions.

STORM WATCH: DSC enters the game with a 20-6 regular season record and a 15-3 mark in the Pacific West. The Red Storm have averaged 76.6 points per game in the victories while posting just 62.1 points per game in six losses. Dixie State is led in scoring senior point guard Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) at 12.7 points per game while dishing out five assists a game. Senior forward Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) leads the club with 5.9 rebounds a game and is second in scoring at 11.6 points. Junior guard McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) averages 9.9 points per contest and Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) tops all scorers off the bench with just fewer than eight a game (8.1). DSC is averaging 73.4 PPG while holding opponents to 66.1 points on the defensive end, including a conference-best 41.3 field-goal percentage defense.

SCOUTING SEATTLE PACIFIC: The Falcons (21-7, 13-5 GNAC) enter the NCAA Tournament as the 3rd-seed in the West after finishing third in the GNACs regular season race. SPU had an early exit in the GNAC postseason tournament - losing 70-69 to Central Washington in the opening round on February 29. SPU was 3-5 this year against NCAA West Region participants (1-0 vs. DSC, 0-1 vs. GCU, 0-2 vs. WWU, 1-1 vs. UAA, 1-1 vs. MSUB). Ryan Looney is in his third season directing Seattle Pacific. His record at SPU is 64-22 (.744). He was voted the 2010 GNAC Coach of the Year. Looney, 36, has a 159-77 (.674) career record, including a 95-55 record in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.

LAST TIME OUT: With a five-point lead and 1:58 left in regulation, Dixie State College thought they had a good chance at securing the win in its regular season finale. A pair of 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beating corner shot from Braylon Pickrel, guided the host Lopes of Grand Canyon to a dramatic 73-72 win over the Red Storm on Saturday. Dixie State dropped its final two games heading into the NCAA Tournament, finishing the regular season at 20-6, 15-3 in the Pacific West. Grand Canyon extended its winning streak to nine games and kept hopes alive for an at-large berth into the postseason (19-7, 13-5 PWC). GCU connected on 10-of-26 shots from distance, five in each half. Dixie State outshot the Lopes on the night (45.6 percent to 43.9) from the floor, but could not build on a 72-67 advantage in the waning moments. A pair of late turnovers stymied the Red Storm's chances. Dixie State trailed by three at the half, only after a Dalton Groskreutz (St. George, UT/Snow Canyon) 3-pointer capped a closing 6-0 run. The Lopes pushed the lead to as many as seven points early in the second half before DSC reeled off a 9-0 run. The lead flip-flopped eight times and was tied on 12 other occasions in the second stanza, culminating in the Storm's five-point cushion after a pair of Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) free throws. Kyle Speed nailed a triple in transition and Pickrel launched his game-winner from the right corner with a second left. The high-arcing shot ripped the net just after the horn sounded for the win. Groskreutz led all DSC scorers with 13 points off the bench. Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) added 12 points while McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) had 11.

LAST GAME vs. SPU: (November 11, 2011) - After a quick opening spurt, the Dixie State College of Utah men's basketball team found scoring opportunities hard to come by in opening day action of their own Classic. Junior forward Jobi Wall scored a game-high 10 points leading the 23rd-ranked Falcons of Seattle Pacific University to a 58-42 win over the host Red Storm inside the Burns Arena. Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) and Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) led Dixie State (0-1) with nine points each. Seattle Pacific (1-0) exacted some revenge for a pair of losses to DSC last season, including one in the NCAA Division-II Tournament. Dixie State took an early 8-7 lead at the 14:08, but did not make any field goals until the 11:34 mark after an SPU 4-0 run. The Storm took its last lead at 12-11 only to see the visitors reel off nine straight points. Freshman Riley Stockton, nephew of NBA great John Stockton, sank a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put SPU up 26-14. The lead extended to 17 points in the first three minutes of the second half as the Falcons hit a trio of triples to open play. DSC responded with a 9-0 run to pull within eight points – a margin that never got smaller. SPU hit seven three-pointers in the second half, totaling nine for the game, to build as large as a 21-point lead. For the first time in D-II history, DSC failed to get a single player in double figures. The 42-points posted is the lowest amount in six NCAA seasons.

TOURNEY HISTORY: Dixie State College is 2-2 in the NCAA Tournament over the past two seasons. In 2010, the Red Storm made its frist ever appearance in “The Dance” against Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos won the first round game by nine, a contest held at Carver Gym in Bellingham. CPP went on to win the NCAA National Championship that season. Last year, in Ellensburg, Dixie State defeated Chaminade and Seattle Pacific before falling to BYU-Hawaii in the West Region final. The Seasiders advanced to the National Championship game last year.

PWC POSTSEASON HONORS: Head coach Jon Judkins was named the Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive time on Thursday, March 8. Judkins led the Red Storm to its first sole PWC Championship and third consecutive league crown. Two DSC players earned spots on the PWC First Team – seniors Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) and Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney). Cole, the Storm's starting point guard, led the team averaging 12.7 points and 5.0 assists per game. He set single-game highs in points three times, including a career-best 26 points at Cal Baptist. Cole was a three-time PWC Player of the Week. Jones leads all DSC big men at 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. Jones started his year on a high note scoring 26 points in an exhibition at BYU in November. He scored in double figures in 17 of his 26 starts and had a double-double against MSU Billings (14-11). Receiving a PWC Honorable Mention is senior center Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont). Jensen posted his first career double-doulble against BYU-Hawaii at home and also had his career-high in points (15) at BYUH.

CAREER MARKS: Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) moved past Jeremiah Barnes (Compton, CA/Los Altos) for second place on the DSC D-II list with six assists at GCU. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) had four steals against the Lopes to surpass Dan Stock (68) for second place. Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) is the leader with 82 Division II games played. With a start on Friday, Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) will sit just one starts behind Tom Whitehead (St. George, UT/Dixie) for second.

ROAD WARRIORS: 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 33-15 record (.687). One other team, BYU-Hawaii (28-18), 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 30-4 home record, a .882 winning percentage.

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.

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