[PREVIEW] Cougars visit the Burns for PWC clash with DSC

Red Storm close January at home with Azusa Pacific

Tweet #DSCmbb

Dixie State (12-4, 7-1 PWC) vs. Azusa Pacific (6-8, 3-3 PWC)
Game Details	Saturday, Jan. 26 \| Saint George, UT \| 7:30 p.m. Mountain Burns Arena
Game Coverage	TV: CEC-TV \| Radio: ESPN SportsRadio 1210AM and 107.3/102.3 FM Dixie State All Access: Audio and Video Live Stats/Video: Dixie State Live Stats Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DSCmbb
Dixie State Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
APU Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

STORM TANGLE WITH THE COUGARS: Dixie State look to closes out play in January with a spotless record - a home game against the Cougars of Azusa Pacific stands in the way of a 6-0 mark for the month. Tip time is 7:30 p.8m. Mountain inside the Burns Arena. Live audio and video coverage will be available through Dixie State All Access at DixieAthletics.com/Showcase.

STORM WATCH: DSC is 12-4 on the season after securing their fifth consecutive victory - a 67-51 home win over California Baptist. Sophomore center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) leads the team at 12.8 PPG and paces the PacWest with 8.8 rebounds a game. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (12.1), Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (11.9) and Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (11.1) follow next in scoring average. The Red Storm are second in the nation (D2) in 3-point percentage (44.5) and fourth in field goal percentage (52.2).

LAST TIME OUT: Two weeks removed from a strong defensive effort against California Baptist on the road, Dixie State protected home court by holding the Lancers to a season-low in points.

Senior guard McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) and sophomore forward/center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) each chipped in 14 points a piece as DSC lead wire-to-wire in a 67-51 victory in Pacific West Conference play at the Burns Arena on Saturday.

The Red Storm limited CBU to 57 points last fortnight in Riverside and bested the defensive effort in front of 4,021 fans at home.

“When we made our run in the second half, it goes back to our defense, it goes back to our rebounding and it goes back to running the floor,” DSC head coach Jon Judkins said.

Couple the stout defense with a program first – a perfect 11-of-11 line from the charity stripe – to round out a solid team effort.

The win, DSC's fifth consecutive and seventh in the last eight PacWest games, pushed the Storm's overall record to 12-4; the same mark compared to a season ago after 16 games.

Dixie State posted a 26-of-52 performance from the field, aided by a 60 percent clip (15-25) in the second half. The Storm took a three-point lead at the break and extended it to a 17-point cushion after nailing the first eight attempts out of the locker room.

“We started to get lay-ups because we were running the floor,” Judkins said. “Running the lanes is big. It works for us.”

Massey had four 3-pointers, two in each half, and a career-high nine rebounds. Robbins connected on six of eight shots from various spots on the court while nabbing seven boards. Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) (St George, UT/Dixie) had 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Andrew Fisk led CBU with 13 points. The Lancers dropped to 9-5 on the year and an even 3-3 in the PacWest. Leading season scorer for CBU, Anthony Cosentino, was held scoreless after missing three shot attempts.

• AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS

> The Cougars have dropped three straight games in Pacific West play - beginning with the 87-59 loss at home to Dixie State. Since then, APU has lost on the road at California Baptist (81-69) and at Grand Canyon (50-49). This is the team's second three-game losing skid of the year (12/17-1/2; CSUDH, CSUSB, SD Mines).
> Sophomore guard Troy Leaf paces the Cougars in scoring (18.0), assists (4.4) and steals (1.1). Freshman forward Sharif Watson pulls down 4.8 rebounds a game.
> Justin Leslie is in his sixth year at the helm of the APU program. He played collegiately at Azusa Pacific from 1996-2001 and assisted under former coach Bill Odell.

ALL-TIME VS. APU: Dixie State won the first-ever regular season meeting with Azusa Pacific two weeks ago. Prior to that, the then top-ranked Cougars in the NAIA defeated DSC in a 2010 exhibition game played inside the Burns.

JUDKINS ON APU: They are playing really good right now. They should have beat GCU. They changed up their starting rotation, so we have to play as hard as we did at their place. We need to use our advantage in the paint - guys like Zach, Derek and Curtis need to play well.

STORM ROLL ON THE ROAD (LAST MEETING, 2013): The question arose after Dixie State's tough home win on Thursday against Grand Canyon – would there be a let down on the road at Azusa Pacific? From the seven-minute mark of the first half on, the answer was an emphatic no.

McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) led all DSC scorers with 16 points and Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) thrilled a partisan crowd from his hometown with two monster alley-oop dunks leading Dixie State to a convincing 85-57 win over the host Cougars in Pacific West Conference play.

A fourth consecutive victory boosted Dixie State to 11-4 on the year and 6-1 in the PacWest.

Knotted in a physical battle early, DSC had a 24-21 lead at the seven-minute mark. Five minutes later, the Red Storm held APU (5-6, 3-1 PWC) scoreless and rattled off 16 points unanswered. Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) hit four shots including a pair of 3-pointers for 10 of the points off the bench.

DSC bumped the lead to 19 before settling for a 44-31 halftime advantage.

Troy Leaf hit a pair of triples early in the second half to keep the Cougars within striking distance. Trailing by nine, APU's chances slipped away on a DSC 9-0 run beginning and ending with Massey shots from distance.

Robbins added to the second half highlights throwing down two alley-oop dishes from Massey and DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy).

The lead hit 30 points at one point, allowing head coach Jon Judkins the luxury to empty his bench. Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) (Gresham, OR/Barlow) took advantage with five points in the final minutes in his first game back from injuring his hand.

Massey hit six of his 10 shots from the field. Robbins was 7-of-10 for 15 points and nine rebounds while Papenfuss added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

The Storm was held below their season field-goal average, but hit a respectable 30-of-61 (49.2 percent). DSC held APU to 33 percent on the night and 5-of-24 from the 3-point arc.

HOT SHOOTING AND DEFENSE EQUALS WINS: How important is outshooting your opponent in a game? DSC is 12-3 this season when their field goal percentage is better than an opponent. In the Judkins' era, the Storm have won 101 of 114 games topping the FG% stat.

FANTASTIC MAC AND ZACH: For steady, yet record-breaking, performances against California Baptist over the weekend, two Dixie State College basketball players earned spots on the Pacific West Conference Fantastic 15 – McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) and Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland).

McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Sr., 6-2, 185, G, Payson, UT/Payson) – Dixie State – led Red Storm to a 67-51 over California Baptist on Jan. 19 – the lone game of the week for Dixie State…totaled 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals…posted a 4.0 assist/turnover ratio in the contest…went 2 for 2 at the line…drained 4 of 6 (66.7%) three-point attempts…tied for seventh in three-point shooting for the week in the PacWest.

Massey was the league's top player a week ago and earned his second Fantastic 15 honor. His nine rebounds bested his career-high by one (Dec. 17, 2011, vs. Saint Martin's).

Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (So., 6-10, 200, F/C, Upland, CA/Upland) – Dixie State – led Red Storm to a 67-51 over California Baptist on Jan. 19 – the lone game of the week for Dixie State…totaled 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in the win…tied for fifth in shooting for the week (75.0%) after making 6 of 8 attempts from the field…went 2 for 2 at the line.

Robbins is becoming a steady member of the Fantastic 15. This is his fifth mention on the league's honor list. He was PWC Player of the Week consecutively for the first two weeks back in December.

Antonio Credit of Fresno Pacific wan named PWC Player of the Week. He averaged a double-double by posting 16.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game – ranking ninth in scoring and tying for third in collecting caroms for the week in the PacWest. He led the PacWest in defensive rebounding, inhaling 8.0 per game while eliminating second-chance opportunities for the opposition. But it was his shooting percentage that was stunning. Credit converted 15 of 18 field goal attempts for a phenomenal 83.3%, scoring all but three of 33 points from the field.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) needs 47 points to pass Ben Hartman (763) for 3rd on the all-time scoring list, 54 3-pointers to pass Tom Whitehead (145) for 1st place, eight assists to pass Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) (223) for 2nd place and 21 to pass Dan Stock (238) for 1st. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) needs 26 rebounds to pass Tom Whitehead (360) for 2nd on the career list and nine blocks to pass Tom Whitehead (74) for 1st place. Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) needs 25 rebounds to pass Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (310) for 4th place. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) needs 27 points to pass Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (616) for 6th, 20 3-pointers to pass Dan Stock (71) for 6th place and 21 shots to pass Ben Hartman (72) for 5th place.

Print Friendly Version