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DIXIE STATE HOSTS CLASSIC TO OPEN REGULAR SEASON: Dixie State University – the defending Pacific West Conference regular season and tournament champions – open the 2013-14 NCAA season hosting the Dixie State Classic on Nov. 8-9 in the Burns Arena. On Friday, the Storm face Colorado Mesa out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at 7:30 p.m. in a counter game. The next night, DSU will play an exhibition against St. Katherine College out of Southern California at 7:30 p.m. Live audio coverage from the Burns Arena will be available on through Dixie State All Access at DixieAthletics.com/showcase with John Potter (@PotterSez) on the play-by-play on Friday (also on ESPN SportsRadio 106.1 FM) and Devin Dixon on Saturday (also on KDXU 890AM).

RANKED TO END LAST SEASON, GETTING VOTES THIS YEAR: The Red Storm closed the 2012-13 season ranked No. 18 - its highest national spot in program history. This year, Dixie State received 13 votes to unofficially sit at No. 37 in the country heading into this year.

LAST TIME OUT – UPSET IN THE DESERT: Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) led all scorers with 20 points as Dixie State's men's basketball team shocked UNLV in the Red Storm's 2013-14 exhibition opener, 71-70, Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. DSU struggled in the early going offensively as the Rebels forced the Storm into nine early turnovers, while holding Dixie to just four points over the game's first seven minutes, as UNLV jumped out to a quick 13-4 lead. The Rebels pushed that lead to as many as 13 points at 19-6, thanks in part to 10 points to junior guard Bryce DeJean-Jones. However DeJean-Jones would leave the game with an apparent leg injury at the 10:30 mark of the opening frame, which seemed to spark the Dixie State offense, as the Storm went on a 10-0 run, including seven-straight points from senior Groskreutz, to cut the deficit to 19-16. Dixie State kept the pressure on UNLV, outscoring the Rebels 23-8 over a span of eight minutes, and came all the way back to take a 29-27 lead on a DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) jumper with 3:11 until intermission. The two teams then traded baskets the rest of the frame, which ended with UNLV taking with a 38-37 lead into the locker room. Both teams seesawed back and forth for most of the second half, but the Red Storm started to get a little separation thanks to a 12-6 spurt, capped by a Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) 3-pointer, which gave DSU its biggest lead at 69-64 with 6:16 left to play. UNLV had several chances late as the Rebels forced two Dixie turnovers within the span of 15 seconds with a little over one minute to play, but UNLV could not capitalize. Clinging to the 71-70 lead in the final moments, DSU had a chance to ice the game with the shot clock winding down, but again the Rebel defense stiffened and forced a Red Storm turnover with just 10 seconds left. On the miscue, Jelan Kendrick drove the length of the court, but missed a jumper that caromed out of bounds with 0.7 left on the clock. UNLV threw the ball into Deville Smith, but senior Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) swatted Smith's desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer to clinch the upset win. Groskreutz finished 8-of-11 from the floor, including a perfect 3-of-3 from the perimeter, while junior guard Thompson chipped in 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, and sophomore guard Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) tallied 13 in his Dixie debut. In addition to his big block to end the game, Payne tallied a game-high nine assists. "I thought the guys played really hard," DSU Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "We won the game tonight because of how hard we played. I could not be prouder of them." After struggling from the field to start the game (4-of-11), Dixie State shot nearly 50 percent the rest of the way to finish at a 45.8 clip (27-of-59), including 8-of-19 from the perimeter. DSU also survived 21 turnovers, though the Storm defense was just as solid as it forced 20 Rebel miscues. Three Rebel players scored in double figures, including DeJean-Jones' 10 points before the injury, while Roscoe Smith and Khem Birch each chipped in 10 points. UNLV shot just 34.8 percent from the floor (23-of-66), 8-of-28 (.286) from the perimeter, and was just 16-of-30 from the line (.533).

STORM PICKED TO WIN, ROBBINS HONORED:
Dixie State was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Pacific West Conference, and Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) was selected as the preseason Player of the Year according to a coaches' vote released Thursday by the league. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) was also selected on the All-PacWest Preseason Team. The Red Storm received nine of 13 first-place votes to take the top spot with 165 points. Fresno Pacific (136) edged BYU-Hawaii (135) for second place while both teams received a first-place vote. Chaminade ranked fourth in the vote followed by Azusa Pacific, California Baptist and Hawai'i Pacific to round out the top half of the predicted order. Dixie State was the only school with two players voted to the Preseason All-PacWest squad. The other members honored by the league were Lee Baily from Chaminade, Malcolm Griffin from Fresno Pacific, Troy Leaf from Azusa Pacific, DeAndre Medlock from BYU-Hawaii and Malte Ziegenhagen from Hawai'i Pacific.

THE RETURNERS:
> Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak), a 6-4 combo guard/forward, is back for his senior season after missing last year rehabbing a knee injury. The Cedar Hills, Utah, native was the 2007 PacWest Freshman of the Year.
> Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon), the 6-6 forward from Santa Clara, Utah, returns for his senior season after having a great junior campaign. He averaged 11.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the season while shooting 80-percent from the charity stripe. Groskreutz was a second-team all-PacWest honoree.
> Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow), the 6-4 guard from Gresham, Ore., played 12 games for Dixie State last year. He averaged 1.5 points per game.
> Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas), a 6-8 forward from Happy Valley, Ore., appeared in 27 of the 28 DSU games last year. Papenfuss had a season-high 20 points off the bench at Azusa Pacific.
> Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak), a 6-0 senior from Alpine, Utah, is expected to be the returning starter at point guard for Dixie State. Payne ranked third in the PacWest with 5.0 assists per game.
> DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy), the 6-2 shooting guard from Las Vegas, expects to crack the starting lineup this year. Thompson finished last year strong to post a 9.2 point per game average.
> Braden Saunders (Morgan, UT/Morgan), the 6-3 guard from Morgan, Utah, returns to DSU after serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He redshirted for the Storm prior to his mission.

THE NEWCOMERS:
> Nate Ensign (American Fork, UT/American Fork), a 6-9 center, is a true freshman from American Fork, Utah. Ensign just returned from a mission.
> Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View), the 6-6 senior forward from St. George, transferred from San Jose State. Garrett averaged 6.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in mainly a reserve role for the Spartans last year.
> Darius Matthews, a 6-8 junior center from Long Beach, Calif., transfers from Cerritos College. Matthews sat out last year after previously committing at California Baptist.
> Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View), the 6-9 hometown product from St. George, will play center for the Red Storm. Last year, Rex redshirted at Weber State.
> Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan), the 5-10 sophomore guard from West Jordan, Utah, will likely start the season backing up Payne at point guard. Sawyer signed to play at Boise State after a stellar career at West Jordan HS. He transferred to Snow Colleg before embarking on a church mission.

THE REDSHIRTS:
> Zach Bernardo (Sandy, UT/Brighton), a 6-0 guard, graduated from Brighton High School this past year. Bernardo averaged 8.1 points, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals for the Bengals. Brighton made it to the Utah 5A Semifinals last year, losing to eventual champion Lone Peak. Bernardo also played soccer at BHS.
> Adam Gleave (Tempe, AZ/Corona del Sol), a 6-4 guard from Tempe, Ariz., played for two state championship basketball teams at Corono del Sol High school. As a senior, he led the AZ top-ranked Aztecs to a 29-4 over record with season averages of 10 points and six rebounds a game.
> Greg Goodfellow (Boulder City, NV/Boulder City), a 6-7 forward from Boulder City, Nev., walked-on to the DSU squad after one year at Southern Virginia in 2010-11. He appeared in 9 games at SVU.
> Ryan Graves (Huntsville, UT/Weber), a 6-0 guard, will likely miss the 2013-14 season after suffering a knee injury in the Red Storm's opening team practice.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Four Dixie State players are moving up the career record book ages in multiple stats. Senior guard Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) needs four assists to pass McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) and become the DSU all-time leader. Payne also needs three steals to move into fifth place past Tom Whitehead, five steals to get into fourth place past Maurice Cole, and 11 steals to move into third ahead of Dan Stock. Junior forward Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland), already the DSU leader in career blocks, needs 25 points to pass Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) for eighth place and 53 points to pass Griffon Jones for seventh. He needs 31 rebounds to become the all-time leader past current DSU assistant Ryan Sanchez and eight offensive rebounds to get to No. 1 past Owen. Robbins can pass Jones for sixth on the field goals made list with three shots. Senior forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) is 48 points away from passing Ben Hartman for fourth on the career-scoring list. Dalton needs 44 field goals to move third place, ahead of Massey. Ten makes from beyond the arc moves Groskreutz into sixth place in front of Dan Stock. In free throws made, he needs two for eight place ahead of Donovan Plunkett, nine made to pass Jones for seventh place, and 10 freebies to get into sixth place past Cole. Four rebounds moves him past Andy Palmer for ninth place and 10 boards gets eighth place past current DSU assistant Kasey Winters. With two blocked shots, Groskreutz passes Troy Randall for ninth place and three swats will notch eighth place past Nick Howard. Senior wing Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) needs seven field goals to pass Bowie Jeffs for ninth on the career list and 14 makes to get into eighth place ahead of Johnny Little.

• COLORADO MESA MAVERICKS

> The Mavs return to St. George to open the season after a 18-10 record in 2012-13. CMU qualified for the RMAC Shootout, but lost in the opening round to No. 1 Metro State, 93-64.
> Colorado Mesa was selected to finish fifth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll released on Oct. 16. The Mavs sit behind national runner-up Metro State, Colorado Mines, Fort Lewis and Adams State.
> CMU returns seven players including Mike Melillo, who paces the returners with 10.5 ppg/5.9 rpg averages.
> Andy Shantz is in his first year as CMU head coach, taking over for Jim Heaps after he stepped down to take an administration role after 17 years on the bench.  Shantz held the associate head coaching role for the past 10 years and played at, then, Mesa State from 1994-97.

LAST TIME VS. CMU, 2012: There is not much the Red Storm liked after holding a 14-point lead at the 17:24 mark of the second half. Colorado Mesa began a dominating second half performance with a 23-0 run en route to a 80-61 non-conference win over Dixie State in the second day of the Clarion Inn Thanksgiving Classic. Colton Burgon made six of his nine field goal attempts in the final 15 minutes to lead CMU (3-1) with 22 points. Jeff Hart added 20 points, 13 coming after the break. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) led Dixie State (3-2) with 17 points. Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) posted another strong performances with 14 points. The first half was evenly played with both teams struggling early from the floor. CMU held its largest advantage at 8-4 on a Burgon layup. The Red Storm took a six-point lead, 30-24, into break on a Brandon Simister (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) three ball from the wing. Dixie State increased the lead to 41-27 behind Massey's six points over the span of 2:36 to begin the half. At that point, the proverbial wheels fell off. DSC went without a point for nearly eight minutes while the Mavs spurted for a run. CMU hit 14 of 19 shots to score 23 points unanswered transforming a large deficit into a nine-point lead. Foul shooting on both sides kept DSC from answering the momentous run. Thirty combined fouls were called in the second half, 18 against the Red Storm putting Colorado Mesa in the single bonus at the 14:53 mark and the double bonus with 7:17 left in regulation. That led to 30 opportunities from the line for the host, who capitalized by making 24 free throws. Dixie State went cold shooting just 28.6 percent in the second half. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds for the Red Storm.

• ST. KATHERINE COLLEGE FIREBIRDS

> The Firebirds are a first-year program out of Encinitas, Calif. The team plays in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference and are members of the National Christian College Athletic Association.
> SKC will play a wide mixture of competition. Their D-II opponents include DSU, Point Loma, Hawaii Pacific and UC San Diego. The Firebirds will also play D-I teams - Utah Valley, Utah, Weber State and San Diego State.
> Scott Mitchell is an international basketball veteran and is in his first year as head coach at St. Katherine.