[PREVIEW] 25th-ranked Storm face rival Seasiders

WHITE-OUT scheduled for showdown with BYU-Hawaii

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Dixie State (18-5, 13-2 PWC) vs. BYU-Hawaii (13-10, 10-5 PWC)
Game Details	Saturday, Feb. 23 \| St. 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: DSC Live Stats Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DixieMBB
Dixie State Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
BYUH Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

WHITE OUT FOR A CLASH WITH THE SEASIDERS: Dixie State University men's basketball returns home after a 3-1 road trip to the Bay Area for a game with one of its conference rivals. On Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., the 25th-ranked Red Storm host BYU-Hawaii (13-10, 10-5 PWC) at the Burns Arena. Live audio and video coverage will be available through Dixie State All Access at DixieAthletics.com/showcase.

STORM WATCH: DSC has won 11 of its last 12 games to enter Saturday's contest with an 18-5 overall record, 13-2 in the Pacific West. Sophomore center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) leads the Storm at 13.1 PPG and paces the club with 8.3 rebounds a game. Sophomore forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) follows in scoring at 12.5 points per game. Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (11.9) and McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (11.4) follow next in scoring average. The Red Storm are first in the nation (D2) in field goal percentage (52.5) and 14th in assists per game with 17.5.

LAST TIME OUT: It may be time for Dixie State forward Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) to look for a new Twitter handle. The junior known by those in the online world as @KidLarson has stepped up his game and played like a man over the last two ballgames.

Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame de Namur, Larson broke the DSU single-game scoring record with 33 points and added a career-high tying nine rebounds in the Red Storm's 66-61 road win over the Argonauts in Pacific West Conference action.

Larson made 12-of-15 attempts from the floor and knocked home each of his nine free throws attempts to best the previous single-game record of 32 points set by current DSU assistant coach Ryan Sanchez (Ogden. UT/Fremont) twice – including five years ago in Gleason Gym against NDNU (5-17, 4-10).

Dixie State completed its four-game, eight-day trip to the Bay Area with a 3-1 mark – bolstering its overall record to 18-5 and 13-2 in the PacWest.

The outcome hung in the balance as the Argos played physical and pressure-filled defense against the Storm for most of the game. NDNU flourished after a 35-35 halftime stalemate using a 17-8 run to take their biggest lead, 52-43, at the 12:45 mark.

Dixie State answered the challenge responding with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes. Larson began the charge with a key bucket plus a foul. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) hit DSU's lone 3-pointer of the game on the next possession en route to 12 points. DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) drew a foul and nailed both free throws to pull within a point, 52-51.

NDNU built its last advantage with their ninth 3-pointer of the game at the 8:44 mark, 59-54. From the point on, the Argos missed their final nine shots while the Red Storm responded with a closing run.

A trio of free throws from Groskreutz and Larson cut the lead to one. With 5:48 left on the clock, Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) flipped in a right-handed hook shot to give DSU a lead the would not relinquish. The bucket gave Robbins his ninth consecutive game in double figures (10 pts.).

Larson notched the final six points of the game on a pair of jumpers and two free throws to give him the record.

The Storm was held below their nation-leading field goal percentage, making 24-of-49 shot for 49 percent. They missed just two free throws accounting for 17 points from the stripe.

Freshman guard James Northup with 15 points led NDNU.

• BYU-HAWAII SEASIDERS

> The Seasiders have won three straight and secured a spot in the PWC Tournament with a 77-69 win over APU on Monday.
> Four players average in double figures for BYUH - led by senior guard Junior Ale (15.5) and junior center DeAndre Medlock (15.0).
> Ken Wagner is the most successful basketball coach in BYU-Hawaii history. Now in his 22nd season at BYU-Hawaii with an overall record of 431-199 for a winning percentage of .683. He has had just one losing season in his 21-year tenure. He spent six years at Dixie during the JC years and also coached high school at Lehi.

ALL TIME AGAINST BYUH: Since the beginning of the 2011 season, Dixie State has won three of the last five meetings with BYUH. In 13 overall meetings, the Seasiders hold an 8-5 advantage, including a 4-3 mark inside the Burns. The biggest meeting between the two came in the 2011 DII West Regional Final - BYUH defeated DSC 79-73 en route to a national runner-up finish to Bellarmine.

JUDKINS ON BYUH: It's always amazing that we play them late in a crucial time. It will be a fun game. Knowing them, they play extremely hard. Defensively, they are all over the place - they gamble a lot. But because they play so hard, if you don't take care of the ball you will be in trouble. We will have to have a great effort in transition defense and try to get it into a halfcourt game.

DIXIE WINS THE PACWEST (LAST MEETING, 2012): Dixie State College and BYU-Hawaii provided 45 minutes of thrilling and physical basketball Wednesday night that epitomized the best of Pacific West Conference action. The Red Storm defeated the visiting Seasiders 77-73 in overtime to secure the outright league title in front of a record 4,368 fans inside the Burns Arena.

Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (Cheney, WA/Cheney) scored a team-high 15 points, 13 coming after the intermission, to lead Dixie State (20-4, 15-1 PWC). Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) recorded his first career double-double, 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (St. George, UT/Snow Canyon) chipped in 13 points off the bench. DSC will represent the Pacific West for the third consecutive year in the Division-II NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The Seasiders (14-10, 11-4 PWC) took control of a low-scoring first half. Jet Chang scored the final 12 points of the half for BYUH, outscoring Dixie State 12-7 in the process for a 30-25 advantage at the half.

As many times throughout the season, DSC sprinted quickly out of the gate in the second half, erasing the BYUH advantage to tie the game at 33-33.

Every DSC run midway through the period was matched or exceeded by the Seasiders. With a 54-49 advantage, Dixie State saw Junior Ale connect on a trio of 3-pointers in an 8-0 starting run, culminating in BYUH enjoying a 62-56 lead with 2:27 remaining.

Dixie State bounced off the mat and strung together eight consecutive points. Jensen drained an open 3-ball causing an eruption from the Red Storm faithful. A Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) free throw put the lead at 64-62 with 5.8 seconds. Chang sped down the sideline, cut toward the baseline and connected with an equalizing lay-in with 0.2 on the clock.

In overtime, Brady Hurst hit a pair of opening free throws. Jones connected on one-of-two charity shots before McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) drained a triple. Chang cut the DSC advantage down to a singular point three times as the clubs traded buckets. Bracken Funk tied the extra session at 73-73 with 1:26 on a baseline jumper.

On the ensuing possession, Jensen missed a lay-up and Chang appeared to clear the rebound. The ball was tipped out of Chang's hand and caused a mad dash on the floor. Massey ended up with a steal and set up a critical DSC chance. After a called timeout, Massey found Jensen on the weak side for an open lay-in.

Chang split the defense on the subsequent trip, but missed a left-handed lay-in. Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) corralled the rebound and was fouled. Clegg calmly hit two free throws to put the game out of reach with eight seconds left.

Chang netted a game-high 29 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the floor. Ale drained five from distance en route to 20 points. BYUH shot 41.4 percent from the floor.

The Red Storm dominated the battle of the boards 48-to-36, including 23 offensive rebounds. Wednesday's game was the first contest this season in which the Storm shot under 40 percent and claimed victory (22-66, 39.4 percent).

STILL RANKED: Despite losing at Dominican, Dixie State remained in the NABC Top 25 D-II Poll at No. 25. DSU dropped six spots after a 3-1 week in the Bay Area. The Storm are the fourth ranked club out of the West Region (No. 2 WWU, No. 4 CPP, No. 5 SPU). Season opponents are also on the list (No. 17 FLC, RV GCU).

LARSON LEADS THE PAC: Dixie State junior forward/center Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) has been selected the Pacific West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.

Larson led the Red Storm to a 2-1 week by averaging 23.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting an astonishing 79.4% from the floor.

During the three-game week that featured a loss at Dominican on Feb. 11, and victories over Holy Names and Notre Dame de Namur on Feb. 14 and 16, respectively, Larson took a combined total of 53 shots – and he missed just 10. He was 27 for 34 from the field and went 16 for 19 (84.2%) from the foul line.

It is the first Player of the Week honor in Larson's career and the fourth weekly honor this season after mentions on the Fantastic 15 in weeks 2, 6 and 7.

For the second consecutive week and fifth time this season, junior forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) was named to the PWC Fantastic 15.

Groskreutz led Red Storm to 2-1 week by averaging 15.3 points per game…ranked 16th in scoring for the week in the PacWest…shot 53.1% (17 for 32) from the field…also shot 84.6% (11 for 13) from the line.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) needs 255 points to pass Tom Whitehead (1,038) for 2md on the all-time scoring list, 46 3-pointers to pass Tom Whitehead (145) for 1st place, one assists to pass Dan Stock (238) for 1st. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) needs 88 rebounds to pass Ryan Sanchez (474) for 1st on the career list and eight blocks to pass Tom Whitehead (74) for 1st place. Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) needs 49 rebounds to pass Tom Whitehead (360) for 3rd place. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) needs 76 points to pass Ben Hartman (763) for 4th, 13 3-pointers to pass Dan Stock (71) for 6th place and 14 shots to pass Ben Hartman (72) for 5th place.

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