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Utah Tech University Athletics

DSU MBB Coaches
Julie Buchanan Photography

Men's Basketball John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

[PREVIEW] DSU heads to California for ranked test and rematch

Pacific West Conference action continues at California Baptist and Azusa Pacific



MEDIA INFORMATION
Date Sat., Jan. 18 | 7:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m. MT)
Mon., Jan 20 | 7:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m. MT)
Location

Van Dyne Gym - Riverside, Calif.
Felix Event Center - Azusa Pacific
Tickets Purchase Tickets
Radio ESPN SportsRadio 106.1 FM |
Dixie State All-Access
Radio Talent Devin Dixon (play-by-play, Saturday)
DSU Audio Dixie State All-Access
CBU Live Stats/Video CBU Live Stats | CBU Live Video
APU Live Stats/Video APU Live Stats | APU Live Video
Game Notes Dixie State
Twitter @DixieAthletics #DixieMBB
DIXIE STATE RED STORM
Record 13-1, 7-1 PacWest
Ranking 12th (NABC)
Head Coach Jon Judkins
Career: 442-205 (20th year)
DSU Record: 158-82 (9th year)
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS
Record 14-0, 8-0 PacWest
Ranking 18th (NABC)
Head Coach Rick Croy
Record at CBU: 14-0 (1st year)
AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS
Record 8-5, 4-3 PacWest
Ranking NR
Head Coach Justin Leslie
Record at APU: 150-64 (3rd year)
RANKED TEST, REMATCH IN CALIFORNIA: Dixie State (13-1/7-1 PacWest) opens a two-game road swing in Southern California with a matchup on Saturday night, Jan. 18. 2014, at NABC No. 18 California Baptist (14-0/8-0) in Riverside and a rematch with Azusa Pacific (8-5, 4-3) on Monday, Jan, 20. Both games tip at 7:30 p.m. Pacific (8:30 p.m. Mountain).The games will have live radio coverage on ESPN SportsRadio 106.1 FM with Devin Dixon providing the play-by-play action on Saturday for an ailing John Potter. Links for live stats and online audio/video provided by the host schools are on DixieAthletics.com.

DSU DROPS TO NO. 12: West Liberty and Bellarmine continue to hold onto the top two spots in the latest NABC/Division II rankings, but losses by 10 of last week's top 25 teams -- including three ranked among the top eight -- has shuffled the poll around for the upcoming week. Of the 10 ranked teams that were defeated last week, four of them lost to another team listed in the Jan. 7 poll. Florida Southern moved up to third as a result and Metropolitan State, who beat then-No. 11 Colorado School of Mines, rose to fourth. Indiana (Pa.) and Tarleton State also moved up to fifth and sixth, respectively, while Drury, who lost at Bellarmine Thursday, dropped to seventh. East Stroudsburg, Cal State-San Bernardino and Southern Indiana -- who fell to Drury Saturday -- round out the top 10. Lincoln Memorial begins the second ten, followed by Dixie State, Colorado School of Mines, Indianapolis and South Carolina Aiken, who scored the fourth win by one ranked team over another with its victory at Montevallo Saturday. Winona State checks in at No. 16, with Lake Superior State, California Baptist, Western Washington and Minnesota State completing the top 20. The final five teams in this week's poll is headed by Montevallo, with Franklin Pierce, Lewis, Delta State and Chico State filling the final spots in the Top 25. All seven teams in NCAA Division II that were undefeated through Sunday are listed in this week's poll; that number dropped to six Wednesday with Indiana's overtime loss at Gannon.

LAST TIME OUT – PAPENFUSS PERFECT AT STORM STRIKE DOWN SHORTHANDED SUNBIRDS: Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) (Happy Valley, OR) had a game Monday night in the Burns Arena that most basketball players only dream of. In a reserve role, the senior forward hit all seven of his shots, including a pair of 3-pointers leading Dixie State to an 85-61 win over a depleted Fresno Pacific squad. The 16-point performance was a season-high for Papenfuss, who added six rebounds and three assists. "I thought Curtis had one of his better games tonight," head coach Jon Judkins said. "He shot the ball extremely well and rebounded well for us. Some guys need a game like this for confidence and hopefully this helps him." Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) produced his third consecutive double-double (eighth total) with a team-high 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Sunbirds suited only six players for the Pacific West Conference game due to a string of fresh injuries. Fresno Pacific (5-10/0-7 PacWest) opened with an offensive rebound and a dunk, but a subsequent 11-0 run seized momentum for DSU. DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV) sparked the rally with a steal leading to a three-point play. Robbins followed with a jumper, Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) led a fast break for a lay-in and Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) (Gresham, OR) followed a missed shot with a tip-in. Malcolm Griffin hit the first of his four triples to end the run. Nielson and Thompson answered back with long distance shots to build a 12-point lead. The final Griffin 3-ball trimmed DSU's advantage to 22-17. Dixie State (13-1/6-1 PacWest) followed with a 9-1 run, including five straight points from Papenfuss. The Storm maintained a double-digit lead from the 6:01 mark to the halftime break. Thompson's late 3-pointer gave DSU a 47-31 halftime lead. The Sunbirds pulled within 13 points twice early in the second half, but an eight-minute period midway through the second half belonged to the home team. A 23-8 spurt capped by 12 straight points pushed the lead to 28 points, 72-44. FPU was stymied to 10-37 shooting, with 0-of-10 from downtown, in the final 20 minutes. DSU hit half of their shots for the night (34-68) and 58 percent from behind the arc (7-12). The Storm also benefitted from their best percentage from the charity stripe all season (90.9 percent, 10-11) Thompson closed the night with 14 points and four rebounds. Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT), 13 points, and Payne (11 points) each had nine points after the break. Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) pulled down seven rebounds and Nielson, in his second start, ripped down six boards. Griffin led Fresno Pacific with 22 points. Josh Mason added 14 points and six rebounds.

THE TEAM:
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.
> Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland), the 6-10 combo forward/center from Upland, Calif., was selected as the Pacific West Conference Preseason Player of the Year.  He is the DSU all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots.
> 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.
> 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 College before embarking on a church mission.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Senior guard Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) had four assists against Colorado Mesa to pass McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) and become the DSU all-time leader. Payne passed Dan Stock into third place and needs 43 steals to move into second place ahead of McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson). Junior forward Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland), already the DSU leader in career blocks, moved into sixth place on the scoring list passing Donovan Plunkett in the NDNU game; he needs three points to pass Ben Hartman for fifth. Robbins became the all-time rebounding leader past current DSU assistant Ryan Sanchez and offensive rebounding leader, passing Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie), with 15 rebounds (5 offensive) at Western Oregon. Senior forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) passed Massey for fourth on the career-scoring list and needs 128 points to move into second place past Tom Whitehead. Dalton moved into second place, ahead of Whitehead, in field goals made and needs 12 field goals to take the career lead over Ryan Sanchez. Three makes from beyond the arc put Groskreutz into a sixth place tie with Dan Stock; he needs one make to tie Hartman for fifth and 19 triples to pass Donovan Plunkett for fourth. In free throws made, he passed Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) into fourth and needs one charity shot to tie Hartman for third place. Dalton needs seven rebounds to pass Massey for sixth place and nine boards to move into fifth place ahead of Griffon Jones.. With one blocked shot, Groskreutz tied Troy Randall for ninth place and two swats will notch eighth place past Nick Howard. Junior guard DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) passed Johnny Little for eighth on the career list in 3-point field goals made – he sits 16 shots behind sixth place.

• CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS

> California Baptist enters Saturday's matchup undefeated and ranked 18th in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll. CBU has a program-best 14 game-winning streak that includes 12 victories by double figures. The Lancers are coming off a sweep of two Northern California teams – an 81-67 win at Fresno Pacific and an 81-62 win at NDNU.
> CBU is led in scoring by fantastic freshman guard Ryan Berg at 15.5 points per game. Anthony Cosentino (11.7) and Ivan Patterson (10.1) round out three Lancers averaging double figures per contest. The Lancers are the third highest scoring team in the conference behind Dixie State and BYU-Hawaii. Defensively, CBU is second best in the PacWest allowing only 68.4 points to their opponent per game and top the league in 3-point percentage defense.
> Rick Croy, a 1999 graduate of San Francisco State, has impressed since being named coach at CBU on April 2, 2013. Prior to his hire, Croy was an assistant at St. Mary's under head coach Randy Bennett. Croy also took Citrus College to a California Junior College State Championship in 2008.  

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
2/14/12    Dixie State 85, California Baptist 59
2/28/12    Dixie State 70, California Baptist 67
1/5/13    Dixie State 69, California Baptist 57
1/19/13    Dixie State 67, California Baptist 51

LAST TIME vs. CBU, 2013: 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

> Azusa Pacific rebounded after their loss to the Red Storm by holding home court against Dominican, 71-64, on Monday. The Cougars have a league matchup on Friday at Point Loma. APU sits at 8-5 overall and 4-3 in the Pacific West.
> The Cougars were selected to finish fifth out of 13 teams in the PacWest preseason coaches vote. Senior guard Troy Leaf was selected to the All-PacWest Preseason Team.
> APU is led in scoring by Leaf at 19.4 point per game, also the highest average for any individual in the PacWest. Senior forward Tyler Monroe scores 12.3 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds. Third leading scorer Robert Sandoval (10.6 PPG) returned to the lineup against DSU after missing four contests.
> Justin Leslie, a 2001 graduate of APU, is in his seventh year as head coach. He led the Cougars to a 9-8 PacWest record in the program' first year in the league and a West Region final in the NCCAA playoffs.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1/12/13    Dixie State 85, Azusa Pacific 57
1/26/13    Dixie State 67, Azusa Pacific 59
1/11/14    Dixie State 87, Azusa Pacific 63

LAST TIME vs. APU, 2014: Five days separated from the team's first loss of the season, one question loomed prior to Saturday's matchup with Azusa Pacific – How would Dixie State respond? Just a few minutes into the Pacific West matchup, that query was answered with a flurry of 3-point shots. The Red Storm opened the game on a 10-2 run, built a 25-point halftime lead and held advantages in almost every offensive statistical category leading to an 87-63 win over Azusa Pacific at the Burns Arena. Three Dixie State (12-1/6-1 PacWest) players – DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV), Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) and Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) (West Jordan, UT) – each had 16 points. Robbins, with 14 rebounds, and Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) (12 points, 11 rebounds) posted double-doubles in the same game for the second time this season. Even with four players in double figures, it was the effort on the defensive end that stymied the Cougars to 21-of-59 shooting. "We defended tonight," DSU head coach Jon Judkins. "We got after it defensively, we rebounded. That was all we talked about the last three days of practice." Azusa Pacific (7-5/3-3 PacWest) answered the opening DSU salvo with five points to cut the home team's lead to 10-7. From that point, Dixie State produced a 30-8 run that opened a 25-point lead, 40-15, at the six-minute mark. During the string, DSU hit five shots from beyond the arc en route to eight total makes in the opening half. Thompson personally hit four long distance shots during his 14-point effort in the opening 20 minutes. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) bumped the advantage up to 30 points with the first of three straight buckets. But, it was Sawyer, Payne's point guard colleague, who paced the Storm's offensive attack after halftime. He hit four shots, including a 3-pointer late. DSU's lead grew as big as 37 points before APU hit four deep shots to cut the final margin down to 24. "We got a little lazy in the final eight minutes," Judkins added. "When we defend, we're pretty good. And we just have to tell our guys that they can do it for the full 40 minutes." Troy Leaf led the Cougars with 18 points and Jared Zoller added 13 points. Dixie State shot 54 percent (33-61) for the game and a blistering 60 percent (9-15) from behind the arc. The Storm outrebounded APU by 17, 45-28, and dominated inside the painted area (32-20).
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