Dixie State (6-4, 3-1 PacWest) ends the 2014 calendar year with a New Year's Eve matinee against Academy of Art (3-6, 01-2 PWC) in a league matchup on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 2:30 p.m. The game from the Burns Arena will be broadcast on on CEC-TV locally and available online via a per-per-view option. The Storm Basketball Network – ESPN SportsRadio 106.1 FM and SouthernUtahLive.com's audio feed – also has coverage.
The Red Storm finally put a winning streak together after a convincing 95-60 win over Holy Names on Dec. 21. Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, CA/Steele Canyon) paced DSU with a season-high 18 points in 16 minutes while freshman Zac Hunter (American Fork, UT/American Fork) poured in 15 points. Coupled with a W on the final day of the Las Vegas Challenge over Saint Martin's, Dixie State broke a string of nine games with oscillating wins and losses.
Dixie State has won all 10 previous meetings with the Urban Knights. All five meetings in St. George have been double-digit wins for the Storm. Recently, the matchups have been hard fought and physical games. In the last two games played in the Bay Area, Dixie State has escaped with two wins by an identical 82-80 score. In February, Red Storm outscored ART U 14-6 over the final 3:31 to win 82-80 in a game played at the Main Gym on the campus of San Francisco State. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) scored a career-high 19 points for DSU.
THREE THINGS – DIXIE STATE (6-4, 3-1 PWC)
1. Home, sweet home – Dixie State is 75-18 since 2006 at the Burns Arena. That includes a perfect 12-0 mark during the 2009-2010 season. DSU has lost only one game at the Burns in each of the last three seasons.
2. In four PacWest games, DSU is averaging 79.5 points per game while shooting 49 percent from the floor. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland), DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) and Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) are all averaging 13.5 points or higher in PWC games.
3. The final day – Dixie State has not played on New Year's Eve day since becoming an NCAA institution.
THREE THINGS – HOLY NAMES (3-6, 1-2 PWC)
1. Making history – The Urban Knights have already built an impressive season resume through nine games. ART U knocked off Seattle Pacific in the road to open the season and recently took nationally ranked California Baptist to overtime at home.
2. The Knights are led in scoring by junior forward Yanick Kulich (16.3 PPG) although he has not played in the last five games. Senior guard Alexis Moore follows at 16.1 PPG and sophomore guard Herman Pratt sits at 9.2 points per contest.
3. Freshman guard Uchenna Okeneme has scored in double figures in four straight. He is a two-time and defending Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Week.
RETURNING FACES: This season's roster includes eight players with game experience or time on the practice squad -
Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) - 15.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG as a PacWest 1st team selection - 17 double doubles
DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) - 14.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, .453 3FG% as a 2nd Team All-PacWest pick
Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) - 6.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG - 3 double doubles
Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) - 7.1 PPG, 2.6 APG as the backup point guard
Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) - 6.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG as a reserve guard and forward
Braden Saunders (Morgan, UT/Morgan) - played in 11 games, scored seven points
Ryan Graves (Huntsville, UT/Weber) - missed season due to injury
Sterling Brandley (Ogden, UT/Ben Lomand) - redshirted, member of the practice squad
STORM NEWCOMERS: Six players will wear the Dixie State jersey for the first time this season -
Collin Woods (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon) - 7.8 PPG, 1.5 RPG, .767 FT% at Salt Lake Community College last season - played as a freshman at UC Irvine
Connor Van Brocklin (Fruit Heights, UT/Davis) - 1.8 PPG in seven games last year at the University of Utah
Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, CA/Steele Canyon) - Pacific Coast Conference 2nd Team at Grossmont College - 14.9 PPG, 10.2 RPG
Zac Hunter (American Fork, UT/American Fork) - returned missionary freshman from American Fork HS - 12 PPG, 5 RPG as a senior
Trevor Hill (Sandy, UT/Alta) - Deseret News Utah 5A 2nd Team last year - 11.2 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 5.5 APG (No. 1 in 5A)
Anthony Morris (Mesquite, NV/Virgin Valley) - transfer from Snow College - 6.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG, .519 FG%
ROBBINS PRESEASON SPORTING NEWS ALL-AMERICAN: Senior forward/center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) was named to the Sporting News NCAA Division II All-American Second Team. Robbins becomes the first Storm player to earn such a prestigious honor. He was a PacWest First Team selection in 2013-14 and earned two West Region nods (Daktronics/NABC).
PACWEST PRESEASON NEWS: The Dixie State men's basketball team has been chosen second in the Pacific West Conference preseason coaches poll, as announced by the league office on Tuesday. Senior forward/center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) secured a spot on the Preseason All-PacWest Team for the second consecutive year. Defending league champion California Baptist was selected first, securing nine of 13 possible first-place votes. The Red Storm and Dominican, picked to finish sixth, each garnered one first-place vote. Third-place Chaminade received two first-place votes BYU-Hawaii was tabbed fourth, and Azusa Pacific fifth in the vote. Rounding out the league's remaining seven, in order, were Point Loma, Hawaii Pacific, Fresno Pacific, Academy of Art, Notre Dame de Namur, Hawaii Hilo and Holy Names. Robbins was a PacWest 1st Team All-Conference selection last year and garnered West Region recognition by the coaches and sports information directors. He was named the Preseason Player of the Year in 2013-14 and backed it up with a stellar season averaging 15.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while posting 17 double doubles.
THE JUDKINS FILE: Jon Judkins, a five-time PacWest Coach of the Year (2009-13), directed Dixie State into the playoffs in each the last five previous seasons. He has a 171-87 record at DSU, including a 21-7 mark last year. DSU tied for second in the PacWest regular season and qualified for the league tournament. The Red Storm posted a 22-7 record in 2013, equaling the school record for victories in the NCAA era. The squad won the 2013 PacWest regular season with a 15-3 conference record and Tournament titles to earn a West Regional Automatic bid. Judkins led DSU to the 2011 West Regional Final against league rival BYU-Hawaii in 2011. That season, the Red Storm won their only two Regional games to date with triumphs over Chaminade and Seattle Pacific. Judkins led DSU in its final year of junior college competition in 2006 to a 21-12 record. Prior to coaching at Dixie State, he spent 12 years, posting a 284-128 record, at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. The Badgers won the SWAC titles in 1999 and 2000, earning Judkins league Coach of the Year honors. Judkins played for one year at Dixie State before serving an LDS mission. He transferred to Utah State and became the first Aggie to post a triple-double. During the 1987-88 season, he helped the Aggies win their conference tournament and a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
