Men's Basketball 2/10/2014 4:00:00 PM John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

[PREVIEW] Red Storm renew rivalry with BYU-Hawaii

Current third and fifth seeds in PacWest tourney meet for first time this season

MEDIA INFORMATION
Date	Tues., Feb. 11 \| 7:30 p.m. PT MT
Location	Burns Arena - St. George, UT
Tickets	Purchase Tickets
Radio	ESPN SportsRadio 106.1 FM \| Dixie State All-Access
Radio Talent	John Potter (play-by-play) Devin Dixon (analysis)
DSU Audio/ Video	Dixie State All-Access
DSU Live Stats	DSU Live Stats
Game Notes	Dixie State
Twitter	@DixieAthletics #DixieMBB
DIXIE STATE RED STORM
Record	16-4 / 10-4 PacWest
Ranking	RV (NABC)
Head Coach	Jon Judkins
	Career: 445-208 (20th year)
	DSU Record: 161-85 (9th year)
BYU-HAWAII SEASIDERS
Record	11-9 / 9-5 PacWest
Ranking	NR
Head Coach	Ken Wagner
	Record at BYUH: 442-208 (22nd year)

STORM VS. SIDERS: Rivalries runs deep and one of the PacWest's most bitter conflicts writes another chapter as Dixie State hosts the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m. Mountain from the Burns Arena. DSU (16-4/10-4 PacWest) rebounded from its first home loss with a resounding win over Holy Names, 90-65 last Saturday. BYU-Hawaii (11-9/9-5 PacWest) has won five of the last seven games, including a redemption win over Hawaii Pacific 99-85 at home on Friday. Tuesday's contest will air on the Red Storm Radio Network (SportsRadio 106.1 FM; DixieAthletics.com/Showcase) with John Potter and Devin Dixon calling the action. CEC-Television broadcasts the games live on Baja Channel 22. Links for live stats and online video are available on DixieAthletics.com.

STORM DROP OUT OF TOP 25, STILL GETTING VOTES: Losing four of their last seven games have officially dropped Dixie State men's hoops out of the NABC Division-II Top 25 poll. The Red Storm still received five national votes to sit in the "Others Receiving Votes" category.

LAST TIME OUT – BALANCED SCORING, ENERGETIC DEFENSE PUSHES DIXIE STATE PAST HNU: Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) (Gresham, OR) missed one shot in the second half – a one-hand slam dunk attempt. He found redemption, twice, on the fast break.

The sophomore came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points and senior forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT) paced four players in double figures as Dixie State cruised to a 90-65 win over Holy Names on Saturday at the Burns Arena.

"Robbie, I love bringing him off the bench," DSU head coach Jon Judkins said. "He has that fire and he brings so much energy. He was hard on himself after the missed dunk, but he gave us big spark and played very well."

Nielson had a pair of slam dunks as part of a 5-of-9 night form the floor. He added five rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal in 20 minutes.

Groskreutz led all game scorers with 17 points for the Red Storm (16-4, 10-4 Pacific West). Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) had 11 points and DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV) added 10. All 12 uniformed players saw action and none of the starting five played more than 24 minutes against the Hawks (5-17, 4-10 PacWest).

Joshua Crum led Holy Names with 16 points, and Carl Dorn had 10. The Hawks have dropped three straight since beating Hawaii Pacific at home on Jan. 25.

The Red Storm built a 13-point halftime lead, 44-31, by closing out the opening 20 minutes with a 15-6 run. DSU put it away with a 28-12 spurt over the first 9:20 of the second half. As a team, Dixie State made 11-of-14 shots while a stifling defense held HNU to 5-of-17 from the floor over the same period. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) scored all seven of his points during the stretch.

"We worked on two things this week, our defense and playing together offensively by communicating," Judkins said. "Our goal was to keep them under 40 percent, we did. When we defend, we are a really good team. We were also finding the open guy and it led to 22 assists on open shots."

Dixie State connected on 30-of-53 shots for the game (56.6 percent), 5-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc (45.5 percent) and 25-of-34 from the stripe (73.5 percent). The Storm outrebounded HNU 38-28 and forced 14 turnovers.

The Hawks tried several offensive tactics to get back into the game, including a barrage of 3-point shots. Nineteen tries over the final 20 minutes only saw four shots fall hindering the Hawks in an attempt to cut as large as a 30-point lead for the home team.

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.

• BYU-HAWAII SEASIDERS

> BYU-Hawaii began the season 1-3 against tough West region competition. Since then, the Seasiders have won 10 of 16. Most recently, BYUH avenged an early season loss to Hawaii Pacific by downing the Sea Warriors at home, 99-85, on Feb. 7. At 11-9 overall and 9-5 in league play, the Seasiders currently sit in the five-seed in the conference's Race to San Diego – the 2014 Pacific West Conference Tournament. Away from Laie, the team sports a 4-4 record and has four of their last six games absent from the Cannon Activities Center.

> BYUH has four players averaging 10 or more points for the season – with shooter Pablo Coro and center DeAndre Medlock each leading the way at 12.7 PPG. Utah native Scott Friel sits just behind at 12.6 points per game. All three have stepped up their play in conference action: Coro (15.1), Medlock (13.0), Friel (13.9). At 6-ffot-5, Friel leads the Seasiders with 7.3 rebounds per game, followed by the 6-foot-10 Medlock. Point guard Robbie Mitchell ranks among one of the PacWest's best at 5.1 assists per game. BYUH is the highest scoring team in the league at 87.6 points per game.

> Ken Wagner is no stranger to St. George and Dixie State. He was the head coach for five seasons of the Rebels during their junior college days, compiling a 126-36 record. He has coached at every level: high school (Lehi), junior college (Dixie) and the NCAA (BYUH). Wagner has patrolled the benches for the Seasiders over the last 22 years and has seen great teams/players go through the program. He has taken BYU-Hawaii to the NCAA Tournament ten times with the 2011 squad finishing as national runner-up. Overall, Wagner has 632 career coaching victories.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
11/19/06 BYU-Hawaii 78, Dixie State 72
1/23/08   BYU-Hawaii 87, Dixie State 79
1/24/08   Dixie State 85, BYU-Hawaii 70
2/20/08   BYU-Hawaii 85, Dixie State 68
2/2/09      BYU-Hawaii 100, Dixie State 79
2/20/09   BYU-Hawaii 92, Dixie State 77
1/7/10      Dixie State 86, BYU-Hawaii 78
2/18/10   BYU-Hawaii 91, Dixie State 74
1/27/11   BYU-Hawaii 83, Dixie State 61
2/26/11   Dixie State 99, BYU-Hawaii 96 (2OT)
3/14/11   BYU-Hawaii 79, Dixie State 73
2/4/12      Dixie State 70, BYU-Hawaii 69
2/22/12   Dixie State 77, BYU-Hawaii 73 (OT)
2/23/13   BYU-Hawaii 80, Dixie State 75
3/8/13      Dixie State 71, BYU-Hawaii 59

LAST TIME vs. BYHU, 2013 PWC TOURNEY: Sophomore guard DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) started for the third time this season, but looked like a seasoned veteran Friday night in the Pacific West Conference Tournament semifinals against BYU-Hawaii.

Thompson led four Dixie State University players in double figures with 18 points to earn a redemption win over the Seasiders, 71-59. The victory propels the Red Storm (21-6) into the PacWest Championship game against Chaminade.

Junior center Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) went 5-of-7 from the floor for 14 points while junior point guard Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) chipped in 10 points and had six assists.

BYU-Hawaii (16-12) sprinted out of the gates behind hot shooting from behind the arc. Pablo Coro hit two early 3-pointers to give the Seasiders a 13-5 advantage. Thompson answered with a three ball at the 9:20 for a 20-18 Storm lead.

DSU took a seven-point lead with 6:11 to play on a Payne lay-in, but BYUH would not back down. They closed the half on a 15-6 run to lead at the halftime break, 37-31.

The Storm opened the second half on a 16-6 run and took back the lead with consecutive lay-ups from Larson and Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland).

BYUH tied the game at 51-51 at the 10:15 mark. Dixie State responded with a definitive 10-0 run over the next six minutes. Payne sparked the rally with a driving lay-in. Robbins provided the next four points with an alley-oop layup and a two-handed slam. Two free throws each from Thompson and Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) finished the rally.

DSU's stifling defense held the Seasiders to 22 percent shooting in the second half, including 1-of-13 from distance.

The Storm made 50 percent of their shots, 23-of-46, on the night and won the battle of the boards 41-36.

Coro led BYUH with 15 points. Robbie Mitchell and Junior Ale each added 10 points for the Seasiders.

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