OPENING TIP: Dixie State's men's basketball team (1-3/0-0 PacWest) continues its season-long six-game road swing this holiday weekend as the Storm travels to Big Sky Country for its final two non-conference games of the regular season at the Montana State Billings Thanksgiving Tournament. The Storm will open play Friday against Alaska Fairbanks (4-0) Friday at 3 p.m. (MT), followed by a match-up against the host Yellowjackets (2-2) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be played in the Alterowitz Gymnasium (2,330) on the MSUB campus.

DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State home and away games will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, with DSU Assistant Media Relations Coordinator Keric Seegmiller calling the play-by-play action, along with Devin Dixon providing color analysis for all home games. All DSU home games are also televised live on KCEC-TV (TDS Cable Channel 22) with a simulcast feed from ESPN Radio, with tape-delay rebroadcasts throughout the following week. In addition live-streaming audio and video (home games only) are available on the internet at www.southernutahlive.com.

THE SERIES: Friday's game vs. Alaska Fairbanks will be the first-ever meeting between the Storm and Nanooks on the basketball court. Meanwhile, DSU is 6-1 all-time vs. MSUB and has won five-straight overall vs. the Yellowjackets, including a 78-56 win last season in the Burns Arena. Dixie State is 2-1 against MSUB in Billings, having won two-straight at Alterowitz Gymnasium, 90-77 in 2012 and 73-69 (OT) in 2010. The lone Yellowjacket win in the series came in Billings in 2009 by a 63-60 count.

COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 469-222 career record) is his 11th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 185-94 overall record, including a 165-83 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era. Last season Judkins led the Storm to a 20-8 record and the program's fifth Pacific West title in six years with a 17-3 league mark. In addition, he guided DSU to its sixth-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to his arrival at Dixie State, Judkins served as head coach at Snow College for 12 season and posted a 284-128 overall record. He led the Badgers to a pair of Scenic West Athletic Conference titles in 1999 and 2000, which earned him SWAC Coach of the Year honors. Judkins played for one season at Dixie State before transferring to Utah State, where he became the first (and only) Aggie to post a triple-double. During the 1987-88 season, he helped lead the Aggies to the PCAA title and an NCAA Tournament bid. Judkins is joined on the DSU bench by Kasey Winters (Dixie State, 2008), who is in his third season as assistant coach, and Kevin Williamson (University of Great Falls, 2007) who is in his first season on the Storm sideline.

STORM PICKED THIRD IN THE PACWEST: Dixie State was picked to finish third in the 2015-16 Pacific West Conference preseason coaches' poll. California Baptist received 13 first place votes and 195 total points in being tabbed as the PacWest preseason favorite. BYU-Hawai'i picked up one first place vote to narrowly edge Dixie State for second, 169-166, followed by Azusa Pacific (146) in fourth, Chaminade (130) in fifth, Hawai'i Pacific in sixth (123) and Point Loma (120) in seventh to round out the top-half of the poll.

Dixie State senior point guard Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) was named to the PacWest Preseason all-Conference team, while CBU senior guard Gelaun Wheelwright was named the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year.

AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: Dixie State played its 100th non-conference game as an NCAA Division II school last Friday at Sonoma State (L, 64-72). Now in its 10th-season of four-year competition, Dixie State has played to a 52-49 (.515) overall record against non-PacWest opponents, including a 41-35 mark (.539) since the 2007-08 season, the first year the Storm competed in the PacWest. In DSU's first season of four-year competition in 2006-07, Dixie State recorded an 11-14 record.

DSU has posted five winning non-conference records in its past seven seasons, including a program-best 6-1 mark in 2013-14, and an 8-3 record in 2010-11. Last year the Storm went 3-4 against non-PacWest teams, and DSU enters the final two non-conference games this season with a 1-3 mark. 

AGAINST THE GNAC/CCAC: DSU's home split against Concordia (OR) and Seattle Pacific to open the season (Nov. 13-14) moved the Storm to 19-12 all-time against members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). Those two games were the first of four vs. GNAC schools as the Storm will face two more members of the GNAC in Alaska Fairbanks and MSUB.

On the flipside, DSU fell to 6-10 against members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schools following its losses at Sonoma State and vs. San Francisco State.

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START: With its win vs. Concordia (OR) Nov. 13, Dixie State improved to 6-4 all-time in season openers during the program's Division II era. In fact, DSU has now won four-straight season openers and six of its last seven overall. In home openers only, Dixie State is 8-2 in its previous 10 Burns Arena debuts as a four-year program.

HOME SWEET HOME: Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to an 84-19 (.815) record inside the Burns Arena under head coach Jon Judkins. The Storm has posted six 10-plus win seasons over that span, including a perfect 12-0 record in 2009-10, and an 11-1 mark last season.

HOME SWEET HOME, PART 2: For the fifth-straight year, Dixie State finished a season ranked in the top-five nationally in home attendance. In 2014-15, DSU recorded the fifth-highest home attendance average in Division II at 2,607 fans per game for 12 home dates last season. In all, a total of 31,286 fans attended a DSU game in the Burns Arena.

Since the 2008-09 season, Dixie State has been ranked in the top-15 in Division II in attendance, including being ranked #2-overall in 2012-13 and 2013-14, and #3 in the country after the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. DSU was also ranked ninth in 2009-10, and 14th in 2008-09. Dixie State also finished fifth among Utah's other NCAA (Division I) members in attendance in 2014-15, ranking only behind Brigham Young (16,125), Utah (12,101), Utah State (9,158) and Weber State (6,829) in average attendance.

HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: Dixie State is now 82-65 away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including a 63-50 record in road games, and a 19-15 mark in neutral site games. DSU has won eight or more games away from home in six-straight seasons, and in seven of its nine previous campaigns overall, including a program-best 15-5 record (10-2 in road contests) in 2010-11.

Last Friday's game at Sonoma State marked just the second time in the last six seasons that Dixie State has opened the away portion of its schedule as a true road team. The previous two seasons, and five of its last six overall, the Storm had started their non-Burns Arena slate on a neutral court. DSU saw its modest two-game winning streak snapped in the loss at Sonoma, and the Storm fell 4-6 in its previous 10 true road openers overall in its D-II history.

FOR STARTERS: Senior forward Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) averaged 10.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in opening his senior campaign last weekend ... pulled down nine rebounds and scored five points in the opener vs. CUO, and followed that up with 15 points and six boards along with two steals and two blocks vs. SPU ... grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds to go with nine points, one assist and a block at SSU ... led four players in double figures with 16 points, including 8-of-8 from the line, with six boards and two blocks vs. SFSU.

Senior forward Robbie Nielson (Gresham, Ore./Barlow HS) had his best season-opening game in his four-year DSU career in the opener vs. CUO, going for 15 points and a career-high eight rebounds in the win ... battled foul trouble against SPU and played just 13 minutes with four points and one rebound ... tallied two points and four boards at SSU ... came off the bench to score eight points with four rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes vs. SFSU.

Junior forward Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) just missed his first collegiate double-double with a game and career-high 14 rebounds and nine points in the win over CUO ... he also three assists and a steal vs. the Cavaliers ... hit on 3-of-5 shooting to finish with 10 points and four caroms vs. SPU ... pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, eight on the offensive glass, with seven points at SSU ... battled foul trouble and finished with seven points and two boards vs. SFSU.

Sophomore guard Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) opened his season with a bang as he went for 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting, a career-high nine assists, three rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes vs. CUO ... he followed that up with a career-high 20 points to lead four players in double figures in the loss vs. SPU ... sparked a furious second half rally at Sonoma State with eight-straight points, finished with 16 points with six rebounds and four dimes ... hit 4-of-6 shots for 11 points with six assists and five boards vs. SFSU.

Senior point guard Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three 3-pointers and three assists in the win over CUO ... he scored eight of his 11 points in the second half to help spark a furious rally vs. SPU, also dished out four assists with three boards and two steals ... had three points and two assists at SSU ... tallied 13 points with two rebounds and an assist vs SFSU.

OFF THE BENCH: Sophomore point guard Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) tallied nine points, four rebounds and two assists in a season-high 20 minutes vs. SPU ... he earned all-tournament honors at Sonoma State as he averaged 16.5 points and shot 44.4 percent from the floor (50.0 from 3pt) in the two games ... led all scorers with a career-high 19 points - all in the second half - at SSU as he and Hill led a 26-5 Storm run, accounting for 12 of those points ... got his first collegiate start vs. SFSU and responded with 14 points and two assists.

Sophomore forward Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) made the most of his season debut in the opener vs. CUO and he hit 5-of-8 shots for 13 points (two off of his career-high) with three rebounds and three assists ... tallied seven points and one rebound in 16 minutes at SSU ... had four points and four boards in 19 minutes vs. SFSU.

ABOUT THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: Alaska Fairbanks enters Friday's game with a perfect 4-0 record on the young season, with two of those wins coming against PacWest opponents Hawai'i Pacific (96-77) and Chaminade (112-102). The Nanooks are averaging 94.8 ppg and are shooting nearly 52 percent from the floor. Senior forward Travante Williams leads three Nanooks in double figures at 20.3 ppg, while junior forward Bangaly Kaba (15.8 ppg) and senior guard Joe Slocum (11.8 ppg) also help pace the UAF offense. 

ABOUT THE MSU BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS: Montana State Billings (2-2), which plays PacWest member Dominican University in Friday's other tourney game, opens its home slate this weekend after splitting its first four games on the road to begin the season. The Yellowjackets have won two-straight with road wins at Black Hills State (82-80) and at the University of Mary (98-92) earlier in the week. MSUB averages 74.0 ppg, led by junior guard Marc Matthews, who is scoring at a 20.5 ppg clip, including 24 points at BHSU and 18 at Cal State East (11/14).

HEAD COACH JON JUDKINS ON THE STORM: "We got to start playing. I thought we played about 35 out of the 40 minutes our last game out [vs. SFSU] and we just let one slip away. We're competing and getting better. Our guys are pretty anxious to get back out there, they know they are better than what they showed. The effort's got to be there.

"[Alaska Fairbanks] is a really good team. They're athletic as can be and we just got to go out and play our game. Our goal is to go up there and get two wins, one at a time, and it would be a good way to jump into our conference games next weekend."

UP NEXT: Dixie State will wrap up its road swing next weekend as the Storm opens PacWest conference play at nationally-ranked and preseason conference favorite California Baptist on Thursday, Dec. 3, in Riverside. Then DSU will head further south the San Diego for a league game at Point Loma on Saturday, Dec. 5.