OPENING TIP: After a long six-game road swing, the Dixie State (4-4/1-1 PacWest) opens the home portion of its 2015-16 Pacific West Conference slate this Saturday as the Storm welcomes Azusa Pacific (7-3/1-1 PacWest) to the Burns Arena for a 3:30 p.m. (MT) tip-off. DSU split the first two games of its PacWest schedule on the road a couple weeks back, dropping the conference opener at then #10/17 California Baptist, 88-77 on Dec. 3, followed by a thrilling 66-65 victory at Point Loma on Dec. 5. The Storm also played host to Bristol University in an exhibition game this past Dec. 10, with DSU easily handling the Bears by a 78-50 count.

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: Dixie State owns a 5-1 series edge vs. Azusa Pacific, having won the first five meeting with the Cougars overall, including all three previous meetings inside the Burns Arena, before APU broke through with a 72-69 triumph at Azusa last January 24.

COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 471-222 career record) is his 11th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 188-95 overall record, including a 168-84 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era, and a 108-32 record in PacWest play. 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 wrapped up the non-conference portion of its 2015-16 slate with a 3-3 overall mark. Now in its 10th-season of four-year competition, Dixie State has played to a 54-49 (.524) overall record against non-PacWest opponents, including a 43-35 mark (.551) 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. DSU road sweep at MSUB also moved the Storm to 21-12 all-time against members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

OGDEN JR. NAMED PACWEST CO-DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Senior forward Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) was named Pacific West Conference co-Defender of the Week this past Dec. 7, after leading the team to a split at CBU and Point Loma. Ogden Jr. averaged 15.0 points and 14.0 rebounds in the two games. He scored a season-high 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting with 11 rebounds, two assists and a block in the loss at CBU. Ogden Jr. followed that up with 12 points and a career-high 17 boards, to go with three blocks and an assist, in the Storm's win at PLNU. Ogden Jr. has posted a double-double in three of his last four outings overall.

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START: Dixie State started PacWest play on the road for the third-straight season when the Storm took to the court at CBU Dec. 3. Despite the loss, Dixie State is 6-3 all-time in PacWest openers and has won six of its last eight overall. Prior to the CBU setback, the last time Dixie State lost a conference road opener was at Fresno Pacific, 82-80, during the 2012-13 season. 
Dixie State enters Saturday's game against APU with a 7-1 mark all-time in PacWest home openers and has won three-straight home league openers at the Burns. The last time the Storm dropped a conference home opener was during the 2010-11 season, when former PacWest member Grand Canyon handed DSU a 71-68 loss (1/8/11). ??

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 85-66 away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including a 3-3 mark this season. Overall, the Storm has played to a 65-51 record in true road games, and a 20-15 mark in neutral site games over Judkins' tenure. 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. 
 
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE x 4: Dixie State has had four players score in double figures in six of its first eight games to open the season, including four of its last five outings. However the Storm has only played to a 3-3 overall record in those six contests. 

The last time DSU had a stretch like this was during the 2013-14 season, when the Storm had at least four players score in double figures in seven of their first eight games, including three games with five players scoring at least 10 points, all of which resulted in wins as Dixie State opened that campaign 11-0. ??

FROM WAY DOWN TOWN....BANG!: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 34-straight games, including all eight games this season, and in 157 of its last 158 games overall. In fact in DSU's Division II era, the Storm has recorded at least one 3-pointer in 251 of the program's 254 games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.

Last season the Storm saw its program-best 127-game streak halted at home vs. Western Oregon (11/25/14) in the second game of the year. That streak encompassed four full seasons and the final 13 games of the 2009-10 campaign. The other two times DSU failed to connect from the perimeter happened on the road at Academy of Art (1/16/10) and at Notre Dame de Namur (2/2/08) during the program's first year of PacWest play.

Dixie State has also reached double-figures in made 3-pointers 11 times, including a school-record 13 treys at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008. The last time hit for 10 or more 3-pointers was at home vs. BYU-Hawai'i on Feb. 11, 2014. ??

FOR STARTERS: Senior forward Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) has scored in double figures in six of eight games this season and has led the team in rebounding in five of eight outings ... notched his first double-double of the year with 10 points and 11 rebounds vs. UAF ... tallied 10 points, six boards, two assists and two blocks in the win at MSUB ... scored a season-high 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting with 11 boards and two assists at CBU ... recorded his third double-double in four games with 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds to go with three blocks in the win at Point Loma ... his 17 rebounds tied for the third-best single-game total in school history (17, Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) vs. Academy of Art 2/27/10).

Junior forward Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) has scored in double figures in four of eight games and has had 10-plus rebounds in three games ... scored 13 points with six rebounds, a block and an assist vs. UAF ... was plagued by foul trouble at MSUB and finished with four points and four rebounds in 17 minutes ... tallied 11 points with seven rebounds and four assists at CBU ... recorded his first double-double of the year with a career-high 14 points and 12 boards at Point Loma.

Sophomore guard Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) has scored in double figures in all eight games this season and has led team in scoring four times and assists five times ... tallied 13 points with five rebounds and three assists vs. UAF ... followed that up with a career-high 28 points, including 16 first half points, with a game-high six assists and three boards at MSUB ... missed three total shots on the night vs. the Yellowjackets, going 11-of-14 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe ... poured in 19 points, including 9-of-12 at the line, to go with five rebounds at CBU ... led four DSU players in double figures with 16 points in the win at Point Loma.

Senior point guard Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) has scored in double figures in six of DSU's eight games this season ... finished with four points with five boards, two assists and two steal vs. UAF ... bounced back with 14 points with three treys and two rebounds at MSUB ... hit for 10 points and two dimes in 31 minutes at CBU ... played a season-high 37 minutes and wound up with 12 points, four boards and four assists at Point Loma.

Senior forward Robbie Nielson (Gresham, Ore./Barlow HS) has led the team in steals in six of eight games this year ... had eight points, five boards and three steals in 22 minutes vs. UAF ... just missed his first double-double of the year with nine points and a career-high tying eight rebounds at MSUB ... returned to the starting line-up at California Baptist and responded with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in 23 minutes ... tallied four points with a rebound, one steal and one block in the win at Point Loma.

OFF THE BENCH: Sophomore guard Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) has reached double-figures in points three times this season ... poured in a career-high 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 9-of-9 from the line with five boards, two assists and two steals vs. UAF ... had eight points and five rebounds at MSUB ... tallied seven points on a trey and 4-of-4 from the line with two assists at CBU ... DNP at Point Loma (injury) ... sophomore forward Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) played but did not score vs. UAF ... finished with two points and two rebounds at MSUB ... had two points, one rebound and an assist in 16 minutes at CBU ... pulled down a career-high eight boards with two points and a steal at Point Loma ... freshman Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) hit for four points and three rebounds in a career-high 22 minutes at Point Loma ... sophomore Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) made the most of his "crunch-time" minutes at Point Loma as he scored his only basket, which proved to be the game-winning hoop, with 4.3 seconds left to lift DSU to the win.

ABOUT THE AZUSA PACIFIC "COUGARS": Azusa Pacific enters Saturday's contest with a 7-3 overall record, though the Cougars have split their last four games after opening the year 5-1. Over its current stretch, APU posted a home win over preseason PacWest favorite California Baptist (73-72 on Dec. 5) and a neutral-site triumph over Montana State Billings (82-63 on Dec. 11), which are book-ended with road losses at Point Loma (86-92 OT on Dec. 3) and most recently at Seattle Pacific (54-71 on Dec. 12).

The Cougars feature a balanced offensive attack with eight players averaging above or near 8.0 points a game, led by junior forward Joey Schreiber at 10.7 ppg off the bench, including a career-high 24 points in APU's win over MSU-Billings. As a team, Azusa Pacific is shooting 45.1 percent from the floor, including a 34.6 percent clip from the perimeter, and own a +3.1 rebounding margin.

HEAD COACH JON JUDKINS ON THE STORM: "It's going to be a good game, Azusa is really good. Watching them on tape - the win they had over Cal Baptist was a big win for them, especially coming off a loss at Point Loma. I think this year any team can beat anybody and we got to be ready to play. It's hard this week with finals and we also realize that in the back of their minds our players are thinking they get a break for a while. We are doing everything we can to focus on [Azusa]. Azusa is solid, they run some of the same stuff they ran last year, but to me they execute better. We've got really be ready to play and defend a lot of their ball screens and stuff they like to run"

UP NEXT: After a 16-day break between games for the holidays, Dixie State will ring in 2016 with a home date against PacWest foe Chaminade on Tuesday, January 5, at 7:30 p.m., in the Burns Arena.