Dixie State (18-6, 15-3 PacWest) plays at Fresno Pacific (9-16, 5-13) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (PT)/5:30 p.m. (MT) in a PacWest contest at the FPU Special Events Center. The Storm has won seven straight and 11 of its last 12 games. Dixie State is currently tied for first place in the PacWest standings with Azusa Pacific. Last week, Dixie State swept three games from Chaminade, Hawai'i Hilo and Hawai'i Pacific at home.

LISTEN AND WATCH THE STORM LIVE
DSU's game this Saturday at Fresno Pacific will be broadcast live on the Storm Basketball Network on ESPN 106.1 FM, the flagship home of Dixie State Athletics, and online through SouthernUtahLive.com's free audio feed. The pregame show kicks off at 10 minutes prior to tip off. John Potter (@PotterSez) will have the call, live from Fresno. Fans can also follow the live stats by clicking the link on the DSU MBB schedule page.

WHAT'S NEXT
With just two regular-season games remaining, the Red Storm hit the road this week to face FPU. Dixie State is set to close its regular-season schedule at home on Feb. 28 against Point Loma. A trip to the Pacific West Conference Tournament in Irvine, Calif. has already been confirmed for DSU. The three-day event, hosted by Concordia-Irvine, begins Thursday, March 5 with quarterfinal action. The semifinals will be on Friday, March 6, with the championship on Saturday, March 7 at the CU Arena. 

PACWEST DOMINATING THE REGION
The NCAA released the first of three regional rankings on Wednesday. Dixie State sits in the sixth spot while five Pacific West Conference schools occupy the top eight spots. If the NCAA West Regional began today, Azusa Pacific would host and be the top seed. California Baptist, BYU-Hawaii, DSU and Point Loma would also have tickets to the dance. Two schools from the CCAA (Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State) and one from the GNAC (Western Oregon) would round out the field of eight. Just outside the current field is UC San Diego and Seattle Pacific. Dixie State is looking for its sixth consecutive trip to the West Regional.

#THEROADTOIRVINE
Dixie State, Azusa Pacific, and California Baptist all won three-straight games this past week over visiting teams from Hawaii. Dixie and APU are tied for the lead with CBU just a half game behind. Dixie currently holds the tiebreaker, but that could change in the next two weeks. It's very possible we could see co-champions or even tri-champions. BYU-Hawaii fell from first to fourth after a disappointing weekend with three losses to APU, Point Loma, and CBU. Point Loma's win over BYU-Hawaii was notable because the Sea Lions scored the final 13 points of the game in coming back from a 10-point deficit in the final minutes. Point Loma currently holds the number five position. All of the top five men's teams have clinched tournament berths. The sixth spot is very much up for grabs. Hawai'i Pacific, who upset Point Loma on Thursday night, is a half game behind Dominican, who toppled its Bay Area rivals this past week. The Sharks and Penguins will have an epic battle on Monday, Feb. 24 in Honolulu---a game that will likely decide that final berth.

MASTER OF DEFENSE
Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) averaged 3.5 steals last week to claim a share of the PacWest Defensive Player of the Week award. Nielson had four steals in Dixie State's win over Chaminade and three more steals in the win over Hawai'i Hilo. Nielson ranks seventh in the PacWest in steals (1.6 spg).

THOMPSON FEATURED IN LOCAL MEDIA
"Nothing is impossible: You have your dream, so go and chase it. Those are the words Dixie State University basketball player DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) has held onto throughout his life, rising from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs." Those words began a great feature article on the DSU senior guard in a Sunday feature in The Spectrum, written by Justin Giles. Read the full article here.

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. Senior forward/center Zach Robbins (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 183-90 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.