OPENING TIP: After playing four of its first six Pacific West Conference games on the road, Dixie State (6-6/3-3 PacWest) opens a stretch that sees the Storm play seven of its next 10 league games at home. The 10-game stretch begins this Thursday, January 14, as DSU welcomes in Notre Dame de Namur (1-12/0-6 PacWest) to the Burns Arena at 7:30 p.m. (MT). Then on Monday, Jan. 18, the Storm will play host to Point Loma (7-6/3-4 PacWest) in a special afternoon game at 4:30 p.m. (MT), as part of the campus' observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

DSU Athletics is also teaming up with the Dixie State Multicultural/Diversity Center for a non-perishable food drive prior to the PLNU game to benefit the University's Student Food Pantry. Fans who bring a non-perishable food item will receive free admission to both DSU men's and women's basketball (2 p.m. vs. PLNU) games and a free t-shirt (while supplies last).

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State is coming off a split of a pair of PacWest road games last weekend in southern California. DSU opened the trip with a tough 69-63 loss at Azusa Pacific last Thursday, before rebounding for a thrilling 81-80 double-overtime win at then #20 Concordia Saturday night in Irvine to even its league mark at 3-3.

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, and tape-delay rebroadcasts air throughout the following week. In addition, live-streaming audio and video (home games only - fee required) are available on the internet at www.southernutahlive.com.

THE SERIES: Dixie State owns a 15-3 series lead over Notre Dame de Namur and has won 14-straight vs. the Argonauts after losing three of the first four meetings overall. The Storm is 7-1 all-time against NDNU in the Burns Arena and has not lost to Argos at home since the first-ever meeting between the two schools back on Feb. 3, 2007 (L, 63-64).?

DSU is 6-1 all-time against Point Loma and has won four-straight in the series overall, including a hard-fought 65-64 decision the last time these two teams met in San Diego back on Dec. 5. The Storm is undefeated at 3-0 vs. the Sea Lions inside the Burns Arena.

COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 474-225 career record) is his 11th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 190-97 overall record, including a 170-86 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era, and a 110-34 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.

JUDKINS TO COACH IN 700TH-CAREER GAME THURSDAY: When the Storm take the court Thursday vs. NDNU, Head Coach Jon Judkins will be on the bench for his 700th-career game as a head coach. Judkins has officially coached in 287 games in his DSU tenure, and in another 412 games in his 12 seasons at Snow College. ?Judkins is also inching closer to a pair of other career coaching milestones as the Storm enters play this week. He begins the week 10 wins shy of 200 career victories at Dixie State, and he is 13 games away from reaching 300 career games on the DSU bench, a feat he will reach in the Storm's road finale at Fresno Pacific this Feb. 24.

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.

HOME SWEET HOME: Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to an 85-20 (.809) record inside the Burns Arena under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including a 2-2 mark this season. 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 86-67 (.562) away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including a 4-4 mark this season. Overall, the Storm has played to a 66-52 record (.559) in true road games, and a 20-15 mark (.571) 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.

After splitting its first four PacWest road games, including a split last week at APU (L) and at Concordia (W), Dixie State owns a 48-25 (.657) road record in its eight-plus seasons of league membership. The Storm has posted a winning conference road mark in six-straight seasons and has reached the seven-win plateau in four of their last five campaigns overall.

FREE BASKETBALL: Last Saturday's win at Concordia was just the 17th overtime game in Dixie State's near 10 years of NCAA Division II competition (258 games). With the win the Storm improved to 10-7 all-time in overtime games, having won six of their last seven OT games overall dating back to the 2013-14 season, when DSU went 4-0 in overtime affairs.?Prior to the Concordia game, DSU had played in only two double-overtime games in its four-year era, both of which also came on the road and in consecutive PacWest games at BYU-Hawai'i (W, 99-96 – 2/26/11) and at Hawai'i Pacific (L, 88-93 – 2/28/11) during the 2010-11 season.

FROM WAY DOWN TOWN....BANG!: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 38-straight games, including all 12 games this season, and in 161 of its last 162 games overall. In fact in DSU's Division II era, the Storm has recorded at least one 3-pointer in 255 of the program's 258 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.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE x 4: Dixie State has had four players score in double figures in seven of its first 12 games this season, including five of the club's last nine outings overall. However the Storm has only played to a 4-3 record when four or more players score at least 10 points in a game.

SEEING DOUBLE: Senior forward Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) recorded his team-leading fifth double-double of the year in the win at Concordia last Saturday. Ogden Jr. scored a career-high 27 points to go with a game-high 15 rebounds. He has averaged a double-double at 18.0 points and 12.3 rebounds over his past three games, including a 22-point, 16-rebound effort in the home win over Chaminade Jan. 5. ?Ogden Jr. has scored in double figures in eight of 12 games this season and has scored 20 or more points twice. In addition, he has recorded 10 or more rebounds in six games overall, including a career-high 17 boards in the win at Point Loma Dec. 5. Ogden Jr. enters the week 13 rebounds shy of moving into sixth-place on DSU's career rebounding list (306), while his 7.6 career rpg average is currently third-best all-time in DSU's NCAA era.

SEEING DOUBLE x 2: Not to be outdone, sophomore guard Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) has scored in double figures in a team-high 11 of 12 games this season and has tallied 20 or more points a team-best four times, including a game-high tying (with Ogden Jr.) 27 points at Concordia last Saturday. Hill, who also scored a career-best 28 points in DSU's win at MSU Billings back in November, is the team's top scorer at 17.2 ppg, and has led or co-led the team in scoring in six of 12 games this year. ??

SEEING DOUBLE x 3: In all three Storm players have posted double-doubles, with junior forward Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) recording the feat with 14 points and 12 rebounds at Point Loma (12/5), and senior PG Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) tallied 10 points and a career-high tying 10 assists vs. APU (12/19).

ALL-CENTURY MARKS: Dixie State senior guards Robbie Nielson (Gresham, Ore./Barlow HS) and Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) are inching closer to several career milestones. Nielson, who has led or co-led the team in steals in eight of 12 games this year, enters this week two steals shy of becoming just the third player in DSU's four-year history to join the 100-steal club, joining former players Ryan Sanchez (142, 2006-09) and McKay Massey (111, 2009-13) on the career-list. Nielson (253) is also seven rebounds away from cracking the top-10 on DSU's career rebounding list.

Sawyer begins the week needing four 3-pointers to become just the fourth DSU player with 100 career treys. Former Storm standouts Tom Whitehead (145, 2008-11), DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (130, 2011-15) and Massey (111, 2009-13) are the only players ahead of Sawyer on that career list. Sawyer also stands two assists away of moving into fourth place on the career assists list (222), and after connecting on six shot attempts last week, he has now cracked the school's top-10 list in career FG makes with 211, which is ninth-best all-time.

TEAM NOTES: After missing DSU's last two games of the 2015 calendar year (at PLNU/vs. APU) due to injury, sophomore guard Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) has averaged 11.3 ppg off the bench, including a 16-point effort in DSU's win over Chaminade (1/5) and 12 points at APU (1/7) ... junior forward Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) has scored in double figures in six of 12 games, including 11 points at APU (1/5) and a career-high 25 points vs. APU (12/19), and has had 10-plus rebounds in three games ... sophomore forward Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) played in a career-high 27 minutes in the win at Concordia (1/9) and responded with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting with eight rebounds.

ABOUT THE NDNU "ARGONAUTS": Notre Dame de Namur (1-12/0-6 PacWest) enters Thursday's game in search of its first PacWest victory, while the team's lone win of the year came in a non-conference home tilt vs. Pacific Union (74-65) on New Year's Eve. Junior center Korey Serna is the Argonaut's top scorer and rebounder at 9.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

ABOUT THE POINT LOMA "SEA LIONS": Point Loma (7-6/3-4 PacWest), which hosts Concordia (1/13) and Holy Names (1/16) before playing at DSU Monday, has won two of its last three heading into play this week. The Sea Lions boast four players averaging double figures, led by freshman point guard Josh Rodriguez at 15.8 points to go with 6.8 assists per game, while senior forward Sam Okhotin is averaging 15.5 points per outing.

UP NEXT: Dixie State makes its annual Hawaiian Island excursion next week, beginning the trip on the Big Island to face Hawai'i Hilo on Thursday, Jan. 21. DSU will also play at Chaminade on Saturday, Jan. 23, before closing the trip at BYU-Hawai'i on Tuesday, Jan. 26