OPENING TIP: Dixie State (0-2/0-0 PacWest) returns to action this weekend as the Trailblazers head back out on road to play in the 2016 Seattle Pacific/Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic in Seattle, Wash. DSU will open the tourney against Central Washington (2-0) on Friday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. (PT), followed by a date vs. the host Falcons (2-0) on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 3 p.m. (PT).
In addition to the DSU games, 17th-ranked Minnesota State will play SPU Friday at 4:30 p.m. (PT), and CWU on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (PT).
WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State enters this week's action looking to rebound from a tough opening weekend at the 2016 CCAA/PacWest Challenge last weekend in San Diego. DSU began the tourney with a 62-55 loss to host UC San Diego Nov. 11, before dropping an 82-74 decision to Cal Poly Pomona Nov. 12.
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 CWU will be the fourth meeting between the Trailblazers and the Wildcats on the hardwood and it will be the third time the two sides will have played on a neutral court. Dixie State owns a 3-0 series lead vs. CWU, including a 106-89 victory in the last meeting which was also played in Seattle (11/15/13). DSU also claimed a 78-75 triumph during the 2009-10 season (11/27/09; Nampa, Idaho) and a 74-64 win the first match-up played in the Burns Arena on Dec. 16, 2008.
Dixie State is 3-6 all-time vs. Seattle Pacific, with the Falcons having won four of the last five meetings between the two teams, which includes an 80-74 win in St. George last season. In an odd twist in the series, DSU is 0-3 all-time vs. SPU at home, while two of the Trailblazers' three wins in the series have come on the road in Seattle, including a 90-88 overtime win (11/16/13) in the 2013-14 season. DSU and SPU have met twice at the NCAA West Regionals, with the Trailblazers claiming a 75-73 win in 2011 (DSU's "Sweet 16" season), while the Falcons eliminated Dixie State in the first round in 2012, 70-68.
REGIONAL RANKINGS: Dixie State's two opening weekend losses dropped the Trailblazers out of the D2SIDA West Region rankings heading into play this week. Meanwhile, Central Washington is ranked No. 8 and Seattle Pacific is No. 6, while PacWest members California Baptist (No. 1-overall), Azusa Pacific (No. 7) and Chaminade (No. 9) are also listed in this week's poll.
COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year
Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 486-231 career record) begins his 12th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 202-103 overall record, including a 182-91 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era, and a 122-36 record in PacWest play.
Last season, Judkins led Dixie State to an 18-9 overall record and a 15-5 PacWest mark, which was good for a t-first place finish in the league standings. In 2014-15, Judkins led DSU to a 20-8 record, including the program's fifth Pacific West title in six years with a 17-3 league mark, and DSU's sixth 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 bench by former DSU player
Kasey Winters (Dixie State, 2008), who begins his fourth season as assistant coach, and
Kevin Williamson (University of Great Falls, 2007) who starts his second season on the Trailblazer sideline.
TRAILBLAZERS PICKED THIRD IN THE PACWEST: Dixie State was picked to finish third in the 2016-17 Pacific West Conference preseason coaches' poll released on October 26. Defending PacWest tournament champion California Baptist received six first place votes and 179 total points in being tabbed as the PacWest preseason favorite, while defending regular-season champ Azusa Pacific collected five first-place nods to place second with 171 points.
DSU did not received a first-place vote in taking third with 161 points, followed by Concordia-Irvine (156, one first place vote) in fourth, Point Loma (140, one first place vote) in fifth, Chaminade (129) in sixth and Hawai'i Pacific (118) in seventh to round out the top-half of the poll.
Dixie State junior guard
Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) was named to the PacWest Preseason all-Conference team, while CBU senior guard Michael Smith was named the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year.
AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: With the two losses to open the season last weekend, Dixie State now owns a 54-51 (.514) overall record against non-PacWest opponents, which includes a 3-3 mark last season, and a 43-37 record (.537) since the 2007-08 season, the first year the Trailblazers 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.
AGAINST THE CCAA/GNAC: Following the two losses in last weekend's CCAA/PacWest Challenge, Dixie State fell to 6-12 all-time against California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schools.
On the flipside, the Trailblazers are 32-12 all-time against current members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, which includes CWU and SPU as members.
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START....: Dixie State is now 6-5 all-time in season openers during the program's Division II era following its loss to UCSD, which snapped DSU's streak of four-straight season-opening wins. Despite the loss, the Trailblazers have won six of their last eight season openers overall, while the road opener at UCSD marked the first time in the seven previous seasons that the Trailblazers did not open a season inside the Burns Arena.
HOME SWEET HOME: Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 92-21 (.814) record inside the Burns Arena under Head Coach
Jon Judkins, and 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.
Last season Dixie State clinched its ninth-straight home winning record after DSU won its final six home games to finish with a 9-3 mark.
HOME SWEET HOME, PART 2: For the sixth-straight year, Dixie State finished a season ranked in the top-six nationally in home attendance. In 2015-16, DSU recorded the sixth-highest home attendance average in Division II at 2,190 fans per game for 12 home dates last season, which was also tops in the PacWest Conference. In all, a total of 26,284 fans attended a DSU game inside the Burns Arena.
Since the 2008-09 season, Dixie State has been annually 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 in 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. DSU was also ranked fifth in 2014-15, ninth in 2009-10, and 14th in 2008-09.
Dixie State also finished sixth among Utah's other NCAA (Division I) members in average attendance in 2015-16, behind Brigham Young (14,699), Utah (12,997), Utah State (8,874), Weber State (6,785) and Utah Valley (2,383).
HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: The opener at UCSD marked just the third time in the last eight seasons that Dixie State opened the away portion of its schedule as a true road team. In five of its last eight seasons overall, the Trailblazers have started their non-Burns Arena slate on a neutral court.
DSU is 4-7 all-time in 11 true road openers since the jump to NCAA D-II competition and had won four out its last six overall prior to the UCSD loss. The two other losses in that stretch - an 81-80 OT loss at perennial D-I power UNLV (11/7/12) to open the 2012 season, and a 72-64 setback at Sonoma State (11/20/15) last season.
Dixie State is 91-71 (.562) away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach
Jon Judkins, including a 9-6 mark in 2015-16. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 71-54 record (.568) in true road games, and a 20-17 mark (.540) in neutral site games over Judkins' tenure.
DSU has won eight or more games away from home in seven-straight seasons, and in eight of its 10 D-II campaigns overall, including a program-best 15-5 record (10-2 in road contests) in 2010-11.
Dixie State also owns a 53-26 (.671) road record in its 10 seasons of PacWest league membership. The Trailblazers have posted a winning conference road mark in seven-straight seasons and have reached the seven-win plateau in five of their last six league campaigns overall.
FROM WAY DOWN TOWN....BANG!: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 55-straight games, including seven treys vs. Cal Poly Pomona last Saturday, and in 178 of its last 179 games overall. In fact in DSU's Division II era, the Trailblazers have made at least one 3-pointer in 272 of the program's 275 games since the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
In the 2014-15 season, the Trailblazers saw their 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 12 times, including a 2015-16 season-high 10 treys at Chaminade (1/23/16), and a school-record 13 3-pointers at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008.
TEAM NOTES: Four of the five Dixie State starters from last week, including senior forward
Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) (10.0 ppg), junior guards
Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) (12.5 ppg) and
Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (10.0 ppg), and sophomore forward
Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (12.5 ppg) each average double figures through the two games, the Trailblazers' fifth starter, junior forward
Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS), is averaging 9.5 ppg.
Hill tallied a season-high 18 points in the opener at UCSD to go with seven rebounds, two steals and an assist ... Hill followed that effort with a game-high six assists and had seven points and three boards vs. CPP ... Hill finished with four steals on the weekend, which moved him into ninth-overall on DSU's career steals list (64).
After being held to just two points in the opener at UCSD, Simister tied a career-high with five 3-pointers en route to an 18-point night vs. CPP ... Simister's five treys also moved him into t-10th on DSU's career 3FG made list (55).
Mathews earned CCAA/PacWest Challenge All-Tourney team honors after he posted his first two collegiate double-doubles on the trip ... Mathews tallied 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds at UCSD, and followed that up with a career-high 15 points and 10 boards vs. CPP.
Fuller notched his first double-double of the year with 12 points and a team-high 12 rebounds at UCSD ... Fuller tallied eight points on 4-of-6 shooting with three caroms in 18 minutes vs. CPP.
Hunter made his first collegiate start in the opener at UCSD and responded with eight points, five rebounds and a career-high two blocks in 26 minutes of action ... Hunter also hit his second-career 3-pointer in the second half vs. the Tritons, which was DSU's lone make of the night and helped extend the team's 3FG made streak to 54 games ... Hunter scored 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting and 5-of-5 at the line with four rebounds vs. CPP.
Junior guard
Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) hit a first-half buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the opener at UCSD and tied a career-high with five points vs. CPP.
Senior forward
Marcus Bradley (Anaheim, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) hit both of his shot attempts and went 2-of-3 from the line in scoring his first points (six total) in a Dixie State uniform in the loss at CPP.
Junior forward
Isaiah Clark (Riverside, Calif./John W. North HS) connected for two baskets for four points in 11 minutes of game action vs. Cal Poly Pomona.
ABOUT THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON "WILDCATS": Central Washington opened the season with a pair of high-scoring victories last weekend, including an 89-84 victory over Cal State San Bernardino (11/11), followed by a 93-87 triumph at Cal State Monterey Bay (11/12). The Wildcats also played a tightly contested exhibition game at PAC-12 member Washington State this past Tuesday night, a game that CWU led 42-36 at the half before WSU rallied for an 81-75 win. Three Wildcats enter the weekend averaging double figures, led by senior guard Dom Hunter at 26.5 ppg.
ABOUT THE SEATTLE PACIFIC "FALCONS": Seattle Pacific will be hosting its second-straight in-season tournament this weekend, this after the Falcons swept both games of their SPU-Sodexo Tip-Off Classic last weekend. SPU posted a 102-90 win over Humboldt State I11/11) before claiming an 88-80 decision from PacWest member Hawai'i Hilo (11/12). Four Falcons average double figures through two games, including three at 18 points or better, led by sophomore forward Cameron Wooten (22.5 ppg) and senior center Joe Rasmussen (21.5 ppg).
UP NEXT: After four games away from home, Dixie State will open the home portion of its 2016-17 schedule next weekend as the Trailblazers host the 2016 Dixie State/Wingate Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 25-26 at the Burns Arena. DSU will open the tourney against Sonoma State on Friday, Nov. 25, at 7:30 p.m., followed by a match-up vs. Western Oregon on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 7:30 p.m.
In addition to the DSU games, Western Oregon will play Westminster College in the first game of the Classic on Friday at 5 p.m., while Sonoma State and Westminster will square off in game three on Saturday at 5 p.m.
