OPENING TIP: After four games away from home, Dixie State (1-3/0-0 PacWest) will open the home portion of its 2016-17 schedule this 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 (3-1) on Friday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a match-up vs. Western Oregon (2-2) on Saturday 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.
WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State put in a little extra work last weekend to get into the win column for the first time this season as the Trailblazers split a pair of overtime games at the 2016 Seattle Pacific/Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic. DSU opened the tourney with a hard-fought 99-95 overtime loss to Central Washington last Friday, which was followed by a 74-72 OT victory at Seattle Pacific this past Saturday.
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. Sonoma State will be the second-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Seawolves on the hardwood. Last season in Rohnert Park, Calif., SSU collected a 72-64 triumph (11/20) over DSU at the Sonoma-hosted Ron Logsdon Classic played at the Wolves' Den.
Dixie State is 1-2 all-time in its brief series against Western Oregon, including a 67-52 loss to the Wolves the time these two sides met inside the Burns Arena (11/25/14). The Trailblazers' lone win in the series came on the road (78-74; 11/23/13) in Monmouth, Ore., while WOU won the first-ever meeting, 79-71, which came on its home court in the 2008 season (11/15/08).
REGIONAL RANKINGS: Dixie State's 1-3 start dropped the Trailblazers out of the D2SIDA West Region rankings after DSU had opened the year ranked No. 9 overall. Sonoma State is not ranked in this week's poll, while WOU checks in at T-8th. PacWest members California Baptist (No. 1-overall), Chaminade (No. 7) and Hawai'i Pacific (T-No. 8) are also listed in this week's poll.
COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year
Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 487-232 career record) begins his 12th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 203-104 overall record, including a 183-92 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 split as the SPU tourney last weekend, Dixie State moved to 55-52 (.514) overall record against non-PacWest opponents, which includes a 3-3 mark last season, and a 44-38 record (.536) 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: The split at SPU also moved the Trailblazers to 33-13 all-time against current members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference heading into Saturday's game against GNAC member Western Oregon.
On the flipside, Dixie State will look for just its seventh win in 19 games against California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schools when its take to the court Friday vs. CCAA member Sonoma State. DSU is 6-12 all-time against the CCAA, which includes both season-opening losses to UC San Diego (55-62) and Cal Poly Pomona (74-82) in the CCAA/PacWest Challenge two weeks ago.
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: Dixie State enters Friday's home opener vs. Sonoma State 7-3 all-time in its previous 10 Burns Arena debuts as a four-year program and has won four-straight home openers overall.
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. In PacWest play, the Trailblazers are a dominant 69-10 (.873) at home through its nine seasons of conference play.
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?: Dixie State is 92-72 (.561) away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach
Jon Judkins, including a 1-3 record this season and a 9-6 mark in 2015-16. Overall, the Trailblazers have played to a 72-54 record (.571) in true road games, and a 20-18 mark (.526) 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 nine 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.
FREE BASKETBALL: Dixie State's split at SPU marked just the second time in the program's NCAA Division II era that the Trailblazers needed overtime in consecutive games to decide the outcome, though it was the first time in 10-plus seasons that DSU played two overtime games on back-to-back nights.
In the 2010-11 season, DSU played consecutive overtime games, both of which were double-overtime affairs, at BYU-Hawaii (W, 99-96 - 2/26/11) and at Hawai'i Pacific (L, 88-93 - 2/28/11), however there was a day off between those contests.
In all, Dixie State has played in just 22 overtime games (13-9 overall) in 277 total contests in the program's NCAA Division II era, which includes four OT games last season (3-1), which matched a program-high set in the 2013-14 campaign.
Three of those 22 games have gone to double-overtime, including the two Hawaiian results in 2010-11, and an 81-80 2OT victory at Concordia-Irvine last season (1/9/16).
FROM WAY DOWN TOWN....BANG!: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 57-straight games and in 180 of its last 181 games overall, including a season-high tying seven treys vs. Central Washington last Friday. In fact in DSU's Division II era, the Trailblazers have made at least one 3-pointer in 274 of the program's 277 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 2014-15 season. 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.
HILL NAMED PACWEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior guard
Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) was named PacWest Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday for his play at the 2016 Seattle Pacific/Oak Harbor Freight Classic last weekend.
Hill earned all-tournament honors after he averaged 21.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the Trailblazers' split of two overtime games. He recorded his first double-double of the year with 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and had six assists, in DSU's 99-95 OT loss to Central Washington last Friday. Hill followed that up with 21 points, including two game-winning free throws with 0.9 seconds left in overtime, and nine boards in Dixie State's 74-72 win over SPU on Saturday.
TEAM NOTES: Through the first four games of the season, three of DSU's five starters are averaging double figures, including Hill (17.0 ppg), junior guard
Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (10.3 ppg) and forward
Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (10.0 ppg), while senior forward
Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) (9.0 ppg) and junior forward
Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) (8.5 ppg) are not far behind.
In all, four Trailblazers are averaging double figures as sophomore guard
Brandon Miller (Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 ppg ... Miller saw his first action of the season vs. CWU and responded with four 3-pointers en route to a 16-point debut in 30 minutes off the bench ... in fact, the DSU reserves combined for 40 of the Trailblazers' 95 points in the CWU game, including a career-high 14 points from senior forward
Marcus Bradley (Anaheim, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) in just 11 minutes of action ... the last time the DSU bench tallied at least 40 points in a game was back in the 2014-15 season, when the DSU reserves combined for 51 points in an 86-83 win at Dominican (1/29/15).
Hill's big weekend in Seattle also propelled him into the top-10 in two more statistical categories as he is now 10th all-time in career points (650) and 10th in career assists (157) ... Hill is also in the top-10 all-time in free throw attempts (4th - 323), free throws made (6th - 218), blocks (8th - 26), scoring average (T8th - 11.0 ppg) and steals (9th - 66).
After being held to just two points vs. Central Washington, Simister tallied a season-high 19 points in the at Seattle Pacific ... it was a case of deja vu for Simister, who was limited to two points in the season opener at UC San Diego (11/11), only to come back the next night with 18 points vs. Cal Poly Pomona (11/12) ... Simister tied a career-high with seven FGs made, which included three 3-pointers, in the SPU game, which moved him into 10th-place on DSU's career 3FG made list (58).
Mathews just missed his third-straight double-double to open the season as he tallied eight points and eight rebounds vs. CWU, followed by a seven-point, six-rebound outing at SPU ... he 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 (11/11), and followed that up with a career-high 15 points and 10 boards vs. CPP (11/12).
Fuller recorded a pair of eight-point efforts at the SPU tourney, though he was also plagued by foul trouble in both outings ... he played a season-low 15 foul-plagued minutes vs. CWU before fouling out with just one rebound and two assists ... he also fouled out after 35 minutes of play at SPU, but not before collecting five rebounds and an assist.
Hunter just missed his second-consecutive double-figure scoring game in the tourney opener vs. CWU as he finished with nine points to go with three rebounds ... Hunter also tallied six points and six boards in the SPU win.
Junior forward
Isaiah Clark (Riverside, Calif./John W. North HS) posted career-highs of seven points and six rebounds in a season-high 20 minutes vs. Central Washington.
UP NEXT: Dixie State will open up its 10th season of Pacific West Conference play next Saturday, Dec. 3, when the Trailblazers play host to Concordia-Irvine. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m., inside the Burns Arena.
