OPENING TIP: Dixie State (3-3/0-0 PacWest) will open its 10th season of Pacific West Conference play this Saturday night, Dec. 3, when the Trailblazers play host to Concordia-Irvine (3-4/0-0 PacWest). Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m., inside the Burns Arena. DSU enters this Saturday's game riding a three-game winning streak after an 0-3 start, while the Eagles will begin their second year of PacWest action this Thursday night at Azusa Pacific before making the trip north to St. George.
WEEK IN REVIEW: Dixie State evened its record at 3-3 on the young season after the Trailblazers swept both games of their 2016 DSU/Wingate Thanksgiving Classic last weekend. DSU began the tourney with a hard-fought 64-62 win over Sonoma State last Friday, before claiming a 78-73 triumph over defending NCAA West Region champion Western Oregon on Saturday night.
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 2-0 lead in its brief series vs. Concordia-Irvine, which includes an 82-67 victory over the Eagles in last year's regular season finale inside the Burns Arena (2/27), which helped DSU secure part of a four-way tie for first place in the PacWest standings with CUI, APU and California Baptist. The Trailblazers' also claimed the first-ever meeting between the two programs, 81-80 in 2OT, last Jan. 9 in Irvine, Calif.
REGIONAL RANKINGS: Dixie State's current three-game winning streak garnered the Trailblazers votes in this week's D2SIDA West Region top-10 poll. PacWest members California Baptist (No. 1-overall), Hawai'i Pacific (No. 7) and Chaminade (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; 489-232 career record) is in his 12th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 205-104 overall record, including a 185-92 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.
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START...PACWEST EDITION: For the first time in four seasons, Dixie State will start PacWest play AT HOME when the Trailblazers take the court vs. CUI on Saturday. Over the past three seasons, DSU had opened conference play on the road and played to a 2-1 record in those contests.
In all, Dixie State is 6-3 all-time in PacWest openers and has won three of its last four and six of its last eight overall. In PacWest home openers only, DSU is 7-2 all-time, which includes a rare home league loss in last season's league opener vs. Azusa Pacific (65-72; 12/19/15), which snapped DSU's modest three-game league home-opening winning streak. Prior to the APU loss, the last time the Trailblazers dropped a conference home opener was during the 2010-11 season, when former PacWest member Grand Canyon handed DSU a 71-68 setback (1/8/11).
AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: With the sweep at its own tourney last weekend, Dixie State closed the non-conference portion of its 2016-17 slate at 3-3 and improved to 57-52 (.523) overall against non-PacWest opponents. Since joining the PacWest in the 2007-08 season, DSU is 46-38 (.547) against non-conference foes, while during DSU's first season of four-year competition in 2006-07, Dixie State recorded an 11-14 record as an independent.
DSU has posted five winning records in non-conference games over the past eight seasons, including a program-best 6-1 mark in 2013-14, and an 8-3 record in 2010-11.
AGAINST THE CCAA/GNAC: The win over Western Oregon last Saturday also moved the Trailblazers to 34-13 (723) all-time against current members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. On the flipside, Dixie State's win over Sonoma State was just its seventh in 19 games against the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). DSU is 7-12 (.368) all-time vs. 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 three weeks ago.
HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State improved to 8-3 all-time in NCAA D-II home openers with its win over Sonoma State last Friday, which was also the fifth-straight home-opening win overall.
Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 94-21 (.817) 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 Seattle Pacific (11/18-19) 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 59-straight games and in 182 of its last 183 games overall, including a season-high eight treys vs. Sonoma State last Friday. In fact in DSU's Division II era, the Trailblazers have made at least one 3-pointer in 276 of the program's 279 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.
TEAM NOTES: Dixie State finished the non-conference portion of its 2016-17 schedule at 3-3, including a 2-3 mark against teams either currently ranked or receiving votes in this week's NCAA West Region top-10 poll, with all six games decided by eight points or less.
Senior forward
Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) had a night on Saturday night in the win over WOU with a career-high 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting (career-highs in FGM/FGA) and 12 rebounds en route to his second double-double of the year ... he scored 10 of DSU's first 20 points and converted on four conventional three-point plays for the game ... Fuller also became the first Trailblazer in three-plus seasons to score at least 30 points in a game, the last being former DSU player
Steven Larson, who tallied 33 pts in a 66-61 win at Notre Dame de Namur (2/16/13) ... Fuller, who scored 13 points vs. Sonoma State, went 16-of-25 (.640) from the floor combined in both DSU Classic games last weekend and leads the team in FG% (.554), is second in scoring (13.2 ppg) and is third in rebounding (6.7 rpg).
Sophomore guard
Brandon Miller (Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) tied a DSU NCAA-era single-game record with six 3-pointers in the Sonoma State (11/25) ... Miller went 6-of-8 from beyond the arc en route to a career-high 19 points ... former DSU players
Donovan Plunkett and
Tom Whitehead established the mark back in the 2009-10 season as the duo hit six treys apiece at Hawai'i Pacific (W, 97-86; 2/20/10), and Whitehead tied it again in the 2010-11 season at home vs. Pacifica (W, 110-41; 12/4/10) ... Miller, who also had 16 points in his season debut vs. Central Washington (11/18), was limited to just three points the next night vs. Western Oregon before going down with a season-ending injury in the second half.
Junior forward
Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) hit 6-of-8 shots en route to a season-high 14-point night in the win over Western Oregon ... Hunter has scored in double figures in two of six starts and is averaging 8.7 ppg on 45.0 percent shooting.
Junior guard
Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block in the win over Sonoma State ... Hill then dished out a season-high eight assists and had 10 rebounds to go with five points and two blocks vs. WOU ... Hill was named PacWest POW after he averaged 21.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the Trailblazers' split at the SPU tourney Nov. 18-19, and he currently leads the team in scoring (14.2 ppg) and is second in rebounding (8.2 rpg).
Not to be outdone, junior point guard
Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) collected a career-high eight dimes along with 13 points and a steal vs. WOU ... For Simister, it was another case of deja vu as for the third time this season he followed a two-point night (2 pts vs. Sonoma State) with a double-digit scoring outing the next time out ... Simister 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) ... then after being held to just two points vs. Central Washington (11/18), Simister tallied a season-high 19 points in the win at Seattle Pacific (11/19).
Sophomore forward
Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) is expected to return to the DSU line-up this weekend after missing the last two games due to injury ... Mathews, who is averaging 10.0 ppg and a team-high 8.8 rpg, 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).
Junior reserve guard
Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) averaged 7.0 points off the bench last weekend, including a career-high eight points - all coming from the foul line - in DSU's win over Western Oregon ... reserve forward
Austin Montgomery (Gainesville, Ga./Lakeview Academy) tallied six points on 3-of-5 shooting and pulled down three boards vs. Sonoma State ... sophomore forward
Dub Price (Draper, Utah/Alta HS) averaged 6.0 rebounds off the bench last week, including a career-high seven boards to go with three points in 17 minutes vs. WOU ... Dixie State's bench scored a season-high 40 points in the loss to CWU (11/18), 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).
UP NEXT: Dixie State will begin the road portion of its PacWest slate next weekend with a date at nationally-ranked and preseason conference favorite California Baptist on Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. (PT) in Riverside. Then DSU will head over to Azusa for a match-up at defending PacWest regular season champion Azusa Pacific on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. (PT).
