OPENING TIP: Dixie State officially opens the 2016-17 season this weekend as the Trailblazers travel to sunny San Diego to play in the 2016 CCAA/Pacific West Crossover, hosted by UC San Diego. DSU opens the two-game tournament vs. the host Tritons Friday night, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m. (PT), inside the RIMAC Arena on the UCSD campus. Dixie State will then turnaround to play Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 5:30 p.m. (PT).
The Trailblazers return two starters and eight total letter winners from last season's 18-9 squad which finished in a first-place tie atop the Pacific West Conference standings at 15-5. In addition, DSU welcomes in one redshirt returnee and eight newcomers, including two freshman, three junior college transfers and three four-year transfers.
DIXIE STATE ON THE AIR: All Dixie State home and, after this weekend, all remaining 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 is 1-2 all-time in three previous meetings vs. UC San Diego, including a 71-67 home victory inside the Burns Arena the last time the two teams met in the 2012-13 season (11/9/12). UCSD won the first two games in the series, starting with a 65-57 decision in the 2010 Disney West Coast Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim (11/13/10), and an 81-67 win at home (12/11/11) during the 2011-12 season.
Dixie State enters Saturday's game vs. CPP looking for its first-ever win in the series, though this will mark the first time that the Trailblazers and Broncos will have played during the regular season. All three of the previous games have come during NCAA West Regional tournament play, and CPP claimed victories in all three of those occasions, including the 2010 Regional (71-62; 3/12/10), 2014 Regional (73-65; 3/14/14) and 2015 Regional (62-60; 3/13/15).
REGIONAL RANKINGS: Dixie State debuted at No. 9 in the first D2SIDA Preseason West Region poll released last week. Meanwhile, UCSD is ranked No. 6 and Cal Poly Pomona is No. 5, while PacWest members California Baptist (No. 1-overall) and Azusa Pacific (No. 4) also made the preseason list.
COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year
Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 486-229 career record) begins his 12th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 202-101 overall record, including a 182-89 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: Dixie State begins its second decade of NCAA Division II play with a 54-49 (.524) overall record against non-PacWest opponents, including a 3-3 mark last season, and a 43-35 record (.551) 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 CCAC: Entering this week's crossover at UCSD, DSU is 6-10 all-time against California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schools.
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START: Dixie State is 6-4 all-time in season openers during the program's Division II era, while Friday's game at UCSD will mark the first time in seven seasons that the Trailblazers will NOT be opening their season inside the Burns Arena. DSU has won four-straight season openers and six of its last seven overall. In home openers only, Dixie State is 8-2 in its previous 10 Burns Arena debuts as a four-year program.
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?: Friday's game at UCSD will mark just the third time in the last eight seasons that Dixie State has 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 4-6 in its previous 10 true road openers, having won four out its last six overall, including a 54-49 win at then-ranked Point Loma in the 2014-15 season. The two 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 91-69 (.568) 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 71-53 record (.572) in true road games, and a 20-16 mark (.555) 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 DOWNTOWN....BANG!: Dixie State has hit at least one 3-pointer in 53-straight games, including all 27 games last season, and in 176 of its last 177 games overall. In fact in DSU's Division II era, the Trailblazers have recorded at least one 3-pointer in 270 of the program's 273 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.
2016-17 ROSTER: Dixie State returns two starters and eight letter winners from last year's PacWest champion 18-9 squad, led by junior guard
Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) (6-4, 215; Sandy, Utah/Alta HS), who earned second team All-PacWest honors after leading DSU in scoring last year at 16.1 ppg. Hill scored in double figures in a team-high 24 of 27 games with six 20-plus point outings and led the DSU in scoring 11 times overall. He also led DSU in assists 14 times and in steals 10 times.
Forward
Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) (6-6, 220; Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS/Utah/Weber State), one of two seniors on this year's team, is back for his second season after he averaged 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds (top-returning rebounder) en route to all-PacWest honorable mention recognition. Fuller started in every game last year and scored in double figures in 17 of those starts. He led the Trailblazers in scoring five times and paced the team in rebounding on four occasions.
Junior sharpshooter
Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (6-0, 175; St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) is also back after he started in nine of 25 games played in 2015-16 and scored in double figures in 16 of those outings. He finished third on the team in scoring at 12.4 ppg and broke DSU's single-season 3FG percentage record (.459; 39-of-85). Simister also shot 88.0 percent (110-of-125) from the line, which was the third-best single season percentage in DSU's NCAA-era, and he enters this season as DSU's career FT% leader (.895).
Also returning are junior forwards
Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) (6-6, 225; American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS, 5.3 ppg/4.2 rpg) and
Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) (6-5, 195; Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS/Southern Utah, 1.8 ppg/0.4 rpg), along with junior guard
Daylor Youngblood (South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS) (6-4, 190; South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS/Treasure Valley CC, 0.9 ppg/0.9 rpg), and sophomore forwards
Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (6-7, 205; St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS, 3.1 ppg/2.0 rpg) and
Dub Price (Draper, Utah/Alta HS) (6-7, 215; Draper, Utah/Alta HS, 1.5 ppg/0.9 rpg).
Dixie State also welcomes back senior forward
Marcus Bradley (Anaheim, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) (6-6, 230; Anaheim, Calif./Corona del Mar HS), who sat out last season as a redshirt after transferring from Idaho State. In all, DSU has four four-year transfers on this year's roster, including Utah transfers
Brandon Miller (Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) (So., G, 6-2, 185; Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) and
Austin Montgomery (Gainesville, Ga./Lakeview Academy) (So., F/C, 6-8, 210; Gainesville, Ga./Lakeview Academy), and Utah Valley transfer
Tyler Ott (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) (Jr., G/F, 6-5, 200; St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS/UC Davis).
DSU also added three junior college transfers in juniors
Kyle Bingham (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View HS) (F/C, 6-9, 210; Mesa, Ariz./Mesa Mountain View HS/Mesa CC) and
Isaiah Clark (Riverside, Calif./John W. North HS) (F/C, 6-8, 207; Riverside, Calif./John W. North HS/Fullerton College), and sophomore
Wade Miller (Tremonton, Utah/Bear River HS) (F, 6-3, 210; Tremonton, Utah/Bear River HS/Umpqua CC). Two new freshmen will also be a part of this year's team, including guards
Tarik Cool (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) (6-3, 160; Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) and
Preston Sanchez (South Jordan, Utah/Copper Hills HS) (6-0, 185; South Jordan, Utah/Copper Hills HS).
2016-17 SCHEDULE: Dixie State will play 12 of its 26 regular season games inside the Burns Arena, where the Trailblazers have played to a 92-21 (.814) overall record since becoming an NCAA Division II member in the 2006-07 season, including a 9-3 mark last season.
Following the 2016 CCAA/PacWest Crossover, the Trailblazers will play at the Seattle Pacific/Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic Nov. 18-19, where DSU will take on Central Washington in the tourney opener, and will face SPU in the second round.
Then a week later DSU will host the 2016 Dixie State/Wingate Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 25-26. The Trailblazers will take on Sonoma State in their tourney opener, followed by a date vs. Western Oregon on night two on Saturday. In addition, WOU will play Westminster College in the Classic's first game, while Sonoma and Westminster will square off the next day.
DSU will open PacWest play against the three other teams the Trailblazers tied with in the league standings last year, beginning with a home date vs. Concordia-Irvine on Saturday, Dec. 3. The Trailblazers will then play at California Baptist (Dec. 8) and Azusa Pacific (Dec. 10) before closing out the 2016 calendar year with home games vs. Notre Dame de Namur (Dec. 17) and Point Loma (Dec. 19).
Dixie State will open the 2017 calendar year with five of its first six games on the road, beginning at Fresno Pacific Jan. 3, followed by two games in the Bay Area at Academy of Art (Jan. 5) and Notre Dame de Namur (Jan. 7). DSU will return home to Dominican (Jan. 11) before heading back out on the road for games at Point Loma (Jan. 14) and Concordia-Irvine (Jan. 16).
The Trailblazers then come home for a season-long five-game homestand, beginning with games vs. Azusa Pacific (Jan. 21) and Hawai'i Hilo (Jan. 28). Dixie State opens the final month of the regular season with its final home game ever vs. BYU-Hawaii (Feb. 2), followed by dates vs. Chaminade (Feb. 4) and California Baptist (Feb. 11).
DSU will close out the road portion of the regular season with ts annual Hawaiian swing Feb. 16-20, with games at Hawai'i Hilo (Feb. 16) and Hawai'i Pacific (Feb. 20) sandwiched around the Trailblazers' final game at BYU-H (Feb. 18). Dixie State will then wrap up the 2016-17 regular season at home vs. Holy Names (Feb. 25).
The 2017 Pacific West Conference Tournament will be held March 2-4, in Irvine, Calif., and the NCAA West Regional is scheduled for March 10-13 (site TBA). The 2017 NCAA Elite Eight is slated for March 22-25 in Frisco, Texas, with the NCAA Division II National Championship game to be held on Saturday, March 25.
UP NEXT: Dixie State will head back out on road to play in the 2016 Seattle Pacific/Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic next weekend in Seattle, Wash. DSU will open the tourney against Central Washington on Friday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. (PT), followed by a date vs. the host Falcons on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 3 p.m. (PT).
