OPENING TIP: Dixie State (17-8/14-5 PacWest) will put a bow on the 2015-16 regular season Saturday night as the Storm welcomes hosts Pacific West Conference leader Concordia-Irvine (22-5/15-4 PacWest) for a battle between two of the top teams in the league standings inside the Burns Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. Dixie State, which is riding a season-high eight-game winning streak, enters the Saturday night's game in a three-way tie for second place in the PacWest standings with Azusa Pacific (14-5) and California Baptist (14-5), one full game behind Concordia, which is not eligible for postseason play.
     Saturday night will also serve as Senior Night as three seniors - Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS), Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) and Robbie Nielson (Gresham, Ore./Barlow HS) - will suit up for the final time in the Burns Arena.

PACWEST TOURNEY SCENARIOS: A Dixie State victory Saturday night will clinch the Storm at least the No. 2 seed (and first-round bye) in the upcoming PacWest Tournament next weekend. A DSU win coupled with an APU loss (at Hawai'i Hilo Saturday) will give DSU a share of the conference title and also the No. 1 seed (and first-round bye) in the tournament. A Storm loss could drop DSU into the No. 3 or No. 4 positions, pending on the results of games played by APU, CBU (at Holy Names) and Hawai'i Pacific (vs. BYU-Hawai'i).
    To date, five teams (APU, DSU, CBU, HPU and BYU-H) have each clinched a PacWest tourney berth, with one more spot still undecided heading into Saturday's play. The 2016 Pacific West Conference Tournament will be held next weekend, March 3-5, in Irvine, Calif. The winner of the tourney will earn the PacWest's automatic bid to the NCAA West Regionals, which will be held March 11-14 (site TBD).

LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State wrapped up the road portion of its 2015-16 scheduled with a three-game sweep of a NorCal trip earlier this week. DSU opened the trip with an 88-68 victory at Holy Names (2/20), followed by a hard-fought 75-65 win at Dominican University this past Monday. Then last Wednesday, five Storm players scored in double figures as Dixie State out-ran Fresno Pacific, 99-88, in Fresno.

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 and Concordia met for the first time on the basketball court back on Jan. 9 in Irvine, where the Storm came away with a thrilling 81-80 double-overtime victory over the Eagles.

COACHING STAFF: Five-time PacWest Conference Coach of the Year Jon Judkins (Utah State, 1988; 485-227 career record) is his 11th season on the Dixie State bench, where he has compiled a 201-99 overall record, including a 181-88 mark during DSU's NCAA Division II era, and a 121-36 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 PASSED TWO CAREER MILESTONES THIS WEEK: Head Coach Jon Judkins passed two career milestones this past week as the long-time DSU coach won his 200th-game on the Storm bench in last Monday's 75-65 win at Dominican. Then on Wednesday night, he coached in his 300th-career game at DSU in the Storm's 99-88 win at Fresno Pacific.
    Coach Judkins was also on the bench for his 700th-career game as a head coach in DSU's win over Notre Dame de Namur back on Jan. 14. Judkins has now officially coached in 712 career games in his 23-year collegiate coaching career, including 412 games in his 12 seasons at Snow College.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dixie State clinched its ninth-straight home winning record after the Storm completed the sweep of their recent five-game homestand. DSU is currently 8-3 at home this season with the final home test coming Saturday vs. CUI.
    Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2006-07, Dixie State has played to a 91-21 (.812) 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.

HOW ABOUT WHEN THE BAGS ARE PACKED?: Dixie State is now 91-68 (.572) away from home in its Division II era under Head Coach Jon Judkins, including a 9-5 mark in 2015-16. Overall, the Storm has played to a 71-53 record (.572) in true road games, and a 20-15 mark (.571) in neutral site games over Judkins' tenure.
    DSU has now 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.
    After taking sweeping its three-game NorCal road swing last week, Dixie State owns a 53-26 (.671) road record in its nine seasons of PacWest league membership. The Storm has posted a winning conference road mark in seven-straight seasons and has reached the seven-win plateau in five of their last six league campaigns overall.

DEFENSE (CLAP CLAP) DEFENSE: Dixie State recorded one of its most dominant defensive efforts in the program's NCAA Division II history in the Storm's win over Notre Dame de Namur Jan. 14. DSU held the Argonauts to just 48 total points (W, 70-48), which is tied for the fifth-lowest opponent point total in school history (48 vs. Hawai'i Hilo - 3/4/10). The all-time record for fewest points allowed in a game is 40 set in an 84-40 win vs. Dominican (2/10/11) during the 2010-11 season.
    What is more impressive about the Storm defense in the win is that for the just the third time in the program's D-II history, Dixie State held an opponent without a double-digit scorer. NDNU did have 11 total players score at least one point in the contest, but no Argonaut scored more than eight points.
    The first time DSU accomplished that feat was in its first season of four-year competition at home vs. Texas A&M International (W, 67-51) on Dec, 18, 2006. The Storm also did it on the road in a win at Grand Canyon during the 2008-09 season (W, 68-59; 1/22/09).

FREE BASKETBALL: Dixie State has played four overtime games this season, with all four coming in PacWest action over the last seven weeks. The four overtime games played this season matches the previous single season total of four set during the 2013-14 season, when DSU went 4-0 in overtime affairs.
    DSU has played in 20 overtime games in its near 10 years of Division II competition (268 games) and has posted a 12-8 overall record, including a 3-1 mark this season, with wins over CBU (2/6) and at Chaminade (1/23), and  a home loss to Point Loma (1/18).
    Dixie State also needed double-overtime to knock off PacWest leader Concordia in Irvine, 81-80 (1/9). Previous to that win, 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-H (W, 99-96 – 2/26/11) and at HPU (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 51-straight games, including all 25 games this season, and in 174 of its last 175 games overall. In fact in DSU's Division II era, the Storm has recorded at least one 3-pointer in 268 of the program's 271 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 12 times, including a season-high 10 treys at Chaminade (1/23), and a school-record 13 3-pointers at Carroll College on Nov. 11, 2008.

MARK OGDEN JR. ON THE CUSP OF HISTORY: Senior forward Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) continued his dominant play of late as the Storm big man recorded double-doubles in all three road games last week, including game-highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds at FPU, to run his streak to six-straight games with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds. Ogden Jr. has posted a team-high 12 double-doubles on the year, including 11 in PacWest play, and in seven of his last eight games overall.
    He has averaged 16.5 points and 13.0 rebounds over the Storm's current eight-game winning streak, including 18.3 ppg and 12.3 rpg on DSU's just completed road trip. Ogden Jr. enters his final home game Saturday night as the PacWest leader and is 12th-nationally in rebounding and at 10.2 rpg.
    His strong senior season has sky-rocketed him up the career and single-season record charts. Ogden Jr. became just the third Storm player in DSU's D-II era to surpass the 400-career-rebound plateau (444), doing so at home vs. HNU (2/15), and goes into Saturday night needing just 12 more rebounds to become DSU's single-season rebounding leader (255). In addition, if his current double-digit season rebounding average holds up, he will become the first player in Dixie State's NCAA era to average a double-double in a season.
    Ogden Jr. is also currently fifth in school history in career scoring average (12.3 ppg), fourth in career block (44) and free throw percentage (.823), and ninth in career points (656).

TODAY'S MASON SAWYER MEAN MEAN SHOOTER: Senior guard Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) continues to inch closer to second place on DSU's career 3-pointers made list as he hit four 3-pointers on DSU's NorCal road trip. Sawyer (128 3FGM) now stands three treys shy of passing former DSU stand-out DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (130; 2011-15) for second on the all-time list.
    Sawyer enters his final regular season game second in career 3FG attempts (340), and seventh in career 3FG% (.376). Sawyer is also seventh on DSU's career scoring list with 835 points and career FGM (269), and is currently second in career assists (269), fifth in steals (81) and 10th in career FT% (.741).

ROBBIE ROBBING ON DEFENSE: Senior G/F Robbie Nielson (Gresham, Ore./Barlow HS) will take to the Burns Arena floor for the final time Saturday night, closing a stellar four-year career in a Storm uniform. Nielson, who returned to action on DSU's road trip last week, became just the third player in DSU's D-II era to amass 100 career steals and has 105 thefts to his credit in his 89 career games, among many other unofficial steals he has picked up while drawing offensive charges on defense.
    Nielson also moved into 10th-place all-time on DSU's career blocks list after he rejected a shot last Wednesday at FPU. He enters his final regular season game with career averages of 5.3 ppg and 3.1 rpg, and is a career 42.0 percent shooter.

FULLER FILLING IT UP: Junior forward Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) had himself a strong homestand earlier this month as he averaged 16.2 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 56.2% from the floor over the five games. He scored in double figures in four of the five games, including a career-high 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting vs. CBU (2/6).
    Fuller also had a great trip to the Hawaiian Islands as he averaged 21.0 points and 7.3 rebounds and shot a whopping 72.9% (27-of-37) from the floor in DSU's three-game road swing. Over his past 11 games overall he is scoring at an 15.2 ppg clip and shooting better than 64% from the floor to go with 5.9 rpg. Fuller notched his second double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Dominican last Monday. Overall he has scored in double figures in 15 of 25 games and he is fourth on the club in scoring at 12.1 ppg.

NOT OVER THE HILL: Not to be outdone, sophomore guard Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) has scored in double figures in a team-high 22 of 25 games this season and has tallied 20 or more points a team-best six times, including 24 points vs. Academy of Art (2/11). Hill is the team's top scorer at 16.2 ppg, which is currently tied for the third-highest single-season PPG average in school history.
    Hill has led or co-led the team in scoring in 10 of 22 games this year, and he is nine points away from vaulting to fifth place on DSU's single-season top-10 scoring list. He also posted his first double-double of the year (and second of his career) with team-highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds vs. Holy Names (2/15). Hill's aggressive style of play has also put him at the foul line 191 times (7.6 FTAg) with 130 makes (5.2 FTMg) through 25 games, both of which are ranked second on the school's single-season list. Hill is also sixth all-time in career FT attempts (275) and career makes (190).

SIMPLY SIMISTER: 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 12.8 ppg in his last 16 games since his return to action, including a career-high 24 points with a career-best five 3-pointers in the OT win at Chaminade (1/23). He also poured in 23 points in the win at FPU last Wednesday, 21 of which came in the second half. Simister hit 7-of-12 from the floor with three 3-pointers to help lead DSU to the win.  
    Simister has started in DSU's last six games and has responded by averaging 14.0 ppg and shooting 62.5% (10-of-16 from three) over those six games, including 15 points at Dominican (2/22) and vs. HNU (2/15). He has scored in double figures in 15 of 23 games and he is third on the team in scoring at 12.5 ppg. The sharpshooter has also got the job done at the foul line as he is currently DSU's all-time single-season (88.8%, 103-of-116) and career (90.2%, 138-of-153) FT-percentage leader, and Simister is fifth on the school's single-season 3FG% list at 44.3% (35-of-79).

TEAM NOTES: Dixie State has averaged 87.7 ppg over its last 14 games, while the defense has allowed 75.0 ppg and has held seven opponents under 70 points during that stretch ... during the Storm's current eight-game winning streak, DSU is scoring at a 90.2 ppg clip while holding opponents to 71.0 ppg, with an 18.7 average margin of victory ... DSU has scored 90 or more points in seven of its last 11 five games ... Dixie State shot 61.8 percent from the floor (34-of-55) in the win at FPU last Wednesday, which was the second-best single game shooting clip of the season ... DSU hit on a season-high 63.6 (35-of-55) from the floor vs. Academy of Art (2/11) ... DSU also dished out a season-high 25 assists and committed a season-low 10 turnover vs. AAU (2/11), and pulled down a season-high 53 rebounds vs. HNU (2/15) ... for the fifth time this season DSU had five players score in double figures, doing so in the win at FPU ... sophomore reserve forward Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) tallied 15 points off the bench in that game, including going 9-of-10 from the line.

UP NEXT: Dixie State will find out late Saturday night which seed and opponent it will draw in the 2016 Pacific West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, which will be held March 3-5, at Concordia's CUI Arena in Irvine, Calif. The winner of the tourney will earn the PacWest's automatic bid to the NCAA West Regionals, which will be held March 11-14 (site TBD).